The Americas Up and Under of the Week

The Americas Up and Under is a weekly feature on Americas Rugby News which reviews the pros and cons from the weekend.

Up

AJ MacGinty debut
A number of players boosted their Rugby World Cup chances substantially this weekend and none more so than USA Eagles debutant AJ MacGinty. Having been involved in touring South America in non-capped internationals in April and May MacGinty was selected at fly half against Samoa this weekend. After a shaky first half the Life University pivot played very good rugby to put his players in the right places. A similar showing will go a long way to see him starting ahead of Adam Siddall and Toby L’Estrange at the World Cup and enabling Shalom Suniula to play scrumhalf.

Santiago Cordero passes defensive test
Arguments against youngster Santiago Cordero playing for Los Pumas have been his defense. Critics have defended the selection of less threatening offensive players due to their superior defensive capabilities than the 21 year old. Christchurch was a baptism of fire for Cordero who started opposite none other than the top try scorer from the Super Rugby season, Waisake Noholo. The Fijian-born All Black did not break Cordero tackles as the young Puma demonstrated tactical improvement. His offense has the potential to make him the Argentine Shane Williams.

Uruguay rise in rankings
Despite not playing a test match this weekend Uruguay moved from 21st to 19th in the World Rankings. The South Americans benefited from the 30th ranked Kenya hosting and defeating the 19th ranked Spain. Kenya is now 28th and Spain 20th while Namibia is 20th after defeating Russia who have fallen to 21st. Los will next play on August 01, taking on Argentina at the Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo.

MVCC Turns 154
Further celebrations for Uruguayan rugby took place at the Montevideo Cricket Club (MVCC). Established in 1861 it is the oldest rugby club outside of Europe and it turned 154 this weekend. Current players Agustín Alonso, Cristofer Soares de Lima and Diego Magno are members of the 41-man squad currently training for places in the 31-man Rugby World Cup squad.

Mexico U19 Success 
Large, populated countries such as Brazil and Mexico have previously been singled out by World Rugby as key markets to future development. It is desired that countries such as these can build towards becoming Tier 2 over time. In order for this to happen significant investment is required at the junior level. Authorities may thus be happy to learn that Mexico successfully defended the North American Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) U19 title with a 24-0 shutout of USA Rugby South Blue in Orlando, Florida on Saturday. Involved were World Rugby members Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Trinidad & Tobago in addition to Turks & Caicos.

Under

Eagles first half
Few teams can hold Samoa pointless in a forty minute period of rugby but this is precisely what the USA Eagles did in San José. Samoa was unable to add a single point to the 21 scored in the opening half yet did not lose. The USA paid dearly for having started slowly and had they not then the North Americans would most likely have won. Chris Wyles’ team came back from 21-3 to lose 21-16.

Agulla’s shortfall on the wing
Speed is not Agulla’s biggest weapon. Rather it is his aggression which is why he is much more useful at this level playing in the mid-field. He started in the position in defeating Australia last November as he did against Italy in both 2013 and 2014. His total of 59 test caps have resulted in a low conversion of just five tries while other Pumas wingers have a much higher return. Serious defensive questions were also asked in Christchurch as the All Blacks attacked Agulla’s side, crossing three times in the process.

Canadian handling errors
Canada’s form against Japan in recent years has been frustrating for loyal supporters. The Asians have demonstrated significant improvement while Canada have failed to win after having been in positions to do so. On Saturday the Canadians did not deserve a win but genuinely bombed no fewer than three try scoring opportunities due to basic handling errors. Concerning is that big name Canadian players expected to start in the World Cup were guilty of what could be described as school-boy errors.

Pumas linebreaks
There was just one. Aside from Martín Landajo’s late run the South Americans did not threaten the All Black defensive line at all. Both tries came from the set-piece with hooker Agustín Creevy scoring from driving mauls. The previous test between the countries, in La Plata last September was also a 21 point loss but by a scoreline of 34-13. Argentina created but failed to execute opportunities with Juan Imhoff alone being responsible for 4 linebreaks. He did not play in Christchurch.

Clevergate
The eleven year test career of Todd Clever is under threat. Capped 63 times Clever is four short of catching fellow Californian Mike Macdonald’s record of 67 caps for the USA Eagles. Now, though, he may miss out on doing so. In failing to appear at training twice in the lead-up to the San José test against Samoa Clever was suspended and his place in the World Cup is now in doubt.