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The final match of round either of the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) will be Peñarol vs Los Cafeteros Pro. It is an Uruguayan vs a Colombian team; yet, it is also a match wherein two Colombians who were on the 2020 Peñarol roster will play for Los Cafeteros Pro. Diver Ceballos and Danny Giraldo will provide Los Cafeteros Pro with some inside secrets about their former team.
Peñarol enter following a solid win over Os Cobras. In addition to form, the Uruguayan side also have positioning on their side. Peñarol are comfortably in second position. A win over Los Cafeteros Pro will see the team closing-in on securing second spot the finish the regular season in a means which avoids a Semi Final against Los Jaguares XV.
A team will take to the field with the above in mind. Peñarol’s line-up is one of rotation;, yet it is one selected to win the match itself. Conrado Roura and Nicolás Freitas earn rests while Santiago Civetta, and Martín Roger will feature from the bench. Roger’s place at fly half goes to Andrés Vilaseca who will captain the side out of position. Federico Favaro will be the goal-kicker from the right wing.
Experimentation in the forwards sees Carlos Deus starting at lock and Lucas Bianchi at flanker. They will have cover from the bench in the form of specialists Felipe Aliaga and Santiago Civetta.
Los Cafeteros Pro continue to approach every match differently. The team that faced Los Jaguares XV had fourteen Colombians in the starting line-up. The policy enabled a rotation of players to take-on the easier opposition that is Peñarol. The outcome is the genuine first choice backline will start. It sees Gonzalo García captaining the side from scrum-half. He joins Nicolás Roger in the halves. Fellow Argentines Tomás García, Santiago Resino, and Facundo Ferrario start in the centers and at fullback.
The forward pack also sees Argentines returning to start. Overall, the Colombian SLAR side has an Argentine majority; notwithstanding, there is a healthy number of Colombians. The team named to face Peñarol is one which should be competitive.
Peñarol enter the match as firm favorites. ARN projects a win for Uruguayan side, but a much different encounter to that from earlier on in the season. Los Cafeteros Pro will score tries and threaten to complete a four try bonus point. This will not prevent Peñarol from winning by 25 points and claiming a bonus point.
Kickoff is set for 9:00pm local time, Asunción, Buenos Aires and Brasília; 8:00pm Santiago; and 7pm Bogotá. Live broadcasts will be provided by ESPN in the competing countries.
PEÑAROL
1 Matías Benítez, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Facundo Pomponio, 4 Carlos Deus, 5 Nahuel Milan, 6 Marcos Chamyan, 7 Lucas Bianchi, 8 Manuel Ardao, 9 Manuel Nogúes, 10 Andrés Vilaseca, 11 Mateo Viñals, 12 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 13 Tomás Inciarte, 14 Federico Favaro, 15 José Maria Iruleguy
Replacements: 16 Facundo Gattas, 17 Ignacio Peculo, 18 Juan Echeverría, 19 Felipe Aliaga, 20 Santiago Civetta, 21 Santiago Álvarez, 22 Martín Roger, 23 Rodrigo Silva
CAFETEROS PRO
1 Javier Corvalán, 2 Agustín Acosta, 3 Diego Posada, 4 Lautaro Simes, 5 Tomás Etcheverry, 6 Enzo Ocampo, 7 Felipe Puertas, 8 Gerson Ortíz, 9 Gonzalo García (capt.), 10 Nicolás Roger, 11 Alejandro Navarro, 12 Tomás García, 13 Santiago Resino, 14 Jhon Arley Urrutia, 15 Facundo Ferrario
Replacements: 16 Jorge Álvarez, 17 Yani Pérez, 18 Brayhan Pérez, 19 Jhon Álvarez, 20 Danny Giraldo, 21 Diver Ceballos, 22 Julián Navarro, 23 Jhojan Ortíz
Date: Wednesday, April 21
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Kickoff: 9:00pm (Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Brasília), 8:00pm (Santiago), 7:00pm (Bogotá)
Referee: Damián Schneider (Argentina)
Broadcast: ESPN America Latina, ESPN Brasil
Historical Results:
2021-03-25 – Peñarol 54, Cafeteros Pro 3 (Estadio Elías Figueroa, Valparaiso, Chile)
