Peñarol Back on Track with Screaming Start against Selknam

Peñarol are back on track. The Uruguayan franchise got off to a freak start against Selknam which provided unstoppable. Additional tries powered the Uruguayans to a bonus point win as Selknam were left to contemplate what might have been had it not been for the screaming start from Peñarol.

In a deadly blow for Selknam, Rafael Iriarte paid the ultimate price for carelessness. His attempted box-kick from one meter out from the try zone was charged-down by Carlos Deus. The Uruguayan scored. Fly half Juan Andrés Zuccaino converted for a 7-0 lead.

Selknam looked to recover smartly. Instead, they were punished again as their rush defense saw space opening up. Zuccarino made a half break before passing to Ignacio Álvarez. The fullback ran 65 meters and threw a dummy en route to the try zone.

Peñarol were 12-0 up. The teams then exchanged penalties as the game settled down at 15-3 to the home side. Peñarol had two second quarter opportunities to score. Selknam’s defense managed to hold firm.

When it appeared as if the Chileans had held the fort down, they leaked a third try. It was skill and execution that did it; Juan Manuel Alonso off-loaded in a tackle. Uncapped winger Dante Soto then dived over for the try. Ignacio Álvarez landed the conversion for a 22-3 lead late in the half.

Rafael Iriarte made-up for his early error to score the opening try of the second-half. The Argentina XV scrum-half touched down after Nicolás Saab and Felipe Méndez combined to put him into space. Tomás Salas converted to reduce the deficit to 12 points.

Good work had Selknam raiding the try zone minutes later. Captain Clemente Saavedra knocked-on while trying to dive over the ruck. It proved to be the ballgame as Peñarol hit-back through Juan Manuel Alonso. This time it was Soto who provided Alonso with the assist.

Selknam’s second try came on full-time; captain Clemente Saavedra went over following two Peñarol yellow cards. Before then, Ignacio Álvarez slotted two penalties to see his side over the victory line.

The result means Peñarol, Selknam and Yacare are now all in the hunt for two Semi Finals places. Next weekend’s feature match will be in Asunción, Paraguay with Yacare hosting Peñarol. Selknam travel to Buenos Aires to face SRA leaders Los Pampas.

SCORING

PENAROL (35)
Try (4) – C Deus (8′), I Álvarez (12′), D Soto (35′), JM Alonso (58′)
Con (3) – JA Zuccarino (9′); I Álvarez 2 (36′, 59′)
Pen (3) – I Álvarez (20′, 69′, 78′)
YC (2) – H de la Mota (71′), A Morals (79′)

SELKNAM (17)
Try (2) – R Iriarte (47′), C Saavedra (80′)
Con (2) – T Salas (48′, 80′)
Pen (1) – T Salas (22′)

LINEUPS

PENAROL
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Leonel Oviedo, 3 Franco Mathias, 4 Manuel Rosmarino, 5 Juan Manuel Rodríguez, 6 Santiago Civetta (capt.), 7 Lucas Bianchi, 8 Carlos Deus, 9 Pedro Hoblog, 10 Juan Zuccarino, 11 Dante Soto, 12 Juan Manuel Alonso, 13 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 14 Gastón Mieres, 15 Ignacio Álvarez

Replacements: 16 Joaquín Myszka, 17 Mateo Perillo, 18 Horacio de la Mota, 19 Agustín Morales, 20 Felipe Aliaga, 21 Santiago Álvarez, 22 Ícaro Amarillo, 23 Joaquín Suárez

SELKNAM
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Tomás Dussaillant, 3 Salvador Lues, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Alfonso Escobar, 7 Clemente Saavedra (capt.), 8 Raimundo Martínez, 9 Rafael Iriarte, 10 Tomás Salas, 11 José Larenas, 12 Nicolás Saab, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Iñaki Delguy, 15 Felipe Méndez

Replacements: 16 Diego Escobar, 17 Norman Aguayo, 18 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 19 Augusto Sarmiento, 20 Federico Albrisi, 21 Marcelo Torrealba, 22 Sebastián Bianchi, 23 Andrés Kuzmanic

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

OFFICIALS

Referee: Pablo Deluca (AR)
Assistants: Francisco González (UY); Claudio Cattivelli (AR)
TMO: Francisco Pesce (AR)