Selknam underlined themselves as the leading non-Argentine team in Super Rugby Americas (SRA) in the 2026 season. The Chilean side were 34-13 winners over Yacare in the Saturday fixture.
Played in front of the largest attendance at the Estadio Héroes de Curupayty in Asunción this season, Selknam gained the maximum five competition points on over while denying Yacare any. It was a determined and hard-fought victory as only one point separated the two teams at the midway stage of the contest.
Selknam played a match similar to that of a test match. The team set about winning small battles and building a scoreline. When the lead was established the team looked to continue adding points rather than seeking to score one try after the next.
The game-plan proved to be successful as Selknam converted a 14-13 half-time lead into a 34-13 victory. Selknam outscored Yacare by two tries to one in the first half. Selknam’s opening half tries involved power and flair. Hooker Augusto Böhme scored after breaking from a maul while Rodrigo Fernández passed inside for Domingo Saavedra to score.
Yacare came back form 14-0 down to be one point adrift at the interval. Fullback Francisco Calello scored for Yacare on 24 minutes. He did so by slicing inside cover defense. Calello is from the San Cirano club in Buenos Aires, the same club that produced Italian cap, Juan Ignacio Brex.
Former SIC fly half, Joaquín Lamas converted the try and landed two penalties late in the half; the second of which was 4 minutes after the 40 minute mark. Lamas is now based in Paraguay playing for San José Rugby y Hockey Club. He is a project player who joined Yacare in 2024 and could become eligible for Paraguay in the next Rugby World Cup cycle.
The second-half saw Selknam taking control and coming away with victory and the crucial competition points. It came in the form of two second-half tries and two penalties.
As was the case a week early, Rodrigo Fernández continues to feature as try-assist provider. Like he did in the opening half for Domingo Saavedra’s score, he provided the last pass for Alfonso Escobar to score. However, this time the try saw the flanker kicking through rather than receiving. Escobar then fooled two Yacare defenders to score.
The final Selknam try was a work of art for lovers of forwards play. A rolling maul of more than 20 meters culminated with Yacare giving way and collapsing. With it, referee Esteban Filipanics awarded a penalty try and went to his pocket.
Yacare lost three players to yellow cards during the match as did Selknam. The difference was that Selknam’s infringements were all in the opening half.
With the bonus point secured, Selknam played the remainder of the contest to see out victory. It was not without some nervous times as Yacare had a disallowed try. However, Selknam were ultimately in control and a pair of penalties to Matías Garafulic saw the Chileans win by a margin of 21 points.
The result sees Selknam temporarily up to 3rd on the SRA table. This is so ahead of the two remaining matches of the round. Both Los Capibaras and Los Tarucas can gain points from winning their respective matches against Os Cobras and Peñarol.
 SCORING |
YACARE (13)
TRY – F Calello (24′)
CON – J Lamas (25′)
PEN – J Lamas (38′, 40′)
YC – N Toth (5′); E Quinteros (58′); C Blasco (61′)
SELKNAM (34)
TRY – A Böhme (6′); D Saavedra (16′); A Escobar (45′); Penalty Try (61′)
CON – M Garafulic (7′, 17′, 46′); No Kick (61′)
PEN – M Garafulic (72′, 79′)
YC – S Pedrero (5′); A Böhme (37′); A Toth (40′)
| LINE-UPS |
YACARE
1 Nicolás Toth, 2 Jordi Tobias Chavez, 3 Rodolfo Rivadeneira, 4 Mateo Gasparotti, 5 Joaquín Domínguez Herrera, 6 Manuel Todaro, 7 Ariel Núñez, 8 Juan Bautista Mernes, 9 Juan Cruz Strada, 10 Joaquín Lamas, 11 Juan González, 12 Sebastian Urbieta, 13 Ramiro Amarilla (capt.), 14 Arturo López, 15 Francisco Calello
Replacements: 16 Valentino Rocco Marciali Ríos, 17 Camilo Blasco, 18 Luis Enrique Quinteros, 19 Matías Muniagurria, 20 Francisco Luis Bareiro, 21 Gonzalo Bareiro, 22 Francisco Gaspes, 23 Valentino Quattrochi
SELKNAM
1 Emilio Shea, 2 Augusto Böhme, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Agustín Toth, 6 Clemente Saavedra (capt.), 7 Alfonso Escobar, 8 Santiago Montagner, 9 Lucas Berti, 10 Rodrigo Fernández, 11 Nicolás Saab, 12 Matías Garafulic, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Manuel Bustamante, 15 Cristóbal Game
Replacements: 16 Norman Aguayo, 17 Salvador Luis, 18 Baltazar Gurruchaga, 19 Maximilano Schlesinger, 20 Martín Sigren, 21 Juan Sebastián Bianchi, 22 Ernesto Tchimino, 23 Nicolás Garafulic
| MATCH HIGHLIGHTS |
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
VS
Referee: Esteban Filipanics (Argentina)