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The second Semi Final of Super Rugby Americas 2023 is a derby. Los Dogos play host to Los Pampas on Friday evening. The match’s 9:30pm kick-off combined with cool conditions will make for a genuine challenge. Factor in the occasion and the players will be inside a pressure-cooker.
Los Dogos have a number of factors in their favor. They have home advantage, they had a bye last weekend and they won both regular season matches against Los Pampas. They finished second behind Peñarol with a 9-3 regular season record.
Ignacio Gandini leads the team from flanker. He does so in the absence of Franco Molina who is out for the season and will not be back in time to be considered for the World Cup. Gandini joins Efraín Elías and Juan Bautista Mernes in a solid back-row.
They will have Super Rugby Americas 2023 all-star players with them elsewhere in the forwards. The rock-solid Santiago Pulella, Boris Wenger and Octavio Ignacio Filippa start up-front while Gregorio Hernández and Lautaro Simes will lock the scrum.
The incentive Agustín Moyano and Julián Hernández start at scrum-half and fly half respectively. Both men have progressed well during the season. The Dogos centers, Leonardo Gea Salim and Agustín Segura have been among the best mid-fielders in the league. Mateo Soler is another to have impressed. Having done well at both wing and fullback, he will start the Semi Final in the latter position.
Are Los Pampas the underdogs? Technically yes; though, analysis over how they finished their regular season suggests that they are the team to beat. Los Pampas’ final two matches were an upset win over Peñarol in Montevideo and a home win over Yacare at La Catedral. This was after Yacare had defeated Los Dogos.
A blow sees Puma Rodrigo Martínez out of the Semi Final. Javier Corvalán starts instead at loose head. Corvalán is no slouch. He had an excellent 2022 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) season. With Martínez back from the defunct Wasps, he has played less in 2023.
Corvalán will join hooker Ramiro Gurovich and tight head prop Javier Coronel up-front. Further SLAR experience comes bending them with Manuel Bernstein and Eliseo Fourcade locking the scrum. Los Pampas young back-row of Nicolás D’Amorim, Jerónimo Ureta, and Santiago Ruíz completes the forwards. Ruíz will captain the side from the back of the scrum.
The young duo of Mateo Albanese and Joaquín de la Vega Mendía have impressed this season. They start opposite Moyano and Hernández in a feature head-to-head of the Semi Final. There will be plenty of talent working outside them. Benjamín Elizalde has been a star back while Pumas scrum-half starts out of position at fullback.
The prize for the winner will be a spot in the final. The final will be against either Peñarol or Yacare. If Yacare upset Peñarol then the final will be in Argentina. The teams will have this in mind when they take to the field in Córdoba. Meanwhile, individual players are looking for opportunities ahead of potential international duty with the Argentina XV.
DOGOS
1 Santiago Pulella, 2 Boris Wenger, 3 Octavio Filippa, 4 Gregorio Hernández, 5 Lautaro Simes, 6 Ignacio Gandini (capt.), 7 Efraín Elías, 8 Juan Bautista Mernes, 9 Agustín Moyano, 10 Julián Hernández, 11 Ernesto Giudice, 12 Leonardo Gea Salim, 13 Agustín Segura, 14 Lautaro Cipriani, 15 Mateo Soler
Replacements: Román Pretz, 17 Tomás Bartolini, 18 Octavio Barbatti, 19 Federico Albrisi, 20 Valentín Cabral, 21 Juan Cruz Strada, 22 Juan Bautista Baronio, 23 Faustino Sánchez Valarolo
PAMPAS
1 Javier Corvalán, 2 Ramiro Gurovich, 3 Javier Coronel, 4 Manuel Bernstein, 5 Eliseo Fourcade, 6 Nicolás D’Amorim, 7 Jerónimo Ureta, 8 Santiago Ruíz (capt.), 9 Mateo Albanese, 10 Joaquín de la Vega Mendía, 11 Juan Landó, 12 Manuel Alfaro, 13 Juan Pablo Castro, 14 Benjamín Elizalde, 15 Eliseo Morales
Replacements: 16 Valentino Minoyetti, 17 Matías Medrano, 18 Renzo Zanella, 19 Rodrigo Fernández Criado, 20 Eliseo Chiavassa, 21 Rafael Iriarte, 22 Joaquín Lamas, 23 Lorenzo Colidio
Date: Friday, June 02
Kick-Off: 9:30pm (AR)
Venue: Tala RC, Córdoba (AR)
Referee: Francisco González (UY)
Assistant Referees: Tomás Bertazza (AR); Federico Solari (AR)
TMO: Francisco Pesce (UY)
HISTORIC RESULTS
May 05, 2023 – Dogos 34-29 Pampas (Tala RC, Córdoba, AR)
Mar 16, 2023 – Pampas 11-29 Dogos (Buenos Aires, AR)
