Up and Under

The Up and Under is a weekly feature on Americas Rugby News which reviews the best and worst from games involving the Americas teams on the weekend.

UP

Uruguay
History was made in Montevideo on Saturday as Los Teros defeated the Argentina XV 30-26 in what was the first ever Uruguayan victory over a senior men’s Argentine team. The match was not a capped international due to the Argentine side not being Los Pumas. In reality it was a fourth choice Argentine side as evidenced by the players involved. Scrumhalf Gonzalo Bertranou, for instance, is behind Tomás Cubelli, Martín Landajo and Felipe Ezcurra. Or outside center and captain Matías Orlando has to contend with Marcelo Bosch, Matías Moroni, Jerónimo De la Fuente and Horacio Agulla. Uruguay, though, had the ideal farewell and can travel to Japan with new found confidence.

Ray Barkwill
Canadian hooker Ray Barkwill required 13 staples to his head in Wednesday’s Pacific Nations Cup international against Samoa in Toronto. He left the field in the 35th minute for repairs and the hear-man returned in the second half after having the cut closed. Barkwill is not only a gutsy player but his form has him well placed to start ahead of Aaron Carpenter at the World Cup.

Andrew Durutalo
Forget about Clevergate the form of USA Eagles back-rowers has the North Americans well placed to have a highly competitive roster of back-rowers for the World Cup. Samu Manoa, John Quill, Cam Dolan, Danny Barrett and Scott LaValla are all expected to play while Andrew Durutalo has proven he should be on the plane to London with them. Durutalo scored tries against both Japan and Tonga and, more importantly, was highly effective in performing all the duties of a back-rower.

Venezuela
This weekend’s friendly international between the neighboring countries saw the lower ranked Venezuelans coming away with a last-gasp victory in a series split between the teams. The countries are two of the four members of the Sudamérica B which is to have it’s Championship after the World Cup in Peru. Colombia and Venezuela are expected to be too strong for Ecuador and Peru and have been investing in academies to lift their levels. With the winner to face Brazil in a repechage play-off the improved infrastructure offers a path to growth.

Argentina leadership
Argentina’s match in Montevideo was an extremely rare example of a Tier One union playing an away match against a lower ranked neighbor. New Zealand’s recent test in Samoa was the first ever such fixture while Argentina’s match this weekend followed a test match in the country in May and Argentina also played in Paraguay. Georgia is ranked between Scotland and Italy in the World Rankings but receives no tests against these teams. Similarly Australia regulars plays in Italy yet does not do so in Fiji or Samoa who are ranked higher while South Africa has never played a test in Namibia. The list goes on.

UNDER

Canada’s final minutes
Following a sensational try from Phil Mackenzie, Canada was on course for a Pacific Nations Cup win. It would have been a tremendous result considering Canada’s form in recent years in which wins have been limited to matches against Namibia and Portugal. Canada simply needed to retain possession to win but kicked the ball and did so with prop Djustice Sears-Duru offside. Samoa then had a final chance to win with a lineout on Canada’s tryline only for Canada to win it and knock it on into Samoa’s hands allowing Sakaria Taulafo to break Canadian hearts.

Uruguay v Argentina live stream
The Uruguayan Rugby Union generously offered a free live stream for Saturday’s international against the Argentina XV. Viewing, though, was impossible, at least for those based outside of Uruguay. Supporters of both teams as well as neutrals looking to see Uruguay ahead of the World Cup took to Twitter to find out what was going on. The error was not repaired resulting in rugby fans from the world over missing out on seeing Los Teros win.

Guilty Hooper
Australian back-rower Michael Hooper was found guilty by the SANZAR judicial officer Nigel Hampton QC of punching or striking Nicolas Sanchez in the Wallabies’ away against Argentina in Mendoza, but he is free to play for Australia against New Zealand in Sydney this coming weekend. He was deemed to have committed a red card offense yet will miss no game time at all for his country. To make matters worse it occurred immediately after he threw a forward pass in which Australia scored and turned the game in their favor.

Sudamérica C
This past week Sudamérica, the rebranded version of CONSUR, confirmed the scheduling for this year’s remaining tournaments at all levels. The third Tier Level of Sudaméricana Rugby was confirmed as being played in El Salvador with Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama listed as the remaining competitors. Americas Rugby News nonetheless learned from Honduras rugby that it had been invited earlier in the year as had Nicarágua yet neither were mentioned. Americas Rugby News has since learned from Sudamérica Rugby officials that the organization is looking to organize a friendly.

Pacific Nations Cup format
The Pacific Nations Cup has been an outstanding exhibition of Tier Two rugby and includes all Tier Two nations aside from Georgia and Romania. The competition is of great value to all involved yet suffers from a lack of regularity in that the format changes every year. Surely it is not too much to ask for World Rugby to solidify the format once and for all?