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It is all systems go in Uruguay. Rugby World Cup year begins with the home-based players coming together for Peñarol. The 2022 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) champions will defend their South American league title in the rebranded Super Rugby Americas.
Peñarol enter Super Rugby Americas 2023 as the team to beat. In addition to impressing in SLAR 2022; Uruguay’s test team played good rugby in 2022. The team’s performances give reason to look forward to further progress moving ahead.
Opportunity is something that players in past eras lacked; a fully amateur system was the lifeline for Uruguay. Those days have gone with players now able to thrive to play for Peñarol and from there to be considered for international duty as professional players.
Click here to access the complete 2023 Peñarol player roster.
Click here to access the Super Rugby Americas home page.
COACHING STAFF
There is no change at the control desk of Peñarol. Pablo Bouza continues as Head Coach in 2023. The former Puma is now into his fourth season in charge of Uruguay’s first professional rugby team. He has plenty of experience including previously being a forwards coach and a lineout coach for Los Pumas. As a player he played professionally in England and played for Argentina at RWC 2003.
RECRUITMENT
The roster features Uruguay’s leading players not playing for professional rugby abroad. Recruitment has focused on the best interests of Los Teros for the World Cup. It has also taken place while juggling with Los Teros’ 7’s. This comes in contrast to past seasons wherein Peñarol had a handful of foreigners and Uruguay was not a core 7’s team. Peñarol will have the services of Juan Andrés Zuccarino. He played for Selknam in SLAR 2022. Ignacio Dotti is back to Uruguay from NOLA Gold.
IMPORTS
Rugby World Cup year sees Peñarol fielding an entirely homegrown roster. While players such as Martín Roger and Nahuel Milán were important for Peñarol in past campaigns, the 2023 side is entirely based on Uruguayans. This strategy reflects not only the needs of the test side but also that Uruguay’s player base has increased to offer more options for RWC 2023 than for prior World Cups.
POSSIBLE STARTING XV
1 Mateo Sanguinetti
2 Guillermo Pujadas
3 Diego Arbelo
4 Ignacio Dotti
5 Eric Dosantos
6 Manuel Ardao (capt.)
7 Lucas Bianchi
8 Manuel Diana
9 Tomás Inciarte
10 Felipe Etcheverry
11 Nicolás Conti
12 Juan Manuel Alonso
13 Felipe Arcos Pérez
14 Gastón Mieres
15 Rodrigo Silva
