Forward Thinking (Vol 6, Iss 1): Peñarol vs the Rest

I was recently pondering to myself – what would a fantasy match-up look like between Uruguay’s professional players from Peñarol and abroad? After some thought I decided that in the Uruguayan context the real question ought to be that of Peñarol vs the rest. That is to say a match between Uruguay’s leading players from Peñarol vs the rest from home and abroad.

Peñarol played two matches in their inaugural year. The first was a SLAR warm-up match against Corinthians and the second was their first round fixture against Selknam. The team’s record stands at 1-1.

The initial plans for Uruguay’s involved in the SLAR was for two professional teams. They were to be the fierce soccer rivals of Peñarol and Nacional. Prior to the beginning of the 2020 season URU CEO Ricardo Martínez told me that the possibility remained an option going forward. The ongoing global crisis may have the final say.

The URU made sure that their one side was to be strong. They did not look to make an Uruguayan version of Los Jaguares. To the contrary, priority was given to assembling a strong side. This saw imported players arriving which gave Peñarol a roster which ticked all the boxes.

Of note is that Peñarol was assembled at a time wherein Uruguay was exporting more players abroad. The success of Los Teros resulted in clubs scouting test players following RWC 2015. The creation of Major League Rugby furthered this. In conjunction with the excellent High Performance Center in Montevideo, the result was shown to the world in Kamaishi.

All this has meant that Uruguay has a larger player pool to choose from. A fantasy match-up would not see entirely professional line-ups though, not right now that is. All positions are covered at Peñarol, though the same is not true abroad. At present Uruguay does not have professional centers in professional leagues.

Filling the mid-field void for ‘The Rest’ can be achieved domestically. There are players from Los Teritos and the Uruguay XV to consider. Both Felipe Arcos Pérez and Alfonso Costa were impressive in 2019 and have been named in the mid-field for this reason.

Aside from the centers, ‘The Rest’ is fully professional. Of those names Reinaldo Piussi is the one non-capped player. Of capped players not abroad and not at Peñarol there are also names to consider. The tight head spot, for instance, could go to Juan Pedro Rombys.

For 2021 and beyond there are options for the URU and Peñarol to consider. One such case is that of playing a home match against Los Jaguares. In 2019 Uruguay played against the Argentine Super Rugby team in a pre-season match. Rather than repeat such a fixture, having Peñarol okay instead is arguably more plausible.

Above all else a  Peñarol vs ‘The Rest’ match is a useful exercise to evaluate the status of Uruguay’s top talent. The conclusion is that Uruguayan rugby has never been stronger. This just leaves the question of who would win a fantasy match of Peñarol vs ‘The Rest’?