SRA 2025 – Peñarol vs Yacare – ARN Guide

Peñarol take-on Yacare in the opening match of round two of Super Rugby Americas 2025. Both teams were winners in the opening round in what were tightly fought contests. The winner on Friday will be unbeaten after two rounds and sitting in a handy position in the standings. The fixture marks the 10th battle of Uruguay vs Paraguay in professional rugby matches.

 

ROUND ONE – RESULTS

29-28

29-26

 

STARTING CHANGES

– 15 Manuel Cardoso Pinto replaces Baltazar Amaya

– 1 Cesar Pérez replaces Daniel Cabral
– 12 Sebastián Urbieta replaces Ramiro Amarilla
– 14 Julián Quetglas replaces Arturo López

 

CAPPED INTERNATIONALS

– (16 capped by Uruguay; 1 by Portugal) – M Sanguinetti (LH), G Pujadas (HK), JM Rodríguez (LO), F Aliaga (LO), S Civetta (FL), L Bianchi (FL), M Diana (N8), S Álvarez (SH), F Etcheverry (FH), I Facciolo, F Arcos Pérez (CE), B Basso (WI), M Cardoso Pinto (WI -PT), J Myszka (HO), M Perillo (LH), C Deus (N8), JM Alonso (CE)

– (12 capped by Paraguay) – C Pérez, M Garcete, A Núñez, J González, S Urbieta, F Diez, J Chavez,  E Quinteros, JJ Heisecke, G Bareiro, J Mussi, F Paiva

 

NOTABLE ABSENTEES

– Í Amarillo (FH), JA Zuccarino (FH), J Suárez (CE), A Vilaseca (CE), M Viñals (WI), B Amaya (FB)

– Ramiro Amarilla (CE), Arturo López (WI)

 

NOTES

• Peñarol won their opening round match on full-time, defeating Los Dogos.
• Yacare vs Selknam, in round one, also went down to the wire.
• Julián Quetglas debuts for Yacare but did play for Olímpia Lions and, in fact, was selected for ARN’s 2022 SLAR Dream Team.
• Yacare will likely target the scrum which was an area of Peñarol weakness against Los Dogos.
• Manuel Diana captains an unchanged pack of forwards. The only change sees Manuel Cardoso Pinto in for Baltazar Amaya who was injured in the 2nd minute against Los Dogos. Both played at Rugby World Cup 2023; Cardoso Pinto doing so for his homeland of Portugal.
• Cardoso Pinto is one of two starting Peñarol players not capped by Uruguay. The other is center Bautista Farise who is from Comercial Rugby Club in Mar del Plata, Argentina.
• Yacare enter with three play-makers; Argentines Joaquín Lamas and Valentino Dicapua start at fly half and fullback respectively while Paraguay’s top fly half, Sebastián Urbieta, starts at inside center.
• Peñarol welcome Juan Manuel Alonso back, as a replacement, from injury.
• Argentine prop Bautista Bottino will make his debut as a replacement for Peñarol.
• Peñarol’s Franco Marini is serving a 4 match suspension for head contact made in a ruck. Marini will not face Los Tarucas nor Yacare (Feb 21), Los Pampas (Feb 28), or Selknam (Mar 7). Depending on his conditional status he may or may not be cleared to face Os Cobras (Mar 16).
• The match is somewhat of a preview as Uruguay face Paraguay in Rugby World Cup Qualifiers in mid-2025.

 

PREDICTION

Warm late summer conditions await the players in Montevideo. This will encourage open rugby; the style of play Felipe Etcheverry likes the most. He and Joaquín Lamas both impressed in the opening round. Their battle will be a focal point of the match. Another one-on-one to pay attention to will be at the back of the scrum. Uruguayan workhorse Manuel Diana is up against Santiago Ruiz, the brother of Pumas hooker Ignacio Ruiz. Peñarol are favorites to win at the Estadio Charrúa.

 

LINEUPS

PENAROL
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Bautista Vidal, 4 Juan Manuel Rodríguez, 5 Felipe Aliaga, 6 Santiago Civetta, 7 Lucas Bianchi, 8 Manuel Diana (capt.), 9 Santiago Álvarez, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Ignacio Facciolo, 12 Bautista Farise, 13 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 14 Bautista Basso, 15 Manuel Cardoso Pinto

Replacements: 16 Joaquín Myszka, 17 Mateo Perillo, 18 Bautista Bottino, 19 Manuel Rosmarino, 20 Carlos Deus, 21 Tomás Di Biase, 22 Alfonso Perillo Albarracín, 23 Juan Manuel Alonso

YACARE
1 Cesar Pérez, 2 Axel Zapata, 3 Enzo Egea, 4 Lucas Sommer, 5 Mariano Garcete (capt.), 6 Felipe Puertas, 7 Ariel Núñez, 8 Santiago Ruiz, 9 Juan Cruz Strada, 10 Joaquín Lamas, 11 Juan González, 12 Sebastián Urbieta, 13 Francisco Diez, 14 Julián Quetglas, 15 Valentino Dicapua

Replacements: 16 Jordi Chavez, 17 Mariano Muntaner, 18 Enrique Quinteros, 19 Juan José Heisecke, 20 Nicolás Parada Heit, 21 Gonzalo Bareiro, 22 Joaquín Mussi, 23 Facundo Paiva

 

MATCH INFO

Date: Friday, February 21
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo (UY)
Kickoff: 8pm (UY); 8pm (AR)
Weather Forecast: Clear Skies, 29°C; Wind 10 km/h
Broadcasts: ESPN; Disney +

OFFICIALS

Referee: Tomás Bertazza (AR)
Assistants: Tomás Ninci (AR); Armen Abi-Saab (UY)
TMO: Francisco Pesce (UY)

HISTORY

HEAD-TO-HEAD (9) – Peñarol 7, Yacare 2, STREAK Peñarol +1
May 11, 2024 – Yacare 17-31 Peñarol (Héroes de Curupayty, Asunción, PY)
Mar 16, 2024 – Peñarol 24-41 Yacare (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, UY)
Jun 02, 2023 – Peñarol 30-17 Yacare (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, UY)
Apr 15, 2023 – Yacare 17-43 Peñarol (Héroes de Curupayty, Asunción, PY)
Mar 17, 2023 – Peñarol 45-12 Yacare (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, UY)
May 04, 2022 – Peñarol 42-14 Olímpia Lions (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, UY)
Mar 27, 2022 – Olímpia Lions 15-13 Peñarol (Héroes de Curupayty, Asunción, PY)
Apr 11, 2021 – Peñarol 29-10 Olímpia Lions (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, UY)
Mar 16, 2021 – Olímpia Lions 11-40 Peñarol (Estadio Nacional, Santiago, CL)