By Joe Santamaria
In round five of the 2026 Super Rugby Americas, Dogos avenged last season’s defeat in the final with a convincing 32-22 victory over Peñarol in Córdoba.
The hosts managed the atrocious conditions better, utilising their power up front to pull away from their Uruguayan visitors.
Weather conditions were so severe that the first half was temporarily suspended due to nearby lightning, with the heavy rain forcing handling errors from both sides.
However, Dogos’ scrum yielded penalties that allowed fly-half Julián Hernández to kick his side into a 6-0 lead, before his opposite number Justo Ferrario replied with a penalty of his own on the 30-minute mark.
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Dogos’ scrum helps avenge final defeat
With very little between the sides and expansive rugby a near-impossibility, Dogos’ scrum proved the difference, securing a penalty try towards the end of the half.
Peñarol will be disappointed they couldn’t reach the break in touching distance, as Dogos secured another penalty try with the clock in the red, this time after Peñarol collapsed a maul that was destined for the line.
Having earned an impressive 17-point lead at the break, Dogos sensed the next score could effectively end the contest, and it took just minutes of the second half to secure it.
With the rain easing, it was finally time for the backs to get involved and a well-executed attack ended with winger Luciano Avaca stepping the final defender to score in the corner.
In-form hooker Juan Greissing Revol soon powered over for the bonus point from close range to leave the visitors staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat.
With the scoreline in danger of running away from them, Peñarol deserve credit for their response, even if the win was likely out of reach.
Peñarol scrum-half Alejandro Molinas spotted a gap in behind, and his chip was gathered by winger Ignacio Facciolo, who slid into the corner to grab his team’s first try.
Positives
Inspired by their winger and keen to restore some pride after a bruising first half, Peñarol’s forwards stepped up for their second try, finished off by Joaquín Myszka after a rolling maul.
With more than 80 minutes played, replacement Jesús Porro burrowed over from close range to reduce the deficit, although it was too late for a bonus point.
Dogos continue to defy cautious pre-season assessments of their title chances, with their fourth win in five matches enough to see them top the table.
Despite the loss of their head coach and several key players, the Córdoba-based side look more than capable of making their fourth final in succession.
For Peñarol, there were positives in their second-half display, but the transitional squad looks a far cry from the outfit that pipped Dogos to the 2025 title just nine months ago.
Selknam bounce back in style
Selknam bounced back from their shocking defeat to Dogos with an impressive 27-17 triumph over Capibaras in Santiago.
Having underperformed early in the season, this performance showed glimpses of the kind of quality that led many to believe Selknam are capable of winning the title this year.
Things could hardly have got off to a worse start for the Chilean side, as fullback Lucas Strabucchi misjudged a kick that bounced straight into the grateful arms of Gino Dicapua, who raced in for a try after less than a minute.
The hosts didn’t let the early error knock them off course and quickly struck back through Salvador Lues, who showed great strength to force his way over the Capibaras line under pressure.
Selknam head coach Jake Mangin had identified the scrum as an area that needed improvement following the Dogos defeat, and will have been delighted to see it play a part in the team’s second try.
Following a strong drive by the pack, Selknam broke up the blindside and fly-half Rodrigo Fernández showed a great turn of pace to reach the line.
Matías Garafulic’s inaccuracy from the boot prevented Selknam from building the lead their play arguably deserved, as he pushed several kicks wide of the posts.
Nerves
In open play, Garafulic looked to make up for his wayward kicking and was instrumental in Selknam’s third score.
Receiving the ball after some excellent passing from his teammates, Garafulic broke the line and managed to offload to Nicolás Saab, who dotted down.
The final offload looked as though it may have drifted forwards, but Selknam will feel good value for the score, given their overall performance.
An Ignacio Dogliani penalty for Capibaras meant they only trailed 17-8 at halftime despite being under pressure for much of the first 40 minutes.
The visitors improved in the second half and, unlike Selknam, had the benefit of a clinical goalkicker in Dogliani.
He struck two penalties in the opening six minutes of the half to reduce the deficit to just two points, and it was clear that the home crowd was beginning to feel nervous.
Selknam needed to wrestle back momentum and managed it in stylish fashion just minutes later.
Home crowd roar
A looping pass over the Capibaras defence gave Álvaro Castro a sight of the line, but he still needed to show all his athleticism to finish off acrobatically in the corner to secure the bonus point and put the crowd at ease.
Banishing his earlier struggles, Garafulic slotted the conversion from the touchline.
The majority of the second half passed with no change to the scoreboard, despite both sides threatening to breach the other’s defence.
A late exchange of penalties didn’t change the result, and the home crowd let out a roar at the final whistle, having seen their side dig deep for this victory.
Selknam came into the game under real pressure and this performance will have done plenty to alleviate it.
The challenge now is to show that last week’s defeat was a one-off, and that this week’s performance will be the norm from here on.
Five games into their maiden campaign, Capibaras are in a playoff position but, unsurprisingly, the team is far from the finished article.
Tarucas hold off Yacare fightback
Yacare’s poor first-half performance cost them dearly as they succumbed to a 28-22 home defeat to Tarucas.
The visitors blew the Paraguayan side away early, scoring a penalty try from a rolling maul after just three minutes had been played.
It wasn’t long until they added their second through second row Ignacio Marquieguez, who ran a smart line to breach the Yacare defence.
Yacare talisman Joaquín Lamas got his side on the board with a penalty, but they were soon on the back foot again.
Having caused the hosts problems with their maul, Tarucas appeared to set up another close to the opposition line.
Having drawn in the Yacare defenders, the ball was instead popped up to man-mountain Luciano Asevedo, who was never going to be stopped from close range.
Superb move
Tarucas’ fourth try was by far the pick of the bunch and began with Tomás Elizalde breaking away from deep in his own half.
The fullback’s slaloming run looked as though it might take him all the way to the Yacare line, but he elected to offload to Pablo Pfister, who finished off the superb move.
With the bonus point secured in just 22 minutes, the visitors looked as though they might embarrass their hosts, but it would prove to be their final score of the entire game.
Trailing by 25 points at halftime, a Yacare comeback was always unlikely, but the home side never stopped believing they could do it.
The hosts ran a clever lineout move early in the second half that gave Juan Bautista Mernes a run at the line, and he seemed to take all his team’s first-half frustration out on the Tarucas defence, such was the ferocity of his carry.
The replacement trampled over one defender and managed to score under pressure from two more.
Yacare may still be looking for their first win of the campaign, but Juan Cruz Strada has been as good as anyone so far this season and showed his value again.
With Yacare probing the Tarucas defence for a weakness, the scrum-half spotted a gap at the side of the ruck and burst through it to score with 13 minutes to play.
Need to improve
As the game entered the final ten minutes, both sides were showing signs of fatigue.
Lamas saw space out wide and put in a clever kick that was gathered by Arturo López, who beat the last Tarucas defender and closed the gap to six points with four minutes left to play.
Try as they might, Yacare couldn’t find the score that would have sealed a famous comeback win, as Tarucas held on to the spoils.
It is testament to Yacare’s resolve that they have picked up five bonus points in their five matches, despite falling to defeat in all of them.
Such tight margins suggest they will eventually find that elusive first win, but they cannot afford to give teams as much of a head start as they gave Tarucas.
The visitors remain in a strong position in the table, but went nearly an hour without scoring a point in this encounter.
They will need to improve if they harbour ambitions of going all the way in just their second-ever Super Rugby Americas campaign.
Pampas firepower proves too strong
Visitors Pampas overcame a stubborn Cobras side to secure a 49-19 victory in São Paulo.
The Argentine side could hardly have hoped for a better start, as Alfonso Latorre spotted a gap in the backfield and kicked ahead, showing great pace to reach the try line before the covering defender.
Within minutes, Pampas had a second try, this one scored by flanker Juan Penoucos, who charged onto a pass before the Cobras defence had reorganised from the previous phase.
Cobras grew into the contest and managed to convert pressure into points, with their maul proving a key weapon.
Adrio de Melo dived over a ruck to score and get his team on the board, and the backrower was at the heart of their second try too.
Cobras went short for several phases until de Melo’s carry proved decisive, bringing the hosts back to within two points with 30 minutes played.
Perhaps sensing that momentum had shifted in favour of their opponents, Pampas redoubled their efforts and were rewarded when Penoucos reacted quickest to dot down for his second score of the game.
Fine individual performance
It seemed everyone was in the mood for scoring braces, with Latorre grabbing his in the closing seconds of the half after some quick hands from the Pampas backs put him away.
Their strong showing at the beginning and end of the half was enough to wrap up the bonus point and a 28-12 lead at the break.
Neither side were able to trouble the scoreboard again until the 64th minute, when Pampas centre Agustín Fraga did so in great style.
The replacement spotted a gap in the tiring Cobras defence and raced through it, before dummying the last defender on his way to the line.
Adrio de Melo capped a fine individual performance with his hat-trick, which he scored from close to the ruck despite the close attention of the Pampas defence.
Not good enough
Pampas added two late scores to put some extra gloss on the scoreline, the pick of which was scored by Estanislao Renthel.
The fullback chipped the ball over the defence before regathering himself under pressure, eventually scoring after juggling with the ball for a moment.
Having rested some key players, Pampas were understandably disjointed at times, but still had more than enough firepower to get over the line and look as though they will challenge at the latter end of the season yet again.
For Cobras, there were plenty of positives, not least in the form of de Melo’s display, but conceding nearly 50 points at home simply isn’t good enough in this league, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
Round Six sees Tarucas host Cobras before Yacare head to Montevideo to take on Peñarol.
Selknam look to back up their win over Capibaras against Pampas before an all-Argentine clash in Córdoba, where table-topping Dogos face Capibaras.
READ MORE: 2026 Super Rugby Americas – Round Four summary: Peñarol beat Cobras as Pampas hit top spot
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