SLAR 2021– Peñarol Preview

Peñarol will be one of six competitors in the 2021 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). The Montevideo-based side is the one Uruguayan team. The 30-man roster is dominated by Uruguayans, although there are five Argentine players. The team is one of three returning teams from the inaugural season.

 

PEÑAROL HEAD COACH:
Peñarol are coached by Pablo Bouza, a 47-year-old from Rosario, Argentina. Bouza played in the UK for the Harlequins and Leeds Carnegie and was a Puma who earned 37 caps from 1996-2017. He played in two matches at RWC 2003. Twelve years later he was an assistant coach to Daniel Hourcade at RWC 2015. He played at both second-row and N8. He also coached Penãrol in the inaugural SLAR season.

CAPTAIN
Peñarol are led by Andrés Vilaseca. The inside center is also Uruguay’s test captain. He replaced flanker Juan Manuel Gaminara following RWC 2019.  At that tournament he captained Los Teros in their pool match against Australia. Peñarol were led by another back-rower in 2020. For 2021, Vilaseca takes over from Alejandro Nieto . The N8 is presently sidelined and will not travel with the team to Chile.

STAR PLAYER
Peñarol does not lack names. Federico Favaro, Nicolás Freitas, Rodrigo Silva, Andrés Vilaseca, Juan Echeverría, Guillermo Pujadas, Felipe Etcheverry, Santiago Civetta, Manuel Ardao, and Tomás Inciarte are cases in point. Of them Nicolás Freitas looms as Peñarol’s star player this year. He held down a starting wing position for Los Teros throughout the RWC 2015-2019 cycle; this included starting in the position at the tournament itself. In 2020 he was used primarily at outside center and this is where Uruguay and Peñarol will most surely look to him moving forward. Freitas is an outstanding defender and a highly reliable carrier. In short, he constantly asks questions of both the opposition attack and defense.

KEY DEPARTURE
A number of players from the 2020 roster now play abroad. The most notable transfer is that of Santiago Arata. The outstanding scrum half took no time to settle in at Castres. His loss simply cannot be covered; he is that good of a rugby player. That is not to say that Peñarol do have notable options at scrum-half; Tomás Inciarte and Manuel Nogues are highly reputable players. Instead, the team lost Uruguay’s best back from RWC 2019 and, arguably the best Tier 2 scrum-half in the world.

SMART SIGNING
Uruguay’s greatest concern has been the second-row. The URU have had problems in identifying tall-timber. This has seen back-rowers converting and, in 2020, it saw Peñarol signing a South African. For 2021 there is another foreign second-rower. The player is Nahuel Milan. The Argentine u20’s player is back in South America following his first professional experience in Italy. His performances at the Junior World Championship were impressive. Now he looms as the backbone of the set-piece.

ONE TO WATCH
There are many reasons to be excited about the Peñarol roster. The Argentine signings will add to the strength of the team; a team ready to convert SLAR form into the RWC 2023 qualifiers. The roster is packed with test players. Of the lesser capped names Diego Arbelo, Manuel Ardao, and José Iruleguy are all very gifted. They should feature heavily for Peñarol. The same applies to Baltazar Amaya. The uncapped winger is one of Uruguay’s bright hopes. He is an excellent finisher who has the ability to fool defenders with his foot work.

STRENGTHS
Every back position is well covered. That is to say, Peñarol will have a 23-man team in terms of the backs. The starting player will be well covered by the replacement. Felipe Etcheverry and Martín Roger offer strong fly half options. Three of Rodrigo Silva, Federico Favaro, José Iruleguy and Baltazar Amaya will start in the back-three. The player to miss out is likely to be on the replacements. This represents clear depth. Another area of note is the back-row. Manuel Ardao, Santiago Civetta, and Conrado Roura is a very promising back-row trio.

CONCERNS
Peñarol’s front-five forward options are a mixture of experience and youth. On the one hand, the roster contains loose head Matías Benítez (33 caps), hooker Facundo Gattas (33 caps), tight head and Juan Echeverría (54 caps). On the other hand, there is a shortage of caps among the additional players in these positions and in the second-row. For instance, Juanjuan Garese and Felipe Aliaga both have 2 caps for Los Teros. Both players are notably shorter than the 2.00m (6ft7) Nahuel Milan.

2021 SEASON OUTLOOK
Peñarol loom as a strong side this year. Taken as a whole, the roster is not weaker than 2020. On paper the team is the second seed behind Los Jaguares XV. ARN projects Peñarol to be involved in the 2021 SLAR Final. It will be played at the Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo. Turning that possibility into reality will require consistency and dedication. The 2020 season did not get off to a solid start.

 

For further information click here to access the ARN Súper Liga Americana de Rugby page.