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Peñarol play host to Dogos in the top-of-the-table Super Rugby Americas clash. The Friday fixture is vital with an eye to the play-off’s and beyond. The two teams have comfortably been the most consistent sides in the league. Finishing top and gaining a favorable Semi Final opponent is very much related to the outcome of this match.
Make no mistake, Peñarol vs Dogos will be a barn-burner. Their match earlier this season was a classic; Peñarol completed a late charge to run out 41-35 winners in Córdoba. With the match being in Uruguay this time, Peñarol are looking to win again and with it go top of Super Rugby Americas 2023.
It is a homecoming for Peñarol. The Uruguayans played their past three matches on the road. They defeated Selknam 35-24 in Santiago and Yacare 43-17 in Asunción. In between hand Peñarol fell 20-19 to Los Pampas in Buenos Aires. That result was the only defeat in an otherwise perfect season thus far for Peñarol.
Los Dogos represent revenge of sorts for Peñarol; it is an opportunity to get one back on an Argentine opponent. Peñarol certainly are going in to the contest with a loaded line-up. Manuel Ardao returns from injury to captain the side. He will start at flanker in an outstanding back-row. Lucas Bianchi and Manuel Diana join him in a combination that could easily start against France at the World Cup.
The highly experienced starts at loose head. He joins top Uruguay-based hooker Guillermo Pujadas and Ignacio Peculo in the front-row. The second-row will be less experienced; Juan Manuel Rodríguez and Felipe Aliaga start. The combination is of note given Uruguay’s lack of tall-timber at past World Cups.
Super Rugby Americas 2023 has seen Uruguay officially having a back-up combination to Santiago Arata and Felipe Berchesi. It is that of Santiago Álvarez and Felipe Etcheverry. They are to start again against Los Dogos.
Veterans Gastón Mieres and Rodrigo Silva start in the back-three. Spring chicken Juan Manuel Alonso joins them while rookie Guillermo Juan Storace will play inside Tomás Inciarte in the mid-field. Inciarte is clearly making the move from scrum-half to center with an eye to World Cup selection.
Los Dogos lack the caps of Peñarol. However, there is a list of young players to watch out for in the future. This is abundantly clear in the halves. Teenagers Agustín Moyano and Juan Bautista Baronio start opposite Álvarez and Etcheverry in what is a huge match-up.
Leandro Gea Salim has been among the best mid-fielders in the league this season. He starts inside Faustino Sánchez Valarolo. Winger Mateo Soler continues on the right wing. He impressed with a hat-trick last weekend against Os Cobras.
The win over Os Cobras was the fourth in-a-row for Los Dogos. The Córdoba side go in to the Montevideo showdown following a 24-10 over Selknam at home plus a 29-11 win over Los Pampas in Buenos Aires, and a 37-24 win over the Raptors in Denver.
These wins have seen a settled team. This will continue against Peñarol. Captain Franco Molina and the bright star that is Lautaro Simes form the second-row once again. The bulk of Santiago Pulella, Boris Wenger and Octavio Filippa start up front while back-rowers Aitor Bilidosola, Efraín Elías and Ignacio Gandini have all be on form this season.
As evidenced the match is loaded with noteworthy players and combinations. In terms of the league itself, the match will confirm who is top of the table and who is the current favorites to go all the way and be crowned champions of Super Rugby Americas 2023.
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
Date: Friday, April 21
Kick-Off: 8pm (UY); 8pm (AR)
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo (UY)
Referee: Pablo Deluca (AR)
Assistant Referees: Claudio Cattivelli (UY); Simón Larrubia (AR)
TMO: Alejandro Longes (AR)
HISTORIC RESULTS
March 04, 2023 – Dogos 35-41 Peñarol (Tala RC, Córdoba, AR)
