2026 Super Rugby Americas – Round One summary: Tarucas dominate as Capibaras stun champions

By Joe Santamaria

After the scheduled curtain raiser was delayed due to a travel issue, the Super Rugby Americas season kicked off in Tucumán, where the home side Tarucas dominated their Chilean opponents, Selknam.

Despite the visitors arriving with a settled squad and hopes of a first title in 2026, they had no answer to Tarucas’ physicality and succumbed to a 41-13 defeat.

Both sides exchanged penalties in an opening quarter punctuated by handling errors, before second row Ignacio Marquieguez powered over for the game’s first try from a rolling maul with half an hour played.

Tarucas’ dominance at the scrum allowed them great field position, but Selknam’s defence was resolute, and they managed to get to half-time trailing 8-3.

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Rapturous home crowd

Talismanic tighthead Francisco Moreno added a try from close range early in the second half to establish the home side’s control.

Roared on by a rapturous home crowd, Tarucas sensed the victory was there to be claimed. A

After several exhausting phases, the Selknam defence cracked again, this time following a superb line from Tarucas backrower Thiago Sbrocco.

A penalty try after successive scrum penalties secured the bonus point for Tarucas with around 15 minutes left to play.

Selknam, to their credit, never stopped looking for ways to unlock the opposition and eventually found the try line through Cristóbal Game after some slick passing.

Buoyed by their score and desperately chasing the game, Selknam began to take risks in their own half, only to spill the ball and allow Tarucas winger Tomás Vanni an easy run-in.

With the clock in the red, the home side chose to give their fans one more try to celebrate and it proved to be one of the best of the game.

Near the halfway line, Sbrocco dummied close to the ruck and burst through a tired defensive line, showing great pace to reach the tryline for his second score of the day.

Lick their wounds

The Chileans will lick their wounds and know that they will fare better in drier conditions, but there is no denying the worrying signs up front.

Experienced head coach Jake Mangin will want to resolve this issue, and quickly, if they are to win the title for the first time.

Tarucas, meanwhile, made a mockery of concerns that they would be weakened by the loss of influential halfbacks Simón Benítez Cruz and Nicolás Roger to Europe. They look stronger than ever.

Perennial table-toppers Pampas secured a hard-fought 30-17 win on the road against Paraguayan franchise Yacare to kick off their campaign.

Pampas started brightly and opened the scoring after just five minutes when hooker Ignacio Bottazzini showed great footwork and power to score in the corner.

Slick attacking play

Known for their slick attacking play, Pampas’ second try was straight out of their playbook.

New signing Tobias Wade collected a kick on halfway and assessed his options before starting a clinical counter-attack with fellow debutant Felipe Ledesma.

Having started the attack, Wade was on hand to finish it and leave Pampas in total control with less than ten minutes played.

Yacare grew into the game after their disastrous start, eventually getting points on the board from the boot of Joaquín Lamas.

Just as they were beginning to get a foothold in the match, Pampas struck again when Bottazzini notched his second try from the back of a rolling maul.

The visitors took a commanding 22-3 lead into half-time with a bonus point in their sights.

New Yacare head coach Ramiro Peman will be delighted at the response his team showed in the second half, especially given the absence of the team’s former captain, Mariano Garcete, who has stepped away from the team this year.

Momentum shifted

The hosts scored their first try of the campaign through centre Francisco Gaspes, who simply had to catch and score after a superb offload from Juan Cruz Strada.

Pampas struck back with a penalty, but it was clear that momentum had shifted in the direction of their opponents, who continued their comeback with a try from Cruz Strada.

The scrum half darted over from close range to narrow the deficit to just eight points.

Ultimately, the Paraguayan side were unable to complete the comeback and will rue their slow start to the match.

Pampas’ Juan Pedro Bernasconi finally added the bonus point score with the clock in the red, having not crossed the line since the 29th minute.

Pampas head coach Juan Manuel Leguizamón will be satisfied with the five points, but will no doubt have concerns about the way his side allowed Yacare to come back into the match.

Having finished top of the table in the last two seasons, only to falter in the playoffs, Pampas can ill afford such lapses in concentration if they are to win their maiden title in 2026.

For Yacare, Peman has plenty to build on, but he will know they must start faster if they are to turn promising performances into wins this year.

Alarm bells

New Argentine franchise Capibaras enjoyed a dream 34-7 victory over defending champions Peñarol that will raise alarm bells in the Uruguayan franchise.

The victory will have been even sweeter for Capibaras head coach, Nicolás Galatro, who was defeated by Peñarol in last year’s final while in charge of Dogos.

Ignacio Gandini wrote his name into the tournament’s history when he scored Capibaras’ first try from the back of a maul with ten minutes played.

If the team’s first try was all about forward power, the second showed the team is far from a one-trick pony.

The hosts surged forwards until Peñarol simply ran out of defenders, allowing winger Franco Rossetto a clear run to the line.

Galatro isn’t the only ex-Dogos figure to make the move to Capibaras this year.

Having marshalled the Dogos attack brilliantly last season, fly-half Juan Bautista Baronio picked up where he left off with a clever kick behind the defence that led to a second try for Rossetto before the break.

Biggest cheer

The fans in Rosario could scarcely believe their eyes, as their team finished their first half of Super Rugby Americas action with a 21-0 lead over the tournament’s most successful side.

Perhaps the biggest cheer of the day was reserved for Capibaras replacement Ignacio Dogliani, who smashed over a drop goal from 40 metres out to score the first points of the second half.

Fellow substitute Federico Cescut grabbed the bonus-point try with ten minutes left to play to seal a five-point victory for the hosts.

Peñarol hooker Sebastián Pérez reacted to an overthrown lineout to get his team on the board and avoid the ignominy of ending the match scoreless, but it was nothing but a consolation.

Baronio had the last laugh as he slotted a penalty from long range to finish the game.

With several crucial players from last year’s title-winning campaign taking this season off to focus on work or study, this year was always likely to be a tough one for Peñarol.

Few would have predicted a result like this, however, as the team still had plenty of senior players, including returning star Manuel Ardao.

Time will tell whether this was a freak result or the new normal for the three-time champions.

Playoffs in sight

Galatro will be thrilled that his new group of players seem to have gelled so quickly and, on the basis of this performance, will have the playoffs firmly in his sights.

More than 7,000 fans packed into the stadium to watch the region’s first fully professional side and, after a performance like this one, all of them will be back for more.

Last year’s finalists Dogos overcame a resurgent Cobras side to triumph 21-19 in Córdoba. Having lost every game last season, the visiting Brazilian side banished any suggestion that they would be easy work in 2026.

Cobras strengthened their roster in the off-season with the signings of several South African players, led by two-time Olympic bronze medalist, Rosko Specman.

The high-profile addition made his mark early in the game, hacking through a loose ball and showing great pace to score just moments before the ball went dead.

The home side found themselves ten points down against a side they beat by over one-hundred points on aggregate last season.

Eased concerns

Having seen several stars depart for Europe, Dogos fans were perhaps concerned that their side could not match the performances of old.

Hooker Juan Greissing Revol eased those concerns when he crashed over the line on 30 minutes, showing that Dogos’ power game remains potent regardless of who is wearing the jersey.

Dogos’ opening try seemed to calm the nerves that had crept into the stadium and they soon took the lead in similar style.

Another powerful maul allowed Revol to dot down with ease to the delight of the home crowd.

A well-struck penalty from Cobras’ João Amaral meant his side only trailed by a single point at the break.

Whereas last season, Dogos might have thought the Cobras resistance would fade in the second half, the 2026 team looked even sharper after the break.

Amaral slotted another penalty to regain the lead in a match that was clearly going to go down to the wire.

Revenge

Dogos managed to find the moment of quality necessary to break Cobras’ resolute defence on the hour mark, when scrum half Nicolás Viola finished off a blistering attack that began inside the Dogos half.

Another penalty from Amaral narrowed the gap to two points with 15 minutes to play, but Dogos managed to hold out for the win.

Round Two sees Peñarol welcome Tarucas to Montevideo, desperate to get their season up and running, before Selknam face Yacare with both sides looking for their first win of the campaign.

Capibaras get the chance to build on their dream debut when they face Cobras.

The game of the weekend takes place in Buenos Aires, where Pampas play host to Dogos.

The visitors have knocked out their hosts in the last two Super Rugby Americas seasons and Leguizamón’s side will be hell-bent on revenge.

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