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Peñarol have named a powerful roster for the 2022 SLAR season. The Uruguayan side includes players back at home from Major League Rugby (MLR) and from Europe. The recruitment ought to mean that the team will again be competitive in 2022. Peñarol were beaten finalists in the 2021 season.
Head Coach Pablo Bouza will have N8 Manuel Diana back from the Toronto Arrows and second-rower Diego Magno back from the Houston SaberCats. Scrum-half Juan Manuel Tafernaberry is back from Stade Français to join the team.
Nahuel Milan is back for a second season with the club. He is one of two Argentines on the 2022 Peñarol roster. The second player is Nicolás Roger who was the starting fly half for Los Cafeteros Pro in SLAR 2021. He is also the younger brother of Martín Roger who was a standout performer for Peñarol in 2021 at fly half.
The heavy Uruguayan contingent sees opportunities for established test players and also for youth. There are uncapped players as well as u20’s names.
The roster also features a number of changes from 2021. Argentine scrum half Manuel Nogués will not play for Peñarol this year. He has been linked to a move to Colombian entrant, Los Cafeteros Pro. Martín Roger is now playing in Italy and fellow Argentines Conrado Roura and Facundo Pomponio now play for Dallas Jackals in MLR and for Floianc in France respectively.
Uruguayan movement has seen Nicolás Freitas joining Vannes in France and Juan Manuel Alonso now with the Brive espoirs. Facundo Gattas is attached to Hindú in Buenos Aires while Ezequiel Ramos, Marcos Chamyan and Alejandro Nieto are now attached to their Uruguayan clubs.
PEÑAROL
PROP
Peñarol have plenty of experience at prop. The team contains RWC 2019 players on both sides of the front-row. Others who are being developed for the future will gain tremendously from being together with the likes of Diego Arbelo, Matías Benítez and Juan Echeverría as Uruguay build towards RWC 2023.
| PLAYER | CAPS |
| Diego Arbelo | Uruguay (17) |
| Matías Benítez | Uruguay (38) |
| Juan Echeverría | Uruguay (59) |
| Mathias Franco | – |
| Agustín Méndez | – |
| Ignacio Peculo | Uruguay (4) |
| Mateo Perillo | Uruguay (1) |
| Ignacio Rua | – |
HOOKER
There is a notable missing name from that of SLAR 2021 in Facundo Gattas. Instead of playing SLAR, he is in Buenos Aires with Hindú. Guillermo Pujadas is now the one capped hooker on the roster. Two rookies will compete to be his understudy.
| PLAYER | CAPS |
| Emiliano Faccenini | – |
| Joaquín Myszka | – |
| Guillermo Pujadas | Uruguay (18) |
SECOND-ROW
Nahuel Milan is back for a second season with Peñarol. He held down a starting position in one of Uruguay’s troubled positions. The lack of depth has often seen a flanker playing in the position for Los Teros. Diego Magno has moved between the positions throughout his career. He brings years of MLR experience with him to Peñarol.
| PLAYER | CAPS |
| Felipe Aliaga | Uruguay (3) |
| Agustín Doño | – |
| Tomás Etcheverry | Uruguay (1) |
| Juanjuan Garese | Uruguay (4) |
| Diego Magno | Uruguay (97) |
| Nahuel Milan | Argentina XV |
FLANKER
Manuel Ardao and Santiago Civetta are probable starters at flanker for Uruguay at RWC 2023. They are joined by Eric Dosantos and rookies as flankers on the Peñarol roster for 2022. As noted in regards to the second-row, player movement is probable with between the positions.
| PLAYER | CAPS |
| Manuel Ardao | Uruguay (18) |
| Lucas Bianchi | – |
| Santiago Civetta | Uruguay (16) |
| Juan Martín David | – |
| Eric Dosantos | Uruguay (8) |
| Renato Scremini | – |
N8
Manuel Diana is back from the Toronto Arrows to play SLAR. He is established as Uruguay’s top N8. Carlos Deus will enter the 2022 season as Diana’s understudy. Alejandro Nieto is playing club rugby rather than professional rugby.
| PLAYER | CAPS |
| Carlos Deus | – |
| Manuel Diana | Uruguay (33) |
SCRUM-HALF
A position that Uruguay excels in is scrum-half. Despite Santiago Arata and Agustín Ormaechea playing in France the trio of Santiago Álvarez, Tomás Inciarte and Juan Manuel Tafernaberry give Peñarol more than enough reliable options. Tafernaberry is back from a stint with Stade Français while Inciarte will likely continue to move between scrum-half and center.
| PLAYER | CAPS |
| Santiago Álvarez | – |
| Tomás Inciarte | Uruguay (23) |
| Juan Manuel Tafernaberry | Uruguay (1) |
FLY HALF
Felipe Etcheverry was set to feature heavily in SLAR 2021. Late injury ruled him out only for him to return in time for the RWC 2023 qualifiers. Nicolás Roger joins Etcheverry for SLAR 2022. It is a move from the Colombian team to the Uruguayan for the man from northern Argentina.
| PLAYER | CAPS |
| Felipe Etcheverry | Uruguay (11) |
| Nicolás Roger | Argentina XV |
CENTER
Andrés Vilaseca will lead without the support of longtime Teros teammate Nicolás Freitas. His move to the Pro D2 opens the door for Felipe Arcos Pérez and others. Koba Brazionis is an exciting prospect while Mateo Viñals impressed in 2021 as a winger. The makeup of the roster may mean Viñals plays wing and center this year.
| PLAYER | CAPS |
| Felipe Arcos Pérez | Uruguay (5) |
| Koba Brazionis | – |
| Augusto Paullier | – |
| José Perrone | – |
| Andrés Vilaseca | Uruguay (66) |
| Mateo Viñals | Uruguay (1) |
WING
Federico Favaro is the probable starting goal-kicker for Peñarol. This has been the case for Uruguay when Felipe Etcheverry has been the fly half. If and when Nicolás Roger starts at fly half for Peñarol then others may well receive opportunities out-wide. José Maria Iruleguy is an outstanding player in the making for Uruguay.
| PLAYER | CAPS |
| Bautista Basso | – |
| Francisco Berchesi | – |
| Federico Favaro | Uruguay (38) |
| Javier Garese | – |
| José Maria Iruleguy | Uruguay (1) |
FULLBACK
Former MLR player Rodrigo Silva has moved around the backs for Uruguay. He may well play wing not fullback to enable Baltazar Amaya to be the regular starter at the back. Amaya has been highly impressive for the Uruguay XV and Uruguay ‘A.’ 2022 looms as a strong opportunity for him to become a permanent member of Los Teros’ starting backline.
| PLAYER | CAPS |
| Ignacio Álvarez | – |
| Baltazar Amaya | Uruguay (1) |
| Rodrigo Silva | Uruguay (69) |
