Cafeteros Pro almost upset Peñarol

Los Cafeteros Pro almost upset Peñarol on Wednesday evening. The Colombians competed until the death in what was a match decided by a single point. Peñarol were 14-13 winners.

The Uruguayans put on their worst performance of the 2021 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) season. Los Cafeteros Pro caused them many problems and were in the contet throughout.

Peñarol were unable to play the percentages. Andrés Vilaseca played out of position at fly half. Inside him was Manuel Nogúes who performed well at scrum-half; yet, he was not given reliable set-piece ball. Peñarol’s lineout was particularly problematic. The loss of players to injuries and Nahuel Milan’s yellow card were both factors.

The Uruguayans scored the opening points. Federico Favaro dived over in the right corner for a 10th minute try. He converted his own score to give his team a 7-0 lead. It was the only score from the Uruguayans in the opening half.

Los Cafeteros Pro had an earlier scoring opportunity. A try was awarded only to be called-off following a TMO review which showed that there had been a clear forward pass. Additional opportuniies saw the Colombian side advancing deep into the Peñarol 22 only to conceed penalties or lose the bakk forward when on attack.

Two late attacks saw Los Cafeteros Pro secuiring points. Nicolás Roger and Gonzalo García each slotted a penalty late in the opening half. It set-up a 7-6 half-time scoreline. Peñarol were looking far from comfortable.

Roger was replaced just before half-time. The injury substitution saw a reshuffle with Facundo Ferrario moving from fullback to fly half. He filled the void well; the service from García at scrum-half helped as the former Pumitas captain put on a man of the match performance.

The laws of the game cost Los Cafeteros Pro. Following a knock-on, Los Cafeteros Pro made sure not to play the ball on the the ground in front of their teammate who had lost possession. Peñarol made them pay as rather than conceeding three points they conceeded seven. Tomás Inciarte’s soft try was the only remaining points of the match for the Uruguayans.

Peñarol did not threaten to add to their points following the 43rd minute try. Los Cafeteros Pro took thirty minutes to respond. It came from a patient try; a team effort with Enzo Ocampo touching down. García converted to put the Colombian side one point behind with seven minutes remaining.

An anxious García was yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on. Los Cafeteros Pro were unphased. They continued to explore avenues that may lead to points. They were unable to score which saw them finishing with a losing bonus point.

Los Cafeteros now go into Monday’s round nine contest on a high. They will be up against Os Cobras Brasil XV, a team which also played their best match of the season in round eight. Peñarol will be up against Selknam, a team who rotated heavily to face Los Jaguares XV in round eight.

SCORING

PEÑAROL
Try: Favaro 10′, Inciarte 43′
Conversion: Favaro 2 – 10′, 44′
Yellow Card: Milan 49′

CAFETEROS PRO
Try: Ocampo 72′
Conversion: García 73′
Penalty: Roger 34′, García 39′
Yellow Cards: Simes 55′, García 74′

TEAMS

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

Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Referee: Damián Schneider (Argentina)