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Super Rugby Americas 2023 leaders Peñarol face Os Cobras on the road on Saturday. While Peñarol are assured of a place in the Semi Finals they are in Brazil in search of competition points to ensure that their Semi Final is in Montevideo and not away from home.
In a sign of South America’s commitment to growing the game none of the officiating team are from Argentines. Frank Mendez will be the referee. The Chilean will be assisted by Brazilian Guilherme Zaparoli and fellow Chilean Raimundo Fuenzalida. Brazilian Victor Hugo Barboza will be the TMO.
Cobras have rotated for this fixture. Of note is the early return from injury of Daniel Lima. He was previously used out for the season with a broken hand. He is fit now to start at fullback with Lucas Tranquez rested.
Changes up-front see a back-row of Matheus Claudio, Adrio de Melo and Irishman Donnacha Byrne. Gabriel Paganini will captain the side from the second-row with Gabriel Oliveira having the opportunity to start alongside him.
Endy Willian Pinheiro starts at hooker. He is in fine form. He scored two tries last weekend against Selknam in Chile. Levy Mainho starts at loose head and Argentine Bautista Vidal will play tight head.
Peñarol go in to the match as red hot favorites. This is so despite changes made for the match. There are rare starts in the front-row for Emiliano Faccennini and Mathias Franco. Similarly in the second-row with Manuel Rodriguez joining Felipe Aliaga.
The back-row is established with Carlos Deus and Manuel Diana joining captain Manuel Ardao. It is a trio that could easily start for Uruguay at the Rugby World Cup. Meanwhile, veteran Mateo Sanguinetti is back to start at loose head.
Santiago Álvarez has been outstanding for Peñarol all season. He retains his spot at scrum-half inside Felipe Etcheverry. The 2021-2022 starting scrum-half, Tomás Inciarte continues to play at outside center.
Youth and experience completes the back-line. On the one hand, Juan Manuel Alonso and Juan Andrés Zuccarino are chasing their first spot on Uruguay’s Rugby World Cup roster. On the other hand, Gastón Mieres, and Rodrigo Silva played at Rugby World Cups 2015 and 2019.
The have been five prior meetings between Os Cobras and Peñarol, though, in actuality there have been six. The first saw Brazil’s team playing as Corinthians. Peñarol were 45-14 winners in what was a 2020 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) warm-up.
Peñarol are unbeaten against Brazilian opposition in professional rugby. However, Saturday’s match will be the first time in which the Uruguayan side has played in Brazil. The match will be played at the Estádio Nogueirão in Mogi das Cruzes just outside São Paulo.
Admission is free-of-charge. People can enter by taking a donation of 1 kg of non-perishable food (excluding salt and sugar) to the venue.
COBRAS
1 Levy Marinho, 2 Endy Willian Pinheiro, 3 Bautista Vidal, 4 Gabriel Paganini (capt.), 5 Gabriel Oliveira, 6 Adrio de Melo, 7 Matheus Cláudio, 8 Donnacha Byrne, 9 Douglas Rauth, 10 Lucas Spago, 11 Alain Altahona, 12 Victor Silva, 13 Robert Tenório, 14 Robson Morais, 15 Daniel Lima
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Silva, 17 João Lucas Marino, 18 Henrique Ferreira, 19 Ben Donald, 20 Pedro Aparecido, 21 Felipe Gonçalves, 22 Facundo Villalba, 23 Ariel Rodrigues
PENAROL
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Emiliano Faccennini, 3 Mathias Franco, 4 Felipe Aliaga, 5 Manuel Rodriguez, 6 Manuel Ardao (capt.), 7 Carlos Deus, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Santiago Álvarez, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Juan Manuel Alonso, 12 Juan Andrés Zuccarino, 13 Tomás Inciarte, 14 Gastón Mieres, 15 Rodrigo Silva
Replacements: 16 Guillermo Pujadas, 17 Matías Benítez, 18 Ignacio Peculo, 19 Eric Dosantos, 20 Agustín Morales, 21 Juan Francisco Torres, 22 Alfonso Silva, 23 Guillermo Juan Storace
Date: Saturday, May 13
Kick-Off: 1pm (BR); 1pm (UY)
Venue: Estádio Nogueirão, Mogi das Cruzes (BR)
Referee: Frank Méndez (CL)
Assistant Referees: Guilherme Zaparoli (BR); Raimundo Fuenzalida (CL)
TMO: Victor Hugo Barboza (BR)
HISTORIC RESULTS
Mar 10, 2023 – Peñarol 33-07 Cobras (Montevideo, UY)
Apr 23, 2022 – Peñarol 40-3 Cobras (Montevideo, UY)
Mar 13, 2022 – Cobras 10-19 Peñarol (Valparaíso, CL)
Apr 16, 2021 – Peñarol 40-12 Cobras (Montevideo, CL)
Mar 16, 2021 – Cobras 24-33 Peñarol (Santiago, CL)
Feb 26, 2020 – Peñarol 45-14 Corinthians (Montevideo, UY)
