Pampas March On with Solid Road Showing Against Selknam

Los Pampas completed an impressive road win on Saturday. The Buenos Aires side were 41-19 winners away against Selknam in Santiago del Chile. The victory sees the side firmly in the play-off’s picture while the pressure is piling-up on Selknam and on defending champions Peñarol.

A combative opening quarter was won 6-0 by the visitors. Joaquín de la Vega Mendía landed two penalties though it could have been worse for Selknam after Inti Ubeda was yellow carded. Center Justo Piccardo underlined his abilities with a superb mid-field break to score. With it Los Pampas were 13-0 ahead.

Selknam’s opening score was worth the wait. From a lineout, scrum-half Marcelo Torrealba broke clear and linked with Franco Velarde. The winger showed genuine pace to score. He converted his own try and another two minutes later. This time it was teenager Nicolás Saab scoring in the other quarter.

The home fans were treated to a 14-13 half-time lead and it got better after the resumption. Rookie center Martín Dumay extended the lead with a 42nd minute try. Velarde missed the scoring but, more importantly, Selknam would not score further points.

When Javier Carrasco was yellow carded the pressure gave way. Ramiro Gurrovich charged into the try zone for the Argentines. de la Vega Mendía converted to make it a one point ball-game.

The final quarter started with Los Pampas wrapping up the result. Replacement back-rower Joaquín Moro continued his excellent rookie season. His try meant Selknam were 8 points behind. The deficit combined with first half injuries meant the task at hand was very tough for the Chileans.

Bruno Heit and Santiago Pernas ran in late tries to give Los Pampas a very strong finish and with it a big win. Los Pampas will be looking for a repeat next weekend when they play host to Peñarol. Selknam need to regather and travel to Córdoba, Argentina to face leaders Los Dogos.

MATCH SCORING

SELKNAM (19)
Try (3) – F Velarde (36′); N Saab (39′); M Dumay (42′)
Con (2) – F Velarde (37′, 39′)
YC (2) – I Ubeda (12′); J Carrasco (48′)

PAMPAS (41)
Try (5) – J Piccardo (31′); R Gurovich (49′); J Moro (60′); B Heit (72′); S Pernas (80′)
Con (5) – J de la Vega Mendía (32′, 51′, 61′, 73′, 81′)
Pen (2) – J de la Vega Mendía (13′, 19′)

LINEUPS

SELKNAM
1 Salvador Lues, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Clemente Saavedra (capt.), 5 Santiago Pedrero, 6 Raimundo Martínez, 7 Alfonso Escobar, 8 Into Ubeda, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Felipe Méndez, 11 Franco Velarde, 12 Martín Dumay, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Nicolás Saab, 15 Iñaki Delguy

Replacements: 16 Simón Donoso, 17 Javier Carrasco, 18 Ignacio González, 19 Javier Eissmann, 20 Andrés Kuzmanic, 21 Sebastián Bianchi, 22 José Larenas, 23 Federico Kennedy

PAMPAS
1 Javier Corvalán, 2 Ramiro Gurovich, 3 Estanislao Carullo, 4 Eliseo Fourcade, 5 Marcelo Toledo, 6 Manuel Bernstein (capt.), 7 Nicolás D’Amorim, 8 Tomás Bernasconi, 9 Mateo Albanese, 10 Joaquín de la Vega Mendía, 11 Jerónimo Ulloa, 12 Justo Piccardo, 13 Bruno Heit, 14 Santiago Pernas, 15 Benjamín Elizalde

Replacements: 16 Valentino Minoyetti, 17 Renzo Zanella, 18 Tomás Rapetti, 19 Rodrigo Fernández Criado, 20 Joaquín Moro, 21 Ignacio Inchauspe, 22 Marcos Eliçagaray, 23 Juan Pablo Castro

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

MATCH INFO

Date: Saturday, March 16
Venue: Estadio Municipal de La Pintana
Kickoff: 4:40pm (CL); 5:40pm (AR)
Weather Forecast: Sunny, 27°C; wind (3-10 km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN; Star +

OFFICIALS

Referee: Francisco González (UY)
Assistants: Gonzalo de Achával; Frank Méndez
TMO: Ignacio Calle