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It is Uruguay vs Argentina as Peñarol take-on Los Jaguares XV in the 2021 SLAR Final. The two teams were the best during the regular season and earned the right to contest the final by getting past the challenges of Selknam and the Olímpia Lions in the Semi Finals.
Peñarol had a solid opening half against Selknam. The Uruguayan side fell away in the second half and narrlwloy avoided being beaten. They must start strongly in the final and deliver an 80 minute performance. The team has a plan – win up front and create opportunities for points through Martín Roger. The Argentine is the SLAR league leader with 105 points this season.
Roger is one of four Argentines starting for Peñarol in the final. Manuel Nogués will play scrum-half, Conrado Roura N8 and Nahuel Milan will lock the scrum. All four have been consistent performers all season for the Uruguayan side.
The remainder of the team is home-grown. There are names from past RWCs as well as players who will be starting for Uruguay in the RWC 2023 qualifiers in July. The pack will contain three regular Teros up-front and two more in the back-row. Interestingly, the replacements are forwards-oriented; clearly Peñarol are looking to keep it tight.
The Peñarol backline sees Nicolás Freitas on the wing rather than playing at center. The outside center position has gone to Tomás Inciarte. He is to also be covering scrum-half.
Los Jaguares XV also have a winger covering scrum-half. Sebastián Cancelliere will wear 14 but is the designated replacement for captain Felipe Ezcurra. Cancelliere has 14 tries in the tournament, easily the highest number. Teammate Juan Martín González has scored 7 tries, the most by a forward.
The aforementioned Jagaures XV names have all had outstanding seasons. There is little reason to suggest otherwise for their teammates. Federico Wegrzyn may well be starting for Argentina against Wales in July. He joins Pumas tight head Juan Pablo Zeiss up front.
Flanker Francisco Gorrissen will start at N8. The move means that JoaquínOviedo has to watch on from the bench. Both players have been impressive this season.
Los Jaguares XV won both regular season matches against Peñarol. The Argentine side completed bonus point wins in the two matches. There have been no other matches between the teams.
All signs point to Los Jaguares XV becoming the 2021 SLAR champions. The Argentine side is unbeaten and has a number of players pressing hard for a call-up by Mario Ledesma in July. ARN projects a Jaguares XV victory by 25 points.
Kickoff is set for 6:00pm local time, Asunción, Buenos Aires and Brasília; 5:00pm Santiago; and 4pm Bogotá. Live broadcasts will be provided by ESPN in the competing countries.
PEÑAROL
1 Juan Echeverria, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Diego Arbelo, 4 Felipe Aliaga, 5 Nahuel Milan, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Conrado Roura, 9 Manuel Nogués, 10 Martín Roger, 11 Nicolás Freitas, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Tomás Inciarte, 14 Juan Manuel Alonso, 15 Baltazar Amaya
Replacements: 16 Facundo Gattas, 17 Facundo Pomponio, 18 Matías Benítez, 19 Eric Dosantos, 20 Juan Marcos Chamyan, 21 Carlos Deus, 22 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 23 José Iruleguy
JAGUARES XV
1 Federico Wegrzyn, 2 Martín Vaca, 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 4 Federico Gutiérrez, 5 Franco Molina, 6 Lautaro Bavaro, 7 Juan Martín González, 8 Francisco Gorrissen, 0 Felipe Ezcurra, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 11 Tomás Cubilla, 12 Juan Pablo Castro, 13 Agustín Segura, 14 Sebastián Cancelliere, 15 Juan Bautista Daireaux
Replacements: Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Francisco Minervino, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Tomás Bernasconi, 20 Joaquín Oviedo, 21 Teo Castiglioni, 22 Martín Elías, 23 Gerónimo Prisciantelli
Date: Saturday, May 15
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Kickoff: 6:00pm (Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Brasília), 5:00pm (Santiago), 4:00pm (Bogotá)
Referee: Damián Schneider (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Francisco González (Uruguay), Nahuén Jauri Rivero (Argentina)
TMO: Alejandro Longres (Uruguay)
Broadcast: ESPN (America Latina), ESPN (Brazil)
Historical Results:
2021-04-04 Jaguares XV 46, Peñarol 17 (Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile)
2021-05-01 Peñarol 18, Jaguares XV 42 (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, Uruguay)
