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It was performance with purpose; Peñarol were 26-3 ahead at half-time against Os Cobras on Saturday in Montevideo. The Uruguayans had the bonus point win secured with over half the contest left to play. They went on to win 40-3.
The first points were scored by an Argentine; Bautista Santamarina landed a 4th minute penalty. It would be the only time that Os Cobras scored points in the half. Santamarina missed a second opportunity, by which time Peñarol had already scored three tries.
Peñarol’s first two tries were both scored by Manuel Ardao. The outstanding flanker underlined himself as a player that ought to be playing in an elite league such as the Top 14. He used his space and vision on both occasions as he split the defense to score unopposed.
Felipe Etcheverry missed the first conversion attempt but landed the second. His third was converting his own try. The Uruguayan fly half attacked the line, attracted defenders and defeated them. His score had Os Cobras shaking their heads. It was a classy try.
Try number four was a team effort. After raids of pick-and-go’s on the tryline, Peñarol N8 Carlos Deus simply touched the ball down on the line. Etcheverry converted to make it 26-3 in the 35th minute. The job had been done; Peñarol had a bonus point and were out of Os Cobras‘ reach.
The third quarter saw one score. Replacement Nicolás Roger withstood an attempted tackle from Daniel Lima to score for Peñarol. The final score of the match came minutes later. Having won consecutive scrum penalties, a third Peñarol advance saw them winning a penalty try.
Focus for both Peñarol and Os Cobras now turns to preparing for Friday. The round seven fixtures see Peñarol at home against Los Cafeteros Pro while Os Cobras take-on Selknam. A win for the Uruguayans will see Peñarol booking a spot in the Semi Finals.
SCORING
PENAROL 40
Try – M Ardao 2 (10′, 19′), F Etcheverry (29′), C Deus (35′), N Roger (56′), Penalty Try (66′)
Con – F Etcheverry 4/5 (20′, 30′, 36,’ 57′)
COBRAS 3
Pen – B Santamarina 1/2 (4′)
YC – B Alves (67′), A Alves (75′)
TEAMS
PENAROL
1 Juan Echeverría, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Ignacio Peculo, 4 Eric Dosantos, 5 Nahuel Milan, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Lucas Bianchi, 8 Carlos Deus, 9 Tomás Inciarte, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Baltazar Amaya, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Bautista Basso, 14 Mateo Viñals, 15 Rodrigo Silva
Replacements: 16 Emiliano Faccennini, 17 Matías Benítez, 18 Matías Franco, 19 Tomás Etcheverry, 20 Francisco Suarez, 21 Juan Manuel Tafernaberry, 22 Nicolás Roger, 23 Felipe Arcos Pérez
COBRAS
1 Alexandre Alves, 2 Endy Willian Pinheiro, 3 Enrique Ribeiro, 4 Cléber Días, 5 Gabriel Paganini, 6 Devon Muller, 7 Matheus Cláudio, 8 André Arruda, 9 Douglas Rauth, 10 Bautista Santamarina, 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Joel dos Santos, 13 Simon Bienvenu, 14 Robert Tenório, 15 Daniel Sancery (capt.)
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Souza, 17 Brendon Alves, 18 Joel Ramírez, 19 Gabriel Oliveira, 20 Adrio Luiz, 21 Rafael Spago, 22 Lucas Spago, 23 Lucas Tranquez
