Powerful Selknam down Pampas in Chile

Selknam entertained Los Pampas in Santiago on Saturday. The fixture saw two winning teams from week one of Super Rugby Americas battling-it-out in a competitive match in Santiago. Selknam were deserved 34-20 winners.

A solid start from Los Pampas was the visitors scoring first. Fullback José Ignacio Larenas slotted a 7th minute penalty goal. Two try scoring opportunities came in the following ten minutes but the Chilean defensive line held firm.

Pressure had nonetheless taken its toll. Selknam fullback Francisco Urroz was yellow carded for an intentional knock-on. Los Pampas looked to attack from a five meter scrum only for Selknam to win a penalty.

Selknam scored a great try at the other end of the field. Benjamín Videla made s half break and offloaded to Tomás Dussaillant in contact. Dussaillant took a tackle and passed from the floor to Clemente Saavedra who did the same to find Rodrigo Fernández. The fly half scored with the Pampas defense wondering what they had done wrong.

A second try came seven minutes later. The red-hot Selknam looked to score in the left corner only for Pablo Casas to bomb a guaranteed score. It mattered not as referee Damian Schneider was playing advantage. Selknam’s forwards attacked in raids with Clemente Saavedra ultimately scoring.

Urroz added a late penalty to make it a 17-3 ball-game with half-time approaching. Landó missed a 39th minute attempt; it was his second missed attempt of the half.

Los Pampas needed to improve in the second-half. They enjoyed a bright start. Selknam were down to 14-men for ten minutes with Ignacio Silva yellow carded in the 42nd minute. Los Pampas went for a lineout to maul attack. It culminated with captain Santiago Ruiz touching down in the try zone.

In a lesson ahead of the World Cup, Ignacio Silva was joined on the sidelines by Clemente Saavedra. Both were yellow carded for giving away penalties with the opposition hot-on-attack.

Selknam withstood the numerical disadvantage to score a great try. Benjamín Videla broke down the left and took a tackle. Quick recycling followed with the Chileans working together to look for space. Rodrigo Fernández ran in to the 22 and sent a wide pass out to Nicolás Garafulic who scored. Urroz’ conversion attempt hit the posts.

Saavedra returned and with it came the full force of the rolling-maul. Selknam had a double win with the team awarded a penalty tty and Javier Coronel yellow carded for cynical play with the maul advancing.

Selknam emptied their bench and looked to finish the match while having fun. Benjamín Elizalde predicted a pass and was spot-on as he intercepted and ran 65 meters to score. The try made it 29-15 with 11 minutes left.

A complacent Kick-off from Selknam followed. The kick went out on the full and the players turned their backs to walk back to their own half. Elizalde took a quick throw-in from half-way and Joaquín Lamas ran 51 meters to score. The TMO confirmed they try was legitimate.

Any chance of a freak comeback win by Los Pampas were quickly ended. Selknam attacked down the left through Urroz. Support play saw ARN’s pick for man-of-the-match, Matías Garafulic barging over for Selknam’s fifth try.

Selknam have a bye next weekend. They will rest while turning their attention to their round four match against Los Dogos in Córdoba. Los Pampas return to Buenos Aires to prepare for their first home match of the season. They face the American Raptors next Friday in round three.

 

SCORING

SELKNAM 34
Try – R Fernández (20′); C Saavedra (27′); N Garafulic (58′); Penalty Try (63′); M Garafulic (74′)
Con – S Videla 1/1 (21′); F Urroz 1/4 (27′)
Pen – R Urroz 1/1 (34′)
YC – F Urroz (12′); I Silva (42′); C Saavedra (49′)

PAMPAS 20
Try – S Ruiz (44′); B Elizalde (69′), J Lamas (70′)
Con – JI Larenas 1/3 (45′)
Pen – JI Larenas 1/3 (7′)
YC – J Coronel (63′)

 

TEAMS

SELKNAM
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Tomás Dussaillant, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Pablo Huete, 6 Clemente Saavedra, 7 Ignacio Silva, 8 Joaquín Milesi, 9 Benjamín Videla, 10 Rodrigo Fernández, 11 Pablo Casas, 12 Santiago Videla (capt.), 13 Matías Garafulic, 14 Nicolás Garafulic, 15 Francisco Urroz

Replacements: 16 Diego Escobar, 17 Salvador Lues, 18 Lucas Bordigoni, 19 Thomas Orchard, 20 Raimundo Martínez, 21 Lukas Carvallo, 22 Diego Warnken, 23 José Ignacio Larenas

 

PAMPAS
1 Miguel Prince, 2 Ramiro Gurovich, 3 Javier Coronel, 4 Manuel Bernstein, 5 Federico Lavanini, 6 Nicolás D’Amorim, 7 Jerónimo Ureta, 8 Santiago Ruiz (capt.), 9 Rafael Iriarte, 10 Joaquín de la Vega Mendía, 11 Tomás Passaro, 12 Manuel Alfaro, 13 Felipe de la Vega, 14 Benjamín Elizalde, 15 Juan Ignacio Landó

Replacements: 16 Rodrigo Pérez Boulan, 17 Matías Medrano, 18 Javier Corvalán, 19 Lorenzo Colidio, 20 Rodrigo Fernández Criado, 21 Eliseo Morales, 22 Joaquín Lamas, 23 Tomás Suárez Folch

 

MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Damian Schneider (AR)
Assistant Referees: Juan Manuel López (AR); Felipe Balbontín (CL)
TMO:  Ignacio Calle (CL)