History was made on Saturday as Los Capibaras defeated Selknam in Paraná. The team from El Litoral came back from a first-half deficit to complete a well-earned 34-17 victory. With it, Selknam return to Chile without having gained any competition points from the match.
Selknam won by four tries to three and to put salt in the wound of Selknam, their bonus point win came in the final minutes when they went clear too deny Selknam a losing bonus point.
Selknam will look back at there match video unhappily. Inaccurate goal-kicking prevented the Chilean team from taking control of the match and second-half yellow cards were fatal.
The first opportunity for points was a missed penalty on 3 minutes. Selknam’s early pressure, nonetheless, continued with Marcelo Torrealba finishing off a superb try down the left side. Nicolás Saab demonstrated why he is a Chilean to look out for At Rugby World Cup 2027 with the assist.
The second try was also a Chilean score. This time a perfectly-aimed kick through from Rodrigo Fernández was regathered with Matías Garafulic scoring after Saab made sure the ball remained in the field of play. The conversion attempt was wide but Selknam were looking formidable with a 12-0 lead.
Selknam’s troubles began shortly thereafter. Saab was yellow carded and Alfonso Escobar was replaced early which saw Raimundo Martínez on the field, completing his return to Super Rugby Americas after a stint with Bourgoin in France.
Los Capibaras took advantage of the one-man numerical difference as they ran in their only score of the opening half. A break down the right culminated with Lautaro Cipriani scoring. Ignacio Dogliani converted before Nicolás Saab returned for Selknam.
The second-half started with bang for the home side. Ignacio Dogliani scored and converted his own try. It gave Los Capibaras the lead for the first time in the contest. Dogliani added further points ten minutes later with a penalty.
Hard work from the Chilean forwards was rewarded on 58 minutes. Hooker Augusto Bohme scored in the left corner following breaking off a lineout to maul. Matías Garafulic missed the sideline conversion. Had he landed it and others then Selknam would have had seven additional points at that stage.
Selknam would not score again in the match. In contrast, Los Capibaras came back again to reclaim the lead with Dogliani landing a penalty on 61 minutes. Selknam lost two players to yellow cards with Los Capibaras deep in Selknam territory.
Late tries to Ignacio Dogliani and Gino DiCapua ensured victory for Los Capibaras and also made sure Selknam lost by a sizable margin. The result means three Semi Finals spots have now been taken. Los Capibaras join Los Dogos in the final four as well as Los Pampas who were winners on Friday.
Selknam still have a pathway to the Final Four but are in competition for the spot with Los Tarucas and Peñarol. A lot could happen in the final two rounds of the Super Rugby Americas season.
| SCORING |
CAPIBARAS (34)
TRY – L Cipriani (33′); I Dogliani 2 (41′, 77′); G Dicapua (80′)
CON – I Dogliani (34′, 42′, 78′, 80′)
PEN – I Dogliani (51′, 61′)
YC – G Chesini (4′)
SELKNAM (17)
TRY – M Torrealba (8′); M Garafulic (16′); A Bohme (18′)
CON – M Garafulic (9′)
YC – N Saab (26′); S Montagner (66′); M Garafulic (73′)
 LINE-UPS |
CAPIBARAS
1 Diego Correa, 2 Martín Vaca, 3 Enzo Avaca, 4 Lorenzo Colidio, 5 Lucas Bur, 6 Ignacio Gandini, 7 Felipe Villagrán, 8 Manuel Bernstein (capt.), 9 Alejo Sugasti, 10 Ignacio Dogliani, 11 Gino Dicapua, 12 Guido Chesini, 13 Bruno Heit, 14 Lautaro Cipriani, 15 Franco Rossetto
Replacements: 16 Bernardo Lis, 17 Juan Ignacio Rodríguez, 18 Ignacio Orsetti, 19 Francisco Benítez, 20 Bautista Grenon, 21 Juan Lovell, 22 Juan Bautista Baronio, 23 Tomás Sigura
SELKNAM
1 Emilio Shea, 2 Augusto Bohme, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Clemente Saavedra (capt.), 6 Alfonso Escobar, 7 Ernesto Tchimino, 8 Santiago Montagner, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Rodrigo Fernández, 11 Nicolás Saab, 12 Matías Garafulic, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Manuel Bustamante, 15 Cristóbal Game
Replacements: 16 Salvador Lues, 17 Javier Carrasco, 18 Norman Aguayo, 19 Agustín Toth, 20 Raimundo Martínez, 21 Lucas Berti, 22 Clemente Armstrong, 23 Augusto Villanueva
| MATCH HIGHLIGHTS |
Video: To Follow
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
VS
Referee: Tomás Ninci (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Juan Moyano (Argentina); Esteban Filipanics (Argentina)