Peñarol prove to be the Real Deal against Dogos

Peñarol proved to be the real deal against Los Dogos. The Uruguayans enjoyed a magnificent opening half to set themselves up for a solid win. The 33-15 victory takes Peñarol above Los Dogos to top spot in the Super Rugby Americas table.

Peñarol enjoyed a strong start and an even better finish to the opening half. The Uruguayans ran in three tries, two of which went to the Super Rugby Americas 2023 leading try scorer. Manuel Diana ran over for scored in the 5th and 38th minutes.

The match was far more balanced in between Diana’s double. Los Dogos used their power to gain ground up-field. The hard-work resulted in opportunities for points. However, an off-night from fullback Julián Hernández saw the play-maker from Mendoza landing 1/3 in the first half.

Los Dogos turned their attention to the maul. They turned down a regulation shot at goal to kick from the corner. They were penalized for changing the maul illegally. Peñarol responded by making the Córdoba side pay. A cross-kick from Felipe Etcheverry found Juan Manuel Alonso who scored a wonderful try. Diana then scored his second before Etcheverry rounded-out the half with a long-range penalty.

Leading 22-3 at half-time Peñarol took little time in unloading replacements. Four early second half changes were made to the forwards. Manuel Ardao was among them. Etcheverry took ove the captaincy but within ten minutes Tomás Inciarte was the leader as Etcheverry was yellow carded.

Los Dogos went close to scoring only to knock-on meters out. There was no further opportunity for the Córdoba team to turn the match around. Instead, Octavio Barbatti was yellow carded and Peñarol scored their third. Carlos Deus touched down from a rolling-maul.

Now down 27-3, Los Dogos were determined to hit-back. Strong carriers and breaks from Boris Wenger and Agustín Moyano got the visitors close. Deus was then yellow carded. Los Dogos scored a penalty try from the resumption. Mateo Sanguinetti joined Deus on the sideline for ten minutes.

Etcheverry returned to land two penalties. As a contest the match was more than over. Los Dogos tied to run the ball out from their own try zone. It culminated in a late score to Román Pretz. In the end Peñarol won well and collected a bonus point.

SCORING

PENAROL (33)
Try – M Diana 2 (5′, 38′); JM Alonso (35′), C Deus (61′)
Con -F Etcheverry 2/3 (6′, 39′); R Silva 0/1
Pen – F Etcheverry 3/3 (40′, 67′, 73′)
YC – F Etcheverry (52′); C Deus (63′); M Sanguinetti (65′); JM Rodríguez (79′)

DOGOS (15)
Try – Penalty Try (65′); R Pretz (78′)
Con – No Kick (65′); J Hernández 0/1
Pen – J Hernández 1/3 (14′)
YC – L Simes (27′); O Barbatti (59′)

TEAMS

PENAROL
1 Matías Benítez, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Ignacio Peculo, 4 Juan Manuel Rodríguez, 5 Felipe Aliaga, 6 Manuel Ardao (capt.), 7 Lucas Bianchi, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Santiago Álvarez, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Juan Manuel Alonso, 12 Guillermo Juan Storace, 13 Tomás Inciarte, 14 Gastón Mieres, 15 Rodrigo Silva

Replacements: 16 Emiliano Faccennini, 17 Mateo Sanguinetti, 18 Diego Arbelo, 19 Agustín Morales, 20 Carlos Deus, 21 Juan Francisco Torres, 22 Juan Andrés Zuccarino, 23 Santiago del Cerro

DOGOS
1 Santiago Pulella, 2 Boris Wenger, 3 Octavio Filippa, 4 Lautaro Simes, 5 Franco Molina (capt.), 6 Aitor Bilidosola, 7 Efraín Elías, 8 Ignacio Gandini, 9 Agustín Moyano, 10 Juan Bautista Baronio, 11 Lautaro Cipriani, 12 Leandro Gea Salim, 13 Faustino Sánchez Valarolo, 14 Mateo Soler, 15 Julián Hernández

Replacements: 16 Román Pretz, 17 Octavio Barbatti, 18 Ramiro Valdes, 19 Gregorio Hernández, 20 Manuel Todaro, 21 Juan Cruz Strada, 22 Franco Giuduce, 23 Agustín Segura

MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Pablo Deluca (AR)
Assistant Referees: Claudio Cattivelli (UY); Simón Larrubia (AR)
TMO: Alejandro Longes (AR)