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 over the previous week.

 

UP

Canada
At last a return to winning ways for Canada. The 19-12, three tries to two win over the visiting Glasgow Warriors in Halifax on Saturday should see smiles return to the camp after an underwhelming Pacific Nations Cup and warm-up match against the USA Eagles. Credit also to the organizers for being able to react to relocate the fixture to Graves-Oakley Memorial Park at the 11th hour, and to the Maritime rugby community for filling the stands and proving excellent hosts.

Colombia u19s
Colombia’s rise as a future power in the Americas at all levels and in both men’s and women’s rugby continued with Los Tucanes winning the South American B u19 Championship and doing so by winning against all three opponents. Neighboring Venezuela was the next best performer by defeating both Mexico and Peru. In winning Colombia secured the right to face Paraguay in repechage with the winner joining Brazil, Chile and Uruguay in the 2016 South American A u19s.

Leandro Leivas
Uruguay were no match for Japan, this is true but Leandro Leivas had a very good match. Leivas tackled well, competed at the breakdown and looked for work in general. In attack his performance was very strong as he broke the Japanese defensive line, created opportunities and looked to link with others after getting himself into good positions. Still based in Montevideo, Leivas could well be playing in the Aviva Premiership, Guinness Pro 12 or Top 14 after the World Cup.

Benjamín Urdapilleta
The former ten time capped Argentine fly half played a key role in Castres’ 24-9 home win over European Rugby Champions Toulon on Sunday. Urdapilleta converted his team’s three tries, also landed a penalty and also set up scrumhalf Julien Seron for a try. The result sees Castres sitting in 4th and Toulon in 12th as one of only three winless clubs after two rounds.

Victorious Jíbaros and San Josémaria
The clubs of Jíbaros and San Josémaria were crowend the respective national champions of Ecuador and Guatemala on Saturday. Jíbaros Rugby Club overcame Tiburones by winning a high scoring final 41-29 which saw the Quito club becoming three-time reigning national club champions. In Guatemala San José Maria overcame Jules Verne Rugby Club 22-13. Players from both clubs are expected to feature in international competition after the Rugby World Cup. Ecuador will play in the Sudamérica Rugby B Championship and Guatemala one level lower, in the C Championship.

AJ MacGinty
He wasn’t perfect, but the adopted American showed once again why Eagles fans are so excited to have him in the ranks. Two well-struck penalty goals – one that could have gone over from nearly 60m – and a tremendous line break to set up Thretton Palamo’s try showed his versatility and undoubted talent.

 

UNDER

Uruguay
Any time a team losses 40-0 there is serious cause for concern. Yet when it happens to be three weeks out from a Rugby World Cup it could be termed that the writing is on the wall. Japan exposed Uruguay in a number of areas, none more so than defense around the side of rucks with Uruguayan back-rowers caught out of position due to a defensive arrangement which Eddie Jones had Japan attacking and, indeed, exploiting throughout the game. Japan’s style is vastly different to Australia, England, Fiji and Wales but Uruguay must adjust.

World Cup Beer Prices
Wanting a pre-match or a half time beer before a test match is a given, is it not? The prices that spectators are to be asked to pay though at the Rugby World Cup is simply outrageous. It cost £7 for a beer on Saturday at London’s Olympic Stadium for Samoa vs Barbarians. The same price is to be applied to World Cup matches according to sources. Brazilians thought the prices of R$10 for a Brahma beer and R$13 for a Budweiser were extreme in last year’s FIFA World Cup yet £7 converts to be R$42.

Both teams playing in White in Halifax
Memories were cast back to the USA vs Japan from Rugby World Cup 2003 on Saturday. On that occasion the Japanese changed their uniforms at half time because they looked too similar to that of the North Americans. Fast-forward to 2015 in Halifax and it was, at times, very hard to tell the teams apart as both Canada and Glasgow Warriors played in their alternative white strips. Better planning is required from Rugby Canada.

Peru u19s
Peru was the only winless country in the South American B u19s which concluded this past weekend. The Peruvians fell 55-0 to Venezuela on Saturday after earlier losing 39-9 against Colombia and 61-0 against Mexico. With Peru’s senior men’s test team having failed to advance in recent years there is a risk that Peru could find itself closer to the level of Ecuador than Venezuela in coming years.

USA Maul Defense
The Eagles played alright against Harlequins, and their scrum didn’t go too badly, but they were badly exposed when asked to defend against the rolling maul. That is a well established area of strength for South Africa, but also Japan, who the Eagles might target for a win. If they are to achieve that goal, they must find a way to more effectively defend against the maul.

Springboks, Racism and the World Cup
Apartheid ended in South Africa over two decades ago with black rule beginning in 1994 under the leadership of the democratically elected Nelson Mandela. The late Mandela acted to use rugby to bridge the racial gap that existed in the country and had such an impact in the country and worldwide to the extent that Clint Eastwood made a Hollywood blockbuster about the 1995 World Cup. South Africa repeated the triumph in 2007 but like in 1995 non-white players were a rare commodity. The Springboks roster for the upcoming World Cup features 9 non-whites out of 31. The 4.58 million whites out of a population of 52.98 million correspond to under 9% of the population and this is not acceptable according to some to the extent that a court appeal has been launched to block the Springboks from departing South Africa.  Could the USA Eagles win by default against South Africa in England?