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

DTH van der Merwe
Another game, another world class performance from Canada’s best player. The winger has hardly put a foot wrong in the tournament and with three tries from three games is surely in the running for team of the pool stages. One only wonders what might have been had Taylor Paris been fit and van der Merwe allowed to play in the midfield, where he was so effective in the 2011 tournament.

Mamuka Gorgodze
Speaking of repeat performances, the new Georgian skipper put in a herculean effort against the All Blacks, helping prove once again that his country is worthy of regular competition against the Six Nations countries. Gorgodze has been magnificent for the Lelos, playing some of the best rugby of his career and showing how what a wasted talent scraping for game time at Toulon.

South Africa
The mighty Bokke are back with a vengeance! Their first game without newly-retired skipper Jean de Villiers was a stark reminder that you write off the South Africans at your peril. They dispatched Scotland with frightening ease, exhibiting the kind of power rugby we have come to expect from them.

Tier 2
Another week, another round of games that have shown the Tier 2 nations in a positive light. Both Canada and Georgia competed well against their much more fancied opponents, just fading away in the final quarter. The word on the street is that the second tier countries will finally be given fair representation on the World Rugby council. With more support and regular match-ups against higher ranked opponents, the second tier nations could make the following World Cups even more enthralling.

UNDER

Player Discipline
Even given the heightened involvement of the TMO on all manners of foul play, the players just can’t seem to control themselves. Numerous suspensions have been handed out, yellow cards aplenty, and too many careless penalties. As we move steadily towards the knock-out rounds, those poor decisions are going to cost more and more, and eventually a spot in the final.

Samoa
What a massive disappointment the Manu Samoa have been. Rumours had circled that all was not well in the training camp with the loss of assistant coaches Tom Coventry and Andrew Strawbridge, and whether that is truthful or not, the team has simply not lived up to expectations under head coach Stephen Betham. With several aging players in the squad, perhaps it’s time for new blood and a fresh approach for Samoan rugby.

Scotland
The heights of a thunderous entrance against Japan have been scaled down considerably after a difficult match against South Africa where Scotland were simply overpowered. While it’s true they were missing a few first rankers – especially playmaker Finn Russell – they still looked a step below the bar they had set earlier. There are some hard days again for Cotter & Co.

Stuart Lancaster
All of a sudden the poor head coach has the worst job in England. A subpar performance against Wales followed by a comprehensive defeat by Australia has contributed to a dismal tournament for the hosts, who will now shuffling back to their club sides several weeks earlier than expected. The calls for his head might be a little excessive, but somewhere along the line he just got it wrong. So very, very wrong.