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It is upon us. The 2023 Super Rugby Americas Final will take place in Montevideo, Uruguay on Friday. The competition will conclude with the crowning of a champion. Peñarol and Los Dogos were the best performers from the regular season, meaning it is appropriate that their contest the final.
Pablo Bouza has a line-up that could realistically be replicated for a test match. Players firmly under the World Cup radar will be on display. Loose head Mateo Sanguinetti, hooker Guillermo Pujadas, and tight head Ignacio Péculo are all certainties for the World Cup. They start the final for Peñarol.
A difference between Peñarol in 2023 to the teams from 2020, 2021 and 2022 has been the second-row. Tall-timber rather than playing a flanker in the position alongside an Argentine is now the reality. Both Ignacio Dotti and Felipe Aliaga have helped their World Cup chances with strong seasons.
A blow to Peñarol sees Manuel Diana out of the final. This is an opportunity rather than a crisis. It sees Carlos Deus starting at N8 and Lucas Bianchi at flanker. They partner captain Manuel Ardao in the back-row.
A question surrounding Uruguay’s World Cup planning is scrum-half. Santiago Álvarez has been excellent for Peñarol and 2022 starter Tomás Inciarte has played outside center. There is a lot to consider about who to take to the World Cup.
Felipe Etcheverry will play outside Álvarez. Etcheverry has been the leading fly half in the competition. World Cup 2015 and 2019 fly half Felipe Berchesi has serious competition.
Veteran Gastón Mieres has not recovered in time for the final. As such the young Juan Manuel Alonso and Alfonso Silva will be the wingers with Rodrigo Silva playing fullback. November 2022 Teros debutant Juan Andrés Zuccarino again plays at inside center.
While Peñarol is bursting with test players, Los Dogos is a side packed with potential. There are u20’s and Argentina XV names and some have the potential to play in elite leagues as well as for Los Pumas.
Ignacio Gandini leads the side from flanker. He has done well in place of Franco Molina who is out for the season following surgery. Molina had been in the frame for selection for the World Cup. The promising Efraín Elías and Juan Bautista Mernes join Gandini in the back-row.
There will be plenty of force joining them elsewhere in the pack. Santiago Pulella, Boris Wenger and Octavio Filippa for the front-row while Gregorio Hernández and Lautaro Simes lock the scrum. Simes vs Aliaga is a feature head-to-head match-up.
Two other key battles will be at scrum-half and fly half. Agustín Moyano and Julián Hernández have been highly dangerous with ball in hand. Many points may come from who wins particular battles during the match between them and Álvarez and Etcheverry.
Hernández will have the powerful Leonardo Gea Salim outside him. One of the breakout players of the competition has been Mateo Soler who will start the final at fullback.
Peñarol are unbeaten by Los Dogos. Their matches in the regular season saw Peñarol winning 33-15 at the Estadio Charrua and 35-41 away in Córdoba, Argentina. It is not so straight-forward to suggest that Peñarol are the over-whelming favorites. Peñarol lost both 2023 matches to Los Pampas while Los Dogos defeated them in the Semi Final as well as both times during the regular season as well as in a warm-up.
In order for Los Dogos to knock-over Peñarol they will need to be highly physical. Los Pampas‘ success featured tight play with the forwards winning penalties. Goal-kicking was a key aspect of their play.
PENAROL
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Ignacio Péculo, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Felipe Aliaga, 6 Manuel Ardao (capt.), 7 Lucas Bianchi, 8 Carlos Deus, 9 Santiago Álvarez, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Juan Manuel Alonso, 12 Juan Andrés Zuccarino, 13 Tomás Inciarte, 14 Alfonso Silva, 15 Rodrigo Silva
Replacements: 16 Emiliano Facceninni, 17 Mateo Perillo, 18 Diego Arbelo, 19 Manuel Rodríguez, 20 Eric Dosantos, 21 Juan Francisco Torres, 22 Juan Guillermo Torace, 23 Santiago del Cerro
DOGOS
1 Santiago Pulella, 2 Boris Wenger, 3 Octavio Filippa, 4 Gregorio Hernández, 5 Lautaro Simes Bulgarelli, 6 Ignacio Gandino (capt.), 7 Efraín Elías, 8 Juan Bautista Mernes, 9 Agustín Moyano, 10 Julián Hernández, 11 Ernesto Giúdice, 12 Leonardo Gea Salim, 13 Faustino Sánchez Valarolo, 14 Lautaro Cipriani, 15 Mateo Soler
Replacements: 16 Román Pretz, 17 Tomás Bartolini, 18 Octavio Barbatti, 19 Valentín Cabral, 20 Aitor Bildosola, 21 Juan Cruz Strada, 22 Juan Bautista Baronio, 23 Felipe Mallía
Date: Friday, June 09
Kick-Off: 7:30pm (UY); 7:30pm (AR)
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo (UY)
Referee: Damián Schneider (AR)
Assistant Referees: Francisco González (UY); Nehuén Jauri Rivero (AR)
TMO: Marcelo Pilara (AR)
HISTORIC RESULTS
Apr 21, 2023 – Peñarol 33-15 Dogos (Estadio Charrua, Montevideo, UY)
Mar 04, 2023 – Dogos 35-41 Peñarol (Tala RC, Córdoba, AR)
