Hosts Colombia have been crowned CONSUR South American Division B champions after a 27-10 win over Venezuela in Saturday's title decider at the Estadio Santiago Rambay.
The Toucans had won both their previous matches in the tournament at a canter, with 112-0 and 56-6 victories over Ecuador and Peru respectively, but they were made to work harder for their third straight success on the artificial playing surface at the state-of-the-art facility in Apartadó.
Colombia had raced into a 27-0 lead after only 25 minutes with number 8 Sebastian Mejia scoring three of their four tries, the other coming from scrum half Oscar Forero. Venezuela rallied with a try from centre Carlos Barbosa just before the break, but neither side were then able to add to their tally in the second half.
The win also lifted Colombia two places in the IRB World Rankings to 58th.
In the third place play-off, it was Peru who took the honours with a 23-17 victory over Ecuador.
CONSUR Division B 2014
31/08/14 - Colombia 112-0 Ecuador
31/08/14 - Peru 28-33 Venezuela
03/09/14 - Venezuela 68-3 Ecuador
03/09/14 - Colombia 56-6 Peru
06/09/14 - Ecuador 17-23 Peru
06/09/14 - Colombia 27-10 Venezuela
Total Rugby: Report on Colombia
