Los Capibaras left it late in Asunción. Having trailed for the entirety of the match against Yacare, the team from El Litoral sneaked past Yacare at the finish line to win 13-12. It was not a classic match and the rugby played was far from the best this season.
Yacare were 12-5 leaders at half-time and the scoreline remained as such until the final minutes. Los Capibaras found their way to victory after having had horrific ball-handling throughout the second-half and after Joaquín Lamas and Valentino Quattrochi both missed penalties that would have sealed a Yacare win.
The opening quarter was all about Yacare. Argentines Juan Cruz Strada and Joaquín Lamas both scored tries. Strada made a clean break and scored under the posts while Lamas intercepted Capibaras ball to run in for a long-range intercept try. Interestingly, both Strada and Lamas are into their fourth season with Yacare. Both could technically play for Paraguay, via residency, in 2027.
Teenage hooker Manuel Cuneo scored Los Capibaras first-half try. The score came from hard work from the forwards. It was unconverted which saw the deficit standing at 7 points.
The second-half took a long time for flow to begin. When it did it was good news for the visitors. Lautaro Cipriani scored an impressive try and did so in a favorable kicking position. However, Ignacio Dogliani’s conversion hit the posts.
Los Capibaras were two points behind with four minutes remaining in the contest. They had the ball and attacked up the middle. Having won considerable ground, Los Capibaras were awarded a penalty. This time Dogliani was on target to put his side 13-12 ahead.
Yacare tried to run the ball from deep with time up but it was not to be. As such, Los Capibaras are now 3-1 this season while Yacare remain winless after four rounds. Round five action will see Los Capibaras playing in Chile for the first time as they face Selknam while Yacare have home advantage against Los Tarucas.
 SCORING |
YACARE (12)
TRY – JC Strada (3′); J Lamas (19′)
CON – J Lamas (4′)
CAPIBARAS (13)
TRY – M Cuneo (28′); L Cipriani (75′)
PEN – I Dogliani (78′)
YC – I Orsetti (47′); J Mernes (73′)
| LINE-UPS |
YACARE
1 Nicolás Toth, 2 Jordi Chávez, 3 Gonzalo del Pazo, 4 Mateo Gasparotti, 5 Joaquín Domínguez, 6 Manuel Todaro, 7 Ariel Núñez, 8 Juan Bautista Mernes, 9 Juan Cruz Strada, 10 Joaquín Lamas, 11 Juan González 12 Sebastián Urbieta, 13 Ramiro Amarilla (capt.), 14 Facundo Paiva, 15 Francisco Calello
Replacements: 16 Valentino Rocco Ríos, 17 Peres Cesar, 18 Luis Enrique Quinteros, 19 Lautaro González Las Heras, 20 Francisco Bareiro, 21 Gonzalo Bareiro, 22 Rafael Bareiro, 23 Valentino Quattrochi
CAPIBARAS
1 Diego Correa, 2 Manuel Cuneo, 3 Lisandro Dipierri, 4 Lorenzo Colidio, 5 Lucas Bur, 6 Ignacio Gandini (capt.), 7 Felipe Villagrán, 8 Manuel Bernstein, 9 Alejo Sugasti, 10 Juan Bautista Baronio, 11 Gino Dicapua, 12 Guido Chesini, 13 Bruno Heit, 14 Lautaro Cipriani, 15 Francisco Lluch
Replacements: 16 Bernardo Lis, 17 Jorge Onorato, 18 Ignacio Orsetti, 19 Juan Segundo Huber, 20 Basilio Cañas, 21 Juan Lovell, 22 Ignacio Dogliani, 23 Bautista Estellés
| MATCH HIGHLIGHTS |
Video: To Follow
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
VS
Referee: Federico Solari (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Cauã Ricardo (Brazil); Sergio Alvarenga (Paraguay)