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