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And then there were four. The top performer of the regular season of the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) take on the fourth placed performer in the SLAR 2022 Semi Finals. Peñarol have home advantage against Los Cafeteros Pro. The fixture was not likely to happen but it is happening; the Colombian side pulled a rabbit out of their hat to reach the final four and they are not done yet.
Peñarol are unbeaten against Los Cafeteros Pro. The Uruguayans were convincing winers in the first meeting between the teams in 2021 and they won a tight contest in the second also in 2021. The 2022 matches were both won cleanly by Peñarol, thougn Los Cafeteros Pro were competitive in the second match.
The SLAR 2022 season has hit Peñarol’s roster. Players have been lost to injuries over recent rounds. Center Felipe Arcos Pérez, scrum-half Juan Manuel Taffernaberry and prop Diego Arbelo are all sidelined.
Despite the set-back’s Peñarol’s line-up remains one that Uruguay could field in a test match against a reputable opponent. The exception is second-rower Nahuel Milán. The former Argentine u20’s lock is the only non-Uruguayan in the starting formation.
Test players are spread with Matías Benítez, Guillermo Pujadas, and Ignacio Peculo, up front and Eric Dosantos in the second-row. The most capped player in Americas Rugby history, Diego Magno, will cover Milan and Dosantos from the replacements bench.
The star Peñarol forward in SLAR 2022 has undoubtedly been Manuel Ardao. He starts at N8 rather than flanker. This enables impressive rookie Lucas Bianchi to join Santiago Civetta on the side of the scrum.
As expected, Peñarol have moved Tomás Inciarte back from inside center to scrum-half. This was made inevitable with injury to Taffernaberry. Inciarte will reform the season’s usual halves combination with Inciarte playing inside Felipe Etcheverry.
Uruguay captain Andrés Vilaseca leads Peñarol from inside center. The only uncapped player, aside from Milan, in the line-up is Bautista basso who will play at outside center. Baltazar Amaya, Mateo Viñals, and Rodrigo Silva start in the back-three.
Los Cafeteros Pro lack the caps of Peñarol but not the passion. The team is loaded with players pressing for opportunities either with Colombia or the Argentina XV. The commitment of Felipe Puertas against the Olímpia Lions to see his team into the Semi Finals was exemplary.
Puertas starts at the back of the scrum. Joaquín Sánchez and José Ignacio Gálvez join him in the back-row. This brings with it a surprise as star Colombian Diver Ceballos drops to the bench. Ceballos will cover the second-row, a necessary selection with Eliseo Fourcade out of SLAR 2022 through suspension.
Also missing is Javier Corvalán. The 25-year-old has had an excellent season; arguably being the best loose head prop in the South American league. Colombian Diego Posada starts at loose head and fellow Colombian Carlos Angulo Reyes will play tight head.
A potential Puma of the future, Federico Lavanini starts with Gregório Hernández in the second-row. Additional players to have put up their hand for international honors for Argentina can be identified. Puertas is one and others are scrum-half Eliseo Morales, fly half Julián Hernández, and center Manuel Alfaro. The consistent Leonado Gea also starts while Franco Giudice will captain Los Cafeteros Pro from fullback.
The match will be the second SLAR Semi Final for Peñarol. The Uruguayans defeated Selknam in 2021 to book a place in the Final. Los Cafeteros Pro will contest their first Semi Final. The team’s improvement this year has been one of the feature stories of SLAR 2022. It has also sent warnings that must be taken seriously. Peñarol cannot be complacent.
TEAMS
PENAROL
1 Matías Benítez, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Ignacio Peculo, 4 Eric Dosantos, 5 Nahuel Milán, 6 Lucas Bianchi, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manuel Ardao, 9 Tomás Inciarte, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Baltazar Amaya, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Bautista Basso, 14 Mateo Viñals, 15 Rodrigo Silva
Replacements: 16 Emiliano Faccennini, 17 Mateo Perilo, 18 Mathias Franco, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Carlos Deus, 21 Santiago Álvarez, 22 Nicolás Roger, 23 Federico Favaro
CAFETEROS PRO
1 Diego Posada, 2 Tomás Bartolini, 3 Carlos Angulo Reyes, 4 Gregório Hernández, 5 Federico Lavanini, 6 José Ignacio Gálvez, 7 Joaquín Sánchez, 8 Felipe Puertas, 9 Eliseo Morales, 10 Julián Hernández, 11 Juan David Agudelo, 12 Manuel Alfaro, 13 Leonado Gea, 14 Manuel de Marco, 15 Franco Giudice (capt.)
Replacements: 16 Boris Wenger, 17 Lucas Fernández, 18 Brian González, 19 Diver Ceballos, 20 Juan Bautista Mernes, 21 Marcos Amorisa, 22 Valentín Fernández, 23 Alain Altahona
Date: Friday, May 20, 2022
Kick-Off: 9:00pm (Montevideo); 7:00pm (Bogotá)
Venue: Estadio Charrúa (Montevideo, Uruguay)
Referee: Nehuen Jauri Rivero (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Frank Méndez (Chile); Simón Larrubia (Argentina)
TMO: Alejandro Longres (Uruguay)
Broadcast: ESPN (America Latina), ESPN (Brazil), Star +
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2022-04-29 – Peñarol 51, Cafeteros Pro 28 (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, Uruguay)
2022-03-19 – Cafeteros Pro 0, Peñarol 44 (Estadio Figueroa, Valparaíso, Chile)
2021-04-22 – Peñarol 14, Cafeteros Pro 13 (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, Uruguay)
2021-03-25 – Peñarol 54, Cafeteros Pro 3 (Estadio Elías Figueroa, Valparaiso, Chile)
