Peñarol outclass improved Cobras

Peñarol outclassed Os Cobras Brasil XV this afternoon in Montevideo. The Uruguayan side were 40-12 winners over the Brazilian outfit in a round seven match in the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). The win gives Peñarol a 6-1 season record and a firm grip on second place of the SLAR standings.

Peñarol scored first and were never overtaken. The Uruguayans opening score saw more of the same from earlier rounds; hooker Guillermo Pujadas scored from an attacking lineout. Peñarol set-up a rolling maul and the hooker was credited with the score. Martín Roger added the conversion to give Peñarol a 7-0 lead at the 10 minute mark.

The strong Peñarol start went from good to better; three minutes after their first try they had their second. Speedster Juan Manuel Alonso went over. Peñarol used the width of the field to their advantage with Alonso in the right place at the right time to touch down. Roger converted the winger’s try to give the Uruguayan SLAR franchise a dream opening to the contest.

Os Cobras Brasil XV would not lay down. Their forwards competed and won some battles. Their hard work saw them opening their account with a push-over try. No8 Matheus Cláudio scored in the 26th minute. Moisés Duque’s missed the conversion attempt. The try was a rare moment wherein Os Cobras had possession during the opening half.

A theme throughout the season for Peñarol has been the play of Nicolás Freitas. Whether he has played wing, inside center or outside center, he has had a non-stop work rate. It was no different today. The captain of the day, scored Peñarol’s third try. He ran around Douglas Rauth to score.

The teams returned for the second half with different goals. On the one hand, Peñarol needed one further try for the bonus point. On the other hand, Os Cobras needed to stage a dramatic fightback to claim an unlikely win. What transpired was a similar second half to that of the first.

Errors continued from both teams, as did points in similar manners to that from the opening half. Replacement hooker Facundo Gattas scored a try from a rolling maul. Os Cobras responded through Mateus Rocha. The replacement prop went over from a quick taken tap-penalty five meters out. Duque converted from wide.

Peñarol stuck to their guns and were awarded. Yet again the weapon was a lineout and a maul. Gattas went over for his second try, and third hooker’s try for Peñarol of the match. In their one miss of the match, Federico Favaro’s conversion was wide.

Then, with time up, they looked again to the lineout and maul. Gattas again threw and went to the tail of the maul. It barged its way over, but was illegally taken down. Peñarol were awarded a penalty try. With it came the final whistle.

SCORING

PEÑAROL 40
Tries: Pujadas 9′, Alonso 12′, Freitas 33′, Gattas 57, 77′, Penalty Try 80′
Conversions: Roger 10′, 12′, 34′, 57′
Yellow Card: Arbelo 51′

COBRAS 12
Tries: Cláudio 26′, Rocha 66′
Conversion: Duque 67′
Yellow Card: Silva 32′

TEAMS

PEÑAROL
1 Juan Echeverría, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Diego Arbelo, 4 Felipe Aliaga, 5 Nahuel Milan, 6 Marcos Chamyan, 7 Eric do Santos, 8 Santiago Civetta, 9 Manuel Nogúes, 10 Martín Roger, 11 Juan Manuel Alonso, 12 Nicolás Freitas (capt.), 13 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 14 Federico Favaro, 15 Baltazar Amaya

Replacements: 16 Facundo Gattas, 17 Facundo Pomponio, 18 Matías Benítez, 19 Lucas Bianchi, 20 Manuel Ardao, 21 Carlos Deus, 22 Andrés Vilaseca, 23 Santiago Álvarez

COBRAS
1 Lucas Abud, 2 Santiago Grippo, 3 Joel Ramirez, 4 Alexandre Alves, 5 Gabriel Paganini, 6 Arthur Bergo, 7 Manuel Bernstein, 8 Matheus Cláudio, 9 Douglas Rauth, 10 Moisés Duque, 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Gabriel Quirino, 13 Felipe Sancery (capt), 14 Robert Tenório, 15 Franco Giudice

Replacements: 16 Leonardo Silva, 17 Caique Silva, 18 Mateus Rocha, 19 Cléber Días, 20 André Arruda, 21 Felipe Cunha, 22 Lucas Spago, 23 Marcos de Sanctis

Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Referee: Esteban Filipanics (Argentina)