Yacare and Os Cobras played out a thriller in Asunción. The second of two Friday Super Rugby Americas (SRA) fixtures had no winner. Hours after Los Capibaras upset Los Pampas in Rosario, Yacare and Os Cobras competed to a 25-25 draw in Asunción.
The result was a fair outcome given the competitiveness of the contest. Both teams were on top at different times and the lead exchanged hands. They both had poor discipline in the second half but were organized in the second; indeed, this was an even match.
In theory, had there been better goal-kicking from João do Amaral, then Os Cobras would have won. However, the reality is that Yacare got ahead but could not get sufficiently ahead and were caught with do Amaral scoring one minute from full-time.
do Amaral scored both the opening points and the final points. He landed a 3rd minute penalty which represented the only Cobras points until late in the second quarter. In the lengthily period in between hand, Yacare were on top after a double to hooker Matías Benítez.
Os Cobras burst to life after inspirational play from flanker Matheus Cláudio. The flanker has long been a very good defender and a battler at the breakdown but his offense was a weapon against Yacare. He scored tries in the 34th and 40th minutes to see the first-half ending on equilibrium.
Os Cobras outscored Yacare by two tries to one in the second-half. Both Cobras tries were fortunate but were, nonetheless, taken. South African Rosko Specman had a free run-in to score after a kick through on 45 minutes. This was at a time when Yacare were playing with 13 players.
Yacare’s response to the former South African 7’s player came on 55 minutes. After waves of attacks, replacement Estefano Aranda scored from close range. Joaquín Lamas converted and added a penalty for a five point lead with seven minutes remaining.
Os Cobras needed magic to score late and did so from inside their own 22. After kicking deep, Yacare ran back and got inside Cobras’ territory; however, the ball popped out and suddenly there was space and do Amaral scored in the right corner. He missed the conversion.
The introduction of Canadian Ethan Turner proved to be highly positive. The injection of the Canadian gave Os Cobras a new dimension and it saw more small opportunities for meters opening up. This was a decisive factor in Os Cobras snatching a late draw.
The end result is that Os Cobras secured three points and Yacare two. The teams both gained two points for the draw while the Brazilian side secured a bonus point for scoring four tries.
 SCORING |
YACARE (25)
TRY – M Benitez 2 (9′, 17′); E Aranda (55′)
CON – J Lamas 2 (10′, 56′)
PEN – J Lamas (22′, 73′)
YC – N Toth (40′); J Domínguez (43′)
COBRAS (25)
TRY – M Cláudio 2 (34′, 40′); R Specman (45′); J do Amaral (79′)
CON – J do Amaral (35′)
PEN – J do Amaral (3′)
YC – C Dias (15′); G Oliveira (43′)
| LINE-UPS |
YACARE
1 Nicolás Toth, 2 Matías Benítez, 3 Rodolfo Rivadeneira, 4 Mateo Gasparotti, 5 Joaquín Domínguez, 6 Ariel Núñez, 7 Manuel Todaro, 8 Juan Bautista Mernes, 9 Juan Cruz Strada, 10 Joaquín Lamas, 11 Juan González, 12 Sebastián Urbieta, 13 Ramiro Amarilla (capt.), 14 Joaquín Mussi, 15 Francisco Calello
Replacements: 16 Valentino Marciali, 17 Camilo Blasco, 18 Estefano Aranda, 19 Nahuel Kacerosky, 20 Francisco Bareiro, 21 Gonzalo Bareiro, 22 Francisco Gaspes, 23 Facundo Paiva
COBRAS
1 Brendon Alves, 2 Endy Willian Pinheiro, 3 Facundo Moreno, 4 Cleber Dias, 5 Hélder Lúcio, 6 Renato Santos, 7 Matheus Cláudio, 8 Adrio de Melo, 9 Gustavo Gobeti, 10 João do Amaral, 11 Robson Morais, 12 Robert Tenório, 13 Lorenzo Massari Temer (capt.), 14 Tasriq Mynhardt, 15 Rosko Specman
Replacements: 16 João Arraez, 17 Henrique Ferreira, 18 Lautaro Facundo Fanlo, 19 Gabriel Oliveira, 20 Mogimotsi Mokunyane, 21 André Arruda, 22 Ethan Turner, 23 Julián Leszczynski
| MATCH HIGHLIGHTS |
Video: To Follow
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
VS
Referee: Damián Schneider (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Nicolás Cotic (Argentina); Federico Solari (Argentina)
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