Advertisement
Peñarol have had the luxury of spending the entire week working with Warren gatland ahead of this clash with Pampas. It is pretty straightforward, Peñarol win and they will top the league. Giving them a home advantage for the Semi Finals, Pampas are in the same boat but will be looking for Selknam to do them a favour over the Dogos. Peñarol will only drop out of the top 2 with a defeat to Pampas and Dogos beating Selknam. Hopefully, Gatland hasn’t brought over his Welsh losing streak to derail Peñarol at the final hurdle.
Peñarol will be buoyed from their victory over Dogos last weekend, and will be looking to return the defeat they sufferd earlier in the season to Pampas. It looks like their will be a nearly fully rotated backline for Peñarol, with Ícaro Amarillo, Alfonso Perillo Albarracín, Felipe Acros Pérez and Bautista Basso changing and coming in to play 11, 12, 13 & 14 respectively. Is that in preparation for the Semi Final period and actively resting players? However, having 14 capped Uruguayians and 1 Portuguese Internatiional available, there will be no drop in talent on the pitch! Having struggled at scrum time this season, Peñarol will be looking to use their discipline to control the game. They will have Andrés Vilaseca available on the bench as the Uruguayan Captain returns from injury having missed the tournament so far, could be a perfect time to return for Peñarol.
Pampas come off the back of back to back defeats and head into a difficult tie tonight. They will be looking for Ignacio Inchauspe to play out of position at fly half and still control the game. With Mateo Albanese coming in at scrum half to replace him. A few tweaks in the pack to, with Juan Cruz Pérez Rachel swapping from 8 to 7 with Joaguín Moro going the opposite way. Bruno Heit is in at 13 for Juan Pablo Castro to drop to the bench. Pampas have won the last 6 games against Peñarol and will be going out there to make it 7!
This game could decide should decide top spot for the season and a home tie advantage for one of the teams! Its going to be a banger in Montevideo!
