Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
First plays third as Peñarol host Los Jaguares XV on Tuesday. The fixture falls in the penultimate round os the season; as such, there is plenty on the line. A win for Peñarol would see the Uruguayans finishing the regular season top of the table. This would provide them with a favorable Semi Final.
Los Jaguares XV are looking to bounce back from a loss on Friday at the hands of Peñarol. The loss saw the Chileans overtaking the Argentines in the SLAR 2022 season. It was not the first time this season in which Los Jaguares XV were outgunned. Scrum, lineout and maul were all exposed by Selknam.
That loss combined with Peñarol’s SLAR 2022 performances make the Uruguayans the definite favorites to win on Tuesday. Such a statement underlines the rapid progress that SLAR has made considering how the 2021 season unfolded.
In looking to join Selknam in completing a double over Los Jaguares XV, Peñarol go in to the match with a settled line-up. It is all test players in the front-row with Juan Echeverría, Guillermo Pujadas, and Ignacio Péculo starting. Eric Dosantos, a natural flanker, continues in the second-row. He joins Nahuel Milan, the only non-Uruguayan starting.
The back-row has a minor surprise. Manuel Ardao will play N8 rather than flanker. This will enable Lucas Bianchi to get more game time at flanker while veteran Santiago Civetta completes the back-row.
Tomás Inciarte continues to hold down the scrum-half spot. He will form what is a proven and reputable halves combination with Felipe Etcheverry. They give Uruguay more than a useful alternative to the starting names for the test side who play their rugby in France.
Andrés Vilaseca will play outside Etcheverry. He will lead the side with a new center partner, however, as injury has forced Felipe Arcos Pérez out for the remainder of SLAR 2022. It sees Bautista Basso starting in the position and means he has a great shot at pressing his claim for a test debut against Japan next month.
The inclusion of Basso was not expected. He suffered a knock in his last SLAR appearance. The same is true of Mateo Viñals who is out through injury. The back-three will consist of veteran Rodrigo Silva at fullback goal-kicker Federico Favaro on the right wing and the young Balazar Amaya on the left wing.
Los Jaguares XV have opted for a heavily rotated line-up. It includes a new leader; Rodrigo Fernández Criado will skipper the side from the second-row. He joins rookie Lucio Anconetani in the engine room. Eliseo Chiavassa and Martín Villar are additional SLAR rookies starting in the forwards.
The backs include Agustín Segura at his regular position of outside center and Joaquín Pellandini at scrum-half. The remainder of the starting formation is that of change. Santiago Mare moves to inside center and Ignacio Mendy to fullback. Rookies Nicanor López Fernández and Iñaki Delguy start on the wings while Tomás Suarez Folch will play fly half for the first time for Los Jaguares XV.
The new-look Jaguares XV is one punishing underperforms and looking to innovate to find the winning recipe. Among those out are captain Tomás Cubilla. Head Coach Ignacio Fernández Lobbe has opted for Federico Albrisi, a second-rower for the 22 shirt. As such Ramiro D’Agostino is covering four starting players.
TEAMS
PENAROL
1 Juan Echeverría, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Ignacio Péculo, 4 Eric Dosantos, 5 Nahuel Milán, 6 Lucas Bianchi, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manuel Ardao, 9 Tomás Inciarte, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Baltazar Amaya, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Bautista Basso, 14 Federico Favaro, 15 Rodrigo Silva
Replacements: 16 Emiliano Faccennini, 17 Matías Benitez, 18 Diego Arbelo, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Tomás Etcheverry, 21 Santiago Álvarez, 22 Nicolás Roger, 23 José Iruleguy
JAGUARES XV
1 Santiago Pullela, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 3 Martín Villar, 4 Lucio Anconetani, 5 Rodrigo Fernández Criado (capt.), 6 Jerónimo Gómez Vara, 7 Eliseo Chiavassa, 8 Bautista Pedemonte, 9 Joaquín Pellandini, 10 Tomás Suárez Folch, 11 Nicanor López Fernández, 12 Santiago Mare, 13 Agustín Segura, 14 Iñaki Delguy, 15 Ignacio Mendy
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Javier Coronel, 19 Pedro Rubiolo, 20 Manuel Bernstein, 21 Mateo Albanese, 22 Federico Albrisi, 23 Ramiro D’Agostino
Date: Saturday, April 02, 2022
Kick-Off: 9pm (Montevideo, Buenos Aires)
Venue: Estadio Charrúa (Montevideo, Uruguay)
Referee: Felipe Balbontin (Chile)
Assistant Referees: Samoan Schneider (Argentina); Francisco González (Uruguay)
TMO: Frank Méndez (Chile)
Broadcast: ESPN Latin America, STAR +
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2022-04-02 – Jaguares XV 20, Peñarol 27 (Estadio 3 de Febrero, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay)
2021-04-04 – Jaguares XV 46, Peñarol 17 (Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile)
2021-05-01 – Peñarol 18, Jaguares XV 42 (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, Uruguay)
2021-04-04 – Peñarol 28, Jaguares XV 36 (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, Uruguay)
