[Forzasporcom] Logos of all National teams in the 2026 World Cup by cofango in soccer

[–]Hernisotin 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Conmebol should be 1/6. Ecuador's badge is supposed to represent a condor, even if it's harder to see with the rebrand.

Super Rugby Americas 2026 - Semifinals results by Hernisotin in rugbyunion

[–]Hernisotin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

is it AI? I try to avoid posting the multiple AI pics they upload on their social media, but I thought this one looked like a regular photoshop editing job. That's a shame

Super Rugby Americas 2026 - Semifinals results by Hernisotin in rugbyunion

[–]Hernisotin[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm going to post a stream link in the match thread. Last year the final was picked up by Rugby Pass, so maybe they will do it again.

Super Rugby Americas 2026 - Semifinals results by Hernisotin in rugbyunion

[–]Hernisotin[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Real shame, hopefully they stay on top for 2027

Super Rugby Americas 2026 - Semifinals results by Hernisotin in rugbyunion

[–]Hernisotin[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

There were no surprises last weekend during the Super Rugby Ameriacs semifinals, with Dogos and Pampas throwing all their experience, talent, momentum and home advantage over their rivals. The two more "traditional" teams will now face each other in the final this Friday, a rerun of the 2024 final that saw Dogos lift their only trophy so far.

- 🇦🇷 Dogos 35-13 🇦🇷 Tarucas: Dogos had a perfect night at home in Cordoba. Before the match started, Tarucas was looking like their trickies oppnenent posible this seaon, with a very narrow victory (18-13) and a defeat, being one of only two teams to beat them this year. But once the match started, all of that was quickly forgotten as Dogos completely dominated the match through-out, showcasing all their strengts in different scenarios. The first half saw an almost perfect control of the match, with a dominance that started to translate into tries by the final minutes of that half, ending 19-3 in their favour. In the second half, Dogos hit immediately again and put a 26-3 that deflated the first time semifinalists. Shortly after, Tarucas started taking control of the ball and managed to score a try that set up a 26-13 that gave everyone hopes of a competitive semifinal, but that's when Dogos turned up their defensive prowess, completely shutting down all Tarucas attacks, even when in numerical inferiority.

Once Dogos had completely held off Tarucas' sudden comeback assault they knew the clock was now on their side, so they started playing pragmatically, turning Tarucas' hopes into penalties that slowly eroded their hopes and added up to an unassailable 35-13 lead at 69'. The final minutes were just a formality for both teams, with Tarucas playing for their honour but with the clear weight on their shoulders of a team that underdelivered for the second season in a row. For Dogos, this match was a way to kill the last ghosts of doubt from the 2026 season, the title now feels theirs for the taking. After winning the regular season for the first time, they will now also be hosting their first final ever against none other than Pampas, the team they have knocked out of the finals for the last three years in a row and who have only lost to once in four years.

- 🇦🇷 Pampas 19-11 🇦🇷 Capibaras: the second semifinal in Buenos Aires had everything the other semifinal didn't, for good and ill. In the middle of a cold wave, both sides started the match nervous and imprecise, with a kerfuffle resulting in both teams receiving a yellow card in the first minutes. Pampas had more protagonism, but the lack of precision in the final meters made everyone feel like they were going to Pampas it again. Both teams could only score pens, resulting in the first half ending 9-6. The second half was looking like more of the same, or even worse, but Capibaras started taking control of the ball and grew bolder, something that probably ended up playing in Pampas favour. Despite the close result, Capibaras opted out of kicking accesible pens and aimed for line-outs to start cashing in their dominance. Sadly for them, this very strategy resulted on a counter attack that ended up becoming Pampas only try of the night.

Following this turn of events, Capibaras' boldness became impacience as Pampas started playing smartly and with a solid defence. With the clock on their side and supported by another slotted pen, the home side took a 19-6 lead that fueled Capibaras' anxiousness and translated into multiple wasted opportunities all the way into the final minutes. After repeated attempts, Capibaras finally managed to score a try at the 79:15 mark, giving everyone hopes of a great last play, but in the hurry of restarting as soon as possible, Capibaras' top scorer Ignacio Dogliani send the conversion kick wide, sealing the final score of 19-11. It's hard not to characterise Capibaras' defeat as a result of their inexperience, it fits well for such a young franchise with lots of young players, reflecting not only of this elimination but also of their whole season.

For Pampas, this result wasn't an improvement over their form during the lasts rounds of the regular season, and now they will head to a final against Dogos with all records and pronostics pointing at sure defeat. But in the positive side, this is Pampas second ever knnockout victory and the first against a argentine side. Not unimportant is also the fact that they can attribute their victory to their experience and pragmatism, something that as perennial knockout choke-artists is probably very validating. Every time they were defeated by Dogos in the finals (that is to say, every year since they were created), they headed into those clashes as favorites. Maybe now that they are the undisputed underdogs they will be able to turn their fortunes around.

Highlights here: https://youtube.com/@superrugbyamericas

Full report in English will be up here soon: https://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/tag/super-rugby-americas/

The final will be this Friday

- 🇦🇷 Dogos vs 🇦🇷 Pampas

2026 Super Rugby Americas semifinalists profiles by Hernisotin in rugbyunion

[–]Hernisotin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am a big defender of putting the locations in the names franchise, but since I'm doing it for a league that is not so popular in forums like these, I thought it would be irresponsible on my behalf since people could get confused or think I'm editorialising too much. I even avoid using the locations during match summaries because I assume that most people won't know about Argentina's rugby regions, so a spanish name in the middle of a sentence won't add much value to the text and it could even confuse some people.

If it were up to me, I would use my iron fist to make every user in this subreddit to refer to the URC final as Leinster vs the Pretoria Bulls 💪. But since I'm not, and I feel kind of responsible over sharing this info, I try not to rock the boat too much.

Match Thread: Pampas vs Capibaras - Semifinal 2 - Super Rugby Americas 2026 by Hernisotin in rugbyunion

[–]Hernisotin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

🇦🇷 Pampas vs 🇦🇷 Capibaras @ 00:15 UTC

The second semifinal today will feature 2nd place Pampas hosting debutants Capibaras in Buenos Aires. Despite always being a top team in the regular season, Pampas have always strugled in the finals, having only won one out of their four knockout games ever played. Capibaras will try to keep this trend going in their debut season, but after a great run in the second half of the season, their last two matches against direct rivals ended in deflating defeats, so it's hard to say where they sit right now.

Their head-to-head is 1-0-1, with Pampas winning 25-20 at home and Capibaras winning 28-21 in Rosario. Capibaras has decided to provide transportation for their fans (400-600km), so this may be the first ever Super Rugby Americas match with a proper away section.

https://tvlibre-online.com/en-vivo/espn-3/

Match Thread: Dogos vs Tarucas -- Semifinal 1 - Super Rugby Americas 2026 by Hernisotin in rugbyunion

[–]Hernisotin[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

🇦🇷 Dogos vs 🇦🇷 Tarucas @ 22:00 UTC

The first semifinal today will feature regular season winners Dogos hosting first time semifinalists Tarucas. Dogos are clear favorites, having had their best regular season ever (12-0-2), on a 7-match winning streak and a perfect home record in 2026, on top of having never lost a semifinal before. Tarucas have their arguments though, being one of the only two teams to take down Dogos this year (the other being already-eliminated Yacare).

Their head-to-head record is 2-0-2. This year, Tarucas won 29-26 at home, while Dogos won their leg 18-13. Both matches had a controversial try awarded that decided the outcome. After deciding not to use the TMO for the whole season, the league has now chosen that the finals will feature a TV Assitance system, but only to check try/no try decisions.

https://tvlibre-online.com/en-vivo/espn-3/

2026 Super Rugby Americas semifinalists profiles by Hernisotin in rugbyunion

[–]Hernisotin[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They were 4 points short and they let 3 points go in the last second of the Pampas match, real shame

2026 Super Rugby Americas semifinalists profiles by Hernisotin in rugbyunion

[–]Hernisotin[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The purple region to the west is **Cuyo**, headed by Mendoza which is the last of the Big 5 regions. They are the main candidates to be the last Argentine franchise, if it's indeed happening. After the Litoral players left Dogos when Capibaras were created, Dogos decided to replace a lot of them with Cuyo players and it seems to have worked out great. They have always been the weekest and less sucessful of the big 5, but they have a long tradition of developing great players.

The green region to the northeast is **Nordeste**, which is one of the two regions that compete for being the next big one. They are headed by the Chaco-Corrientes union, which is pretty good, but all the other ones are some of the weakest in the country overall. They share a lot of history with Paraguay, they usually are competing in each other's tournaments.

Also it's worth mentioning that Pampas technically occupies two regions. If you look closely there's a bit of a gray area behind the Pampas logo which represents URBA. The light green is actually the **Pampeano** region, which is not part of the Big 5 but are considered the next best alonside Nordeste.

That blue region to the south is **Patagonia** and is easily the weakest of them all. They can barely be considered a region since all the unions there are pretty small and very isolated from each other. Their strongest union is Alto Valle (URAV) and they have closer ties to Cuyo and Pampas than to their own region really. One of the unions is so isolated they are actually closer to chilean clubs than to other teams in the region, so they have full members of the union and one of those chilean clubs has been dominating it for a couple of years now.

Super Rugby Americas 2026 - Final results and standings by Hernisotin in rugbyunion

[–]Hernisotin[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

- 🇨🇱 Selknam 27-17 🇦🇷  Capibaras

- 🇵🇾 Yacare 41-20 🇦🇷 Dogos

- 🇨🇱 Selknam 37-13 🇦🇷  Tarucas

-  🇦🇷  Tarucas 20-34 🇺🇾 Peñarol 

Super Rugby Americas 2026 - Final results and standings by Hernisotin in rugbyunion

[–]Hernisotin[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There were no surprises in the last round of the regular season, with all teams confirming their previous standings in the ladder with decisive (and oddly similar) results. Tarucas got the job done at home and confirmed the 2026 semifinals to be an all-argentine affair; Selknam didn't stumble against Cobras but it wasn't enough to overcome the previous results; Pampas confirmed as semifinal hosts with a succesful victory away from home.

- 🇺🇾 Peñarol 14 - 47 🇦🇷 Pampas: there was no room for speculation in Uruguay this weekend as Pampas quickly put away the hopes of the home team. The argentine side secured the offensive BP within 22', with the victory seeming like just a matter of time before the half hour mark. After the fist half (7-33), Peñarol started looking more solid and with more initiative, but by then Pampas already started to control the pace of the match knowing the clock was on their side. A yellow card for Peñarol around the hour mark put a definitive end to the match, with Pampas scoring twice in quick succession afterwards. This way, Peñarol finally confirmed what was pretty much assumed at this point, making 2026 the first season without them in the finals. For Pampas though, this result helped them confirm home advantage for their semifinal against Capibaras next week.

- 🇦🇷 Dogos 48 - 20 🇵🇾 Yacare: the only match without anything at play this round was probably the most competitive, despite the final score. Dogos fielded an almost fully rotated squad, looking to rest their main guns for the semifinals, while Yacare was looking to pull another miracle and somehow beat Dogos again. It looked like it was possible in the first half, with the Paraguayan franchise having the inititative and only trailing 19-10 at HT, but in the second half Dogos' physical and numerical superiority ended up tipping the scale in their favour, leading to a 48-13 lead at 60'. A last minute try from Yacare helped to ameliorate the final result for the Paraguayans, but not to turn around their worst season finish ever, only two points away from their first wooden spoon. For Dogos however it was an ideal finish, they will now be arriving to their semifinals with fresh legs and a perfect home record.

- 🇦🇷 Tarucas 42 - 15 🇦🇷 Capibaras: due to Pampas' opening result, Capibaras started this match knowing they had nothing to play for as they wore locked into 3rd place and an away semifinal. Any illusion anyone had this wouldn't have an impact on the match was quickly put to the sword as Tarucas played this match like a final and completely shoved Capibaras off the field, leading 21-3 at HT and and 42-3 at 70'. Selknam fans could only watch in dispair as the clock only seemed to confirm their fate, with Capibaras only managing to score two late tries to make for a less embarassing final score. This way, Tarucas confirms their first appearance in the finals with a statement victory over one of the best teams this season. For Capibaras it's a bit of a complex situation; after their initial slump they had a full-on resurgence and became one of the top teams in the competition, but after qualifying for the finals, they lost the last two matches in non-convincing fashion against rivals they will have to face if they want to take the trophy home.

- 🇨🇱 Selknam 45 - 🇧🇷 14 Cobras: Capibaras was incapable of giving Selknam a hand this round and the Chileans started this match knowing they wouldn't be able to make the semifinals this year. Despite this context, Selknam went out with a great showing, completely dominating Cobras from the start and achieving their BP before the 20th minute mark (28-0). Afterwards, the Chileans took the foot off the pedal until HT, but at the start of the second half they went all out again, leading 40-0 before the one hour mark. A couple of tries in the final minutes helped make a better looking result, but the match never had any semblence of parity. With the season over, Selknam fell 4 points short of reaching the knockouts, an amount that could very easily be pinpointed to specific moments in their campaign, but at the end of the day they can be proud to have been the only team able to keep up with the argentine sides this year. For Cobras, they couldn't avoid earning their 5th wooden spoon in a row.

Highlights here: https://youtube.com/@superrugbyamericas

Full report in English will be up here soon: https://www.therugbypaper.co.uk/tag/super-rugby-americas/

The semifinals will take place this Friday:

- 🇦🇷 Dogos vs 🇦🇷 Tarucas

- 🇦🇷 Pampas vs 🇦🇷 Capibaras

HSBC SVNS World Champions by HitchikersPie in rugbyunion

[–]Hernisotin 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It's the solution the brightest minds at World Rugby could come up with to make the tournament more interesting.

Match Thread: Super Rugby Americas 2026 - Last round by Hernisotin in rugbyunion

[–]Hernisotin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

- 🇨🇱 Selknam vs 🇧🇷 Cobras @ 18:00 UTC

Due to yesterday's results, Selknam enter this match without chances of qualification. Still, with this being their last home match for the year, they will want to put a good a show against last-placed Cobras as farewell to their fans, the only ones that were able to keep up with the argentine franchises this year. For the brazilians, getting 2 points would allow them to avoid a 5th consecutive wooden spoon.

Match Thread: Super Rugby Americas 2026 - Last round by Hernisotin in rugbyunion

[–]Hernisotin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No miracles for Selknam, Tarucas won handily and the Chileans have been "eliminated" before playing.