Peñarol ended the regular season of Super Rugby Americas on a high. The Uruguayans overcame Selknam at the Estadio Charrúa. The 31-8 win sees Peñarol enter the Semi Finals as favorites for the title. Selknam switch to Cóndores mode.
Peñarol led throughout. Around the field the Uruguayans were better organized. They worked better together and adjusted to what was in front of them.
Felipe Etcheverry slotted a 4th minute penalty. That was it for the early scoring. It remained 3-0 at the end of the opening quarter. Peñarol took control in the second quarter. Man of the Match Tomás Inciarte scored one try and the team won a penalty try.
Selknam’s only opening half points were a solitary penalty to captain Santiago Videla. In addition to being behind, Selknam were not helping themselves. Peñarol had the mental edge. A frustrated Clemente Saavedra received a yellow card.
The 17-3 half-time lead was quickly expanded on by the home side. A neat quick through from Juan Andrés Zuccarino was gathered by Inciarte who had a try assist for Lucas Bianchi. Peñarol had the win guaranteed; the Uruguayans were pummeling Selknam.
The rental factor again entered with Clemente Saavedra receiving a second yellow card. His red card was for shoulder to head contact on Zuccarino. It would likely have been a red on its own had he not already have been yellow carded.
The one man advantage saw Peñarol going further ahead. Replacement Juan Francisco Torres saw the Uruguayans securing a bonus point with a quarter of the match remaining.
Selknam were the better team in the final quarter. The Chileans won this period of the match 8-0. Two try scoring opportunities were not taken, however. A third was with Pablo Casas going over in the try zone.
Peñarol finished with thirteen men. Forwards Francisco García and Juan Manuel Rodríguez were both yellow carded for foul play. The latter had had a strong match in a rare start at N8. He and his teammates now turn their attention to Yacare whom they play host to on June 02.
SCORING
PENAROL (31)
Try – T Inciarte (26′); Penalty Try (33′); L Bianchi (46′); JF Torres (60′)
Con – F Etcheverry 2/2 (27′, 47′); No Kick (33′); JA Zuccarino (61′)
Pen – F Etcheverry 1/1 (4′)
YC – C Deus (65′); F García (76′); JM Rodríguez (80′)
SELKNAM (8)
Try – P Casas (72′)
Con – S Videla 0/1
Pen – S Videla 1/1 (30′)
YC – C Saavedra 2 (33′, 54′)
RC – C Saavedra (54′)
TEAMS
PENAROL
1 Mateo Perillo, 2 Emiliano Faccennini, 3 Ignacio Peculo, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Felipe Aliaga, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Lucas Bianchi, 8 Juan Manuel Rodríguez, 9 Santiago Álvarez, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Alfonso Silva, 12 Juan Andrés Zuccarino, 13 Tomás Inciarte, 14 Gastón Mieres, 15 Santiago del Cerro
Replacements: 16 Francisco García, 17 Mateo Sanguinetti, 18 Diego Arbelo, 19 Carlos Deus, 20 Manuel Diana, 21 Juan Francisco Torres, 22 Rodrigo Silva, 23 Juan Manuel Alonso
SELKNAM
1 Simón Donoso, 2 Jorge Delgado, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Clemente Saavedra, 5 Pablo Huete, 6 Andrés Kusmanic, 7 Raimundo Martínez, 8 Joaquín Milesi, 9 Nicolás Herreros, 10 Benjamín Videla, 11 José Ignacio Larenas, 12 Pablo Casas, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Gaspar Moltedo, 15 Santiago Videla (capt.)
Replacements: 16 Augusto Bohme, 17 Vittorio Lastra, 18 Marco Lopez, 19 Santiago Pedrero, 20 Bruno Sáez, 21 Lukas Carvallo, 22 Diego Escobar, 23 Santiago Edwards
Date: Friday, May 26
Kick-Off: 7pm (UY); 6pm (CL)
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo (UY)
Referee: Tomás Bertazza (AR)
Assistant Referees: Damien Schneider (AR); Claudio Cativelli (UY)
TMO: Maximiliano Miranda (AR)