Nothing Separates Dogos and Peñarol After 80 Minutes

There was nothing to separate Los Dogos and Peñarol. Played on Friday evening, the teams competed to a 26-26 draw in Córdoba. The end result confirmed that they will officially have different pathways to the Super Rugby Americas 2024 Final. Los Dogos host Yacare while Peñarol face Los Pampas in Buenos Aires in the Semi Finals next weekend.

Early on it appeared as if it would be a blow-out. Los Dogos scored there tries for a 19-0 lead. Two of the three came with pieces of luck. Notwithstanding, Peñarol turned the match on its head to sore 26 unanswered points. It took a penalty try with time up for the teams to finish on an even 26 points.

Lautaro Cipriani, Mateo Soler and Leonardo Gea Salim all scored within the opening 15 minutes. Cipriano’s try saw him kick the ball between an opponent’s legs, regather, fall-over, get-up and fall over the line for the score.

Mateo Soler also went down en route to his try. The fullback cut inside from the right wing and got past two defenders only to slide over. He then got to his feet in time to tap and go before touching down in the try zone.

The best of the there early Dogos tries went to center Leonardo Gea Salim. The northern Argentine scored from a set-piece move. The attacking lineout saw quick hands and players running angles with Julián Hernández slipping a pass for Gea Salim to score from.

Peñarol were 19-0 behind. The unlikely comeback started four minutes from half-time. Hooker Joaquín Myska crossed from a maul. It was the final score of the opening half.

A push-over try again prove successful early-on in the second-half. Leonel Oviedo broke off the back of a maul to score for the Uruguayan side. The Argentina XV hooker was not finished. Oviedo scored a second try, again going over from an advancing maul. His double meant the scores were tied.

A combination of pressure from Peñarol and poor execution from Dogos combined for the next score. Uruguay’s World Cup starting second-rower Felipe Aliaga scored. Los Dogos were unable to cleaning secure their own defensive lineout which saw Aliaga collecting the ball and going over.

The home side responded with the clock set to expire. A penalty try brought an end to the contest. The 26-26 draw was the second match tied this season. The prior occasion also involved Los Dogos with Selknam being very unfortunate not to win. Selknam will not feature in the Semi Finals while Los Dogos now turn their attention to Yacare and Peñarol prepare to invade and conquer Buenos Aires.

SCORING

DOGOS (26)
Try (4) – L Cipriani (6′), M Soler (11′), L Gea Salim (14′), Penalty Try (80′)
Con (3) – J Hernández 2 (7′, 15′), No Kick (80′)
YC (1) – A Bildosola (65′)

PENAROL (26)
Try (4) – J Myszka (36′), L Oviedo 2 (49′, 65′), F Aliaga (69′)
Con (3) – I Amarillo 3 (37′, 66′, 71′)
YC (1) – M Franco (79′)

LINEUPS

DOGOS
1 Boris Wenger, 2 Tomás Bartoilini, 3 Octavio Ignacio Filippa, 4 Federico Rolotti, 5 Franco Molina (capt.), 6 Facundo García Hamilton, 7 Lorenzo Colidio, 8 Valentín Cabral, 9 Agustín Moyano, 10 Julián Hernández, 11 Ernesto Giudice, 12 Faustino Sánchez Valarolo, 13 Leonardo Gea Salim, 14 Lautaro Cipriani, 15 Mateo Soler

Replacements: 16 Santos Juárez Strada, 17 Octavio Barbatti, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Efraín Elías, 20 Aitor Bildosola, 21 Nicolás Viola, 22 Juan Bautista Baronio, 23 Agustín de Vertíz

PENAROL
1 Mateo Perillo, 2 Joaquín Myszka, 3 Horacio de la Mota, 4 Agustín Morales, 5 Felipe Aliaga, 6 Lucas Bianchi, 7 Carlos Deus, 8 Manuel Diana (capt.), 9 Pedro Hoblog, 10 Ícaro Amarillo, 11 Santiago Terra, 12 Joaquín Suárez, 13 Juan Manuel Alonso, 14 Jhon Jader Quiñones, 15 Juan Bautista Hontou

Replacements: 16 Francisco García, 17 Mateo Sanguinetti, 18 Franco Mathias, 19 Santiago Civetta, 20 Leonel Oviedo, 21 Santiago Álvarez, 22 Francisco Landauer, 23 Alfonso Perillo

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

OFFICIALS

Referee: Jauri Rivero (AR)
Assistants: Juan Pablo Chumbita. Tomás Ninci
TMO: Gustavo Paulin