Peñarol impressed against Yacare in Asunción. The away victory brought to a close the penultimate rounds of Super Rugby Americas (SRA) 2026. The outcome of the contest means the defending champions remain outside of the play-offs and Yacare are narrowly avoiding bottom spot.
The match was tense in the first-half; so much so that there was a double expulsion with both teams losing a forward to red cards in the 13th minute for fighting. Agustín Toth and Manuel Rosmarino were both shown their marching orders. The Uruguayan may be in serious trouble after he returned to continue his aggression after having been red carded.
Before the cards, there was also a yellow card for Yacare and a try to Peñarol center, Mateo Acosta. Good pace and a dummy pass saw the center scoring down the left. Good work was also on show for Yacare’s opening try. Off-loads from Joaquín Mussi and Arturo López combined for Juan Bautista Mernes’s try.
The third, and final, score of the opening half went to the visitors. Peñarol pieced-together a lineout to maul try on 29 minutes with hooker Sebastian Pérez scoring. Yacare responded with a penalty to Valentino Quattrochi for a 12-10 half-time deficit.
The second-half opened with early tries for both teams. First, N8 Manuel Ponte crossed for Peñarol. Second, Arturo López scored in the right corner after a set-piece move from a lineout in which Joaquín Mussi broke the defensive line after entering from fullback.
The match was on repeat mode with a further try exchange. Canadian Ethan Fryer scored from a pick-and-go on 52 minutes and Valentino Quattrochi sliced through to score for Yacare. The performance of the Canadian was of particular note with Felipe Aliaga not involved and his locking partner having been sent-off.
Quattrochi stepped his way around Tomás Baca Castex to score. The Peñarol winger made amends fifteen minutes later for Peñarol. Baca Castex scored the last try of the evening as Peñarol finished 36-22 winners having scored six tries while conceding three.
In claiming the bonus point win, Peñarol move up to 34 points. This sees the team remaining in 6th position. Los Tarucas and Selknam are in 4th and 5th on 39 and 36 points respectively. The results in the final round of the regular SRA season will determine who joins Los Dogos, Los Pampas and Los Capibaras in the play-offs.
Peñarol finish the regular season at home against Los Pampas on Friday, June 05. Yacare travel to Córdoba to face Los Dogos, also on Friday. Los Tarucas pathway will be beating Los Capibaras while Selknam need Los Capibaras to win in addition to winning their match at home over Os Cobras on Saturday.
| SCORING |
YACARE (22)
TRY – JB Mernes (20′); A López (47′); V Quattrocchi (55′)
CON – V Quattrocchi (21′, 56′)
PEN – V Quattrocchi (32′)
YC – A Núñez (1′), JB Mernes (25′), J Domínguez (44′), C Blasco (62′)
RC – N Toth (13′)
PENAROL (36)
TRY – M Acosta (7′); S Pérez (29′); M Ponte 2 (45′, 64′); E Fryer (52′); T Boca Castex (72′)
CON – J Ferrario (30′, 53′, 73′)
YC – R Piussi (31′)
RC – M Rosmarino (13′)
 LINE-UPS |
YACARE
1 Nicolas Toth, 2 Matías Benítez, 3 Gonzalo del Pazo, 4 Camilo Blasco, 5 Joaquin Domínguez Herrera, 6 Ariel Núñez (capt.), 7 Mateo Gasparotti, 8 Juan Bautista Mernes, 9 Gonzalo Bareiro, 10 Valentino Quattrochi, 11 Juan González, 12 Sebastian Urbieta, 13 Rafael Bareiro, 14 Arturo López, 15 Joaquin Mussi
Replacements: 16 Santos María Juarez Estrada, 17 Gastón Salvi, 28 Luís Enrique Quinteros, 19 Yair Kacerosky, 20 Francisco Luis Bareiro, 21 Diego Miño, 22 Gianfranco Parodi, 23 Facundo Paiva
PENAROL
1 Mateo Perillo Albarracin, 2 Sebastián Pérez, 3 Reinaldo Piussi, 4 Ethan Fryer, 5 Manuel Rosmarino, 6 Pedro Suarez, 7 Lucas Bianchi (capt.), 8 Manuel Ponte, 9 Joaquín Suarez, 10 Justo Ferrario, 11 Tomás Baca Castex, 12 Mateo Acosta, 13 Alfonso Perillo Albarracin, 14 James Thiel, 15 Santiago Marolda
Replacements: 16 Foster Dewitt, 17 Juan Francisco Bessio, 18 Mateo Sanguinetti, 19 José Ignacio Rodriguez, 20 Alex Sonneveld, 21 Ícaro Amarillo, 22 Bruno Baccino Barrachina, 23 Bruno Primavesi Kaminski
| MATCH VIDEO |
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
VS
REFEREE: Tomás Ninci (Argentina)
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Cauã Ricardo (Brazil); Sergio Alvarenga (Paraguay)