Peñarol outlast Dogos to become Super Rugby Americas Champions

Peñarol are the Super Rugby Americas 2023 champions. The Uruguayans overcame Córdoba side Los Dogos in the final at Montevideo’s Estadio Charrúa on Friday. A first half blitz put Peñarol into a dominant lead before Los Dogos fought back as the match was only decided at the final whistle.

Peñarol were on the attack in the opening quarter. Los Dogos were trapped in their own half for 19 of the opening 20 minutes. Peñarol got in to Los Dogos’ 22 on several occasions only for the Argentines to fight their way out.

While breaks from Carlos Deus and Juan Andrés Zuccarino were shut down, ultimately, the pressure would add up. The forwards were camped meters out from the try zone. Tight head Ignacio Péculo used excellent body position for a pick-and-go score.

Peñarol were rewarded with 7-0 lead as Felipe Etcheverry converted the try. The fly half added a penalty eight minutes later. He was continuing to show that Uruguay have two fly half options; either Felipe Berchesi or Felipe Etcheverry could start against France when Uruguay begin their World Cup campaign against France in Lille on September 14.

An exchange of mauls followed. Peñarol pushed ahead with scrum-half Santiago Álvarez coming away with a try. Los Dogos burst to life in response. Having won a turnover following the kick-off, Los Dogos attacked and won a penalty. The outcome was a lineout to rolling maul attack from which Juan Bautista Mernes scored. However, it was subsequently ruled a non-try. TMO Marcelo Pilara intervened to show that Bernes was not in control of the grounding.

With the opening half coming to a close Los Dogos looked to the lineout-maul attack again. Peñarol held off two raids before referee Damián Schneider blew his whistle for half-time.

The second half began with more forward-oriented play. There was a glimmer of hope for Los Dogos.  Mateo Sanguinetti was yellow carded for a scrum infringement. What followed was more play from the backs. Ernesto Giúdice found space to score under the posts.

The basics though hurt Los Dogos repeatedly. A messy quick line-out saw Peñarol gathering and kicking for a goal-line drop-out. Peñarol graciously took the restart and Etcheverry landed a long-range drop-goal.

Los Dogos hit back in time to ensure the final would not be officially decided until the very end. A ferocious maul saw Carlos Deus yellow carded for collapsing and the Córdoba side won a penalty try. Etcheverry and Hernández exchanged late penalties.

Peñarol survived a late scare. First, Hernández went close from a clean break. Rodrigo Silva and Etcheverry just managed to stop him. Second, with time up Peñarol went for a lineout-maul. Peñarol stopped it and play ended. With it Peñarol became the Super Rugby Americas 2023 Champions.

 

SCORING

PENAROL (23)
Try – I Péculo (17′); S Álvarez (33′)
Con – F Etcheverry 2/2 (18′, 34′)
Pen – F Etcheverry 1/2 (25′, 69′)
DG – F Etcheverry 1/1 (55′)
YC – M Sanguinetti (42′); C Deus (68′)

DOGOS (17)
Try – E Giúdice (46′); Penalty Try (68′)
Con – J Hernández 1/1 (47′); No Kick (68′)
Pen – J Hernández 1/1 (76′)

 

TEAMS

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

MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Damián Schneider (AR)
Assistant Referees: Francisco González (UY); Nehuén Jauri Rivero (AR)
TMO: Marcelo Pilara (AR)