Selknam show skill and power to get past Cobras in Santiago

Selknam were too good for Os Cobras in Santiago. In what provides insight into this year’s, soon to be confirmed, Rugby World Cup Qualifying match between Chile and Brazil it was the Chilean side who dominated the contest. Selknam won 43-15 and by scoring six tries to two.

The early action saw a penalty landed by each team. The even start eroded quickly with two tries in there minutes to open the second quarter. A quickly taken penalty tap saw Rafael Iriarte starting a move which ended with a superb score in the left corner by Luca Strabucchi. The final pass came from Tomás Salas whose assist also put Nicolás Saab over.

Untidy ball led to try number three. Left winger Nicolás Garafulic went over for the first of his two tries of the afternoon. His second came eight minutes in to the second half. With it, Selknam had secured the bonus point.

The remainder of the match was tit for tat. An Iñaki Delguy dummy saw the winger bursting through and accelerating over. Marcelo Torrealba provide a support run from a Strabucchi break for the final Selknam score. Os Cobras’ two tries were in the final quarter. Henrique Ferreira scored from a pick-and-go while Agustín Llano scored in the right corner.

Selknam travel to Montevideo to face Peñarol next weekend. Os Cobras return home to face Yacare. The Paraguayan side is hot off an upset win over Los Dogos.

SCORING

SELKNAM (43)
Try (6) – L Strabucchi (21′), N Saab (24′), N Garafulic 2 (33′, 48′), I Delguy (63′), M Torrelaba (73′)
Con (5) – T Salas (26′, 34′, 49′, 63′, 73′)
Pen (1) – T Salas (17′)
YC (3) – J Eissmann (18′), L Strabucchi (58′), N Garafulic (70′)

COBRAS (15)
Try (2) – H Ferreira (60′), A Llano (70′)
Con (1) – L Tranquez (60′)
Pen (1) – J Amaral (11′)
YC (2) – L Gabellieri (37′), F Moreno (47′)

LINEUPS

SELKNAM
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Alfonso Escobar, 7 Clemente Saavedra (capt.), 8 Raimundo Martínez, 9 Rafael Iriarte, 10 Tomás Salas, 11 Nicolás Garafulic, 12 Nicolás Saab, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Iñaki Delguy 15 Luca Strabucchi

Replacements: 16 Tomás Dussaillant, 17 Normán Aguayo, 18 Salvador Lues, 19 Augusto Sarmiento, 20 Federico Albrisi, 21 Marcelo Torrealba, 22 José Larenas, 23 Santiago Edwards

COBRAS
1 Luciano Gabellieri, 2 Endy Willian Pinheiro, 3 Francisco Moreno, 4 Franco Carrera, 5 Gabriel Paganini, 6 Cleber Dias (capt.), 7 Maiki Lemes, 8 Adrio de Melo, 9 Douglas Rauth, 10 João Amaral, 11 Alain Altahona, 12 Robert Tenório, 13 Lorenzo Massari Temer, 14 Ariel Rodrigues, 15 Agustín Llano

Replacements: 16 Henrique Ferreira, 17 Brendon Alves, 18 Levy Marinho, 19 Gabriel Oliveira, 20 André Arruda, 21 Rafael Texeira, 22 Lucas Tranquez 23 Robson Morais

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

MATCH INFO

Date: Saturday, April 27
Kick-Off: 12:35pm (CL); 13:35pm (Brasília)
Venue: Old Grangonian Club (Santiago, CL)

OFFICIALS

Referee: Mauro Rossi (AR)
Assistant Referees: Sergio Alvarenga; Sebastián Toledo
TMO: Ignacio Calle