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

Brazil Women’s Sevens
With Brazil being the host nation of the 2016 Olympic Games and that competition being the inaugural event for Rugby Sevens there is a lot of pressure on Brazil to be competitive at both men’s and women’s rugby. The CBRu has made heavy investments in athletes to have them ready to perform on the global stage. This past weekend Brazil’s women underlined their development as they well and truly dominated an international tournament in Uruguay.

Colombia
A convincing victory of neighbors Ecuador on Sunday saw Los Tucanes opening their South American B Championship campaign in style. Having won the 2014 competition in impressive style Colombia are favorites to win again this year. Their opening performance certainly suggests they have the means to go all the way.

Peru
Also winning on Sunday was the host nation, Peru. The win, though, was vastly different to that of Colombia’s. Trailing Venezuela at half time Peru fought back to take the lead and prevent Venezuela from scoring any second half points. Peru will now go on to face Ecuador on Wednesday in a second round fixture while Colombia will face their eastern neighbors Venezuela.

Uruguay XV
Uruguay made it two wins from two matches in the Argentine Provincial Championship this weekend. The team followed up their win last weekend in Bariloche by defeating San Juan in Montevideo on Saturday. The result means the Uruguay XV is well placed to fight for possible promotion to the top division which, this season, Buenos Aires has started the strongest with two bonus point wins. Tucumán is also undefeated.

Mario Sagario
A second very bright point for Uruguay was the performance of tighthead prop Mario Sagario. Coming off the bench as a replacement for Munster, Sagario made a profound impact with the scrum improving considerably. Being that he is on a trial the Irish province indeed ought to offer him a full time deal. Munster won the Guinness Pro 12 match 16-14 away to Edinburgh. Felipe Berchesi also impressed with the Uruguayan fly half kicking all of Carcassonne’s points in the 15-13 win over Bourgoin in France’s second division.

Felipe Berchesi
Carcassonne has had a rough start to the Pro D2 season, but got a huge boost with the first appearance of the Uruguayan World Cup star on Friday evening. Berchesi snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a sterling kicking performance, scoring all 15 points in a come-from-behind effort against Bourgoin. The win edges USC out of the Pro D2 basement and away from relegation. Can Berchesi keep his new team afloat?

Samu Manoa
The U.S. Eagles enforcer scored for the first time for Toulon on Saturday. Playing second-row Manoa crossed for the opening score in what would be a romp with Toulon smashing Grenoble. Also in action from the Americas this weekend were Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, Rodrigo Capó Ortega, Santiago Fernández, Bautista Guemes, Lucas Martínez and Sergio Parisse. Fernández scored for Pau who won a thriller 33-31 vs Agen.

UNDER

England RFU
What an absolute mess. First England’s team bombs the World Cup by failing to make the Quarter Finals then a player bought in at no small cost, Sam Burgess, abandones ship to return to Australia to play a different sport. Something is seriously wrong with English rugby and it is time they took a solid look at themselves to come close to realizing their potential. The RFU is the richest union in the world and the Aviva Premiership is number two to the Top 14 yet the team is a shadow of what it should be. Meanwhile former fly half Toby Flood is playing brilliantly for Toulouse but, like Stefan Armitage, cannot be picked for international duty due to not playing in England. Seriously move on England.

Early Draw for Rugby World Cup 2019
England’s early exit from Rugby World Cup 2015 was due in part to the team failing to deliver but having been in a difficult pool it is fair to speculate that England would have reached the final 8. Certainly both France and Scotland appear fortunate to not have been in England’s position. England faced both Australia and Wales due to the pools having been drawn far to early. The draw was made in 2012, three years before the tournament. For 2019 story is set to repeat itself after World Rugby confirmed the draw for Rugby World Cup 2019 will be made in 2016.

Treviso
The woes for Italian city-side Benetton Treviso continue. Seven rounds into the Guinness Pro 12 season and the club is yet to win a game. It has 4 competition points, five less than the 11th placed Cardiff Blues. With the European Rugby Champions Cup quickly approaching Treviso is anything but well placed to be competitive. Zebre looks better but missed out on qualification. Remarkably Ireland’s weakest province, Connacht, leads the Guinness Pro 12 with many failing to regularly field their strongest lineups being a significant contributor to this.

Oyonnax and Agen
Then small-town clubs of Oyonnax and Agen could very well be the two bottom placed Top 14 sides this season. If this is indeed the case then they will be relegated to the Pro d2. Neither club has the same depth in talent as the norm and both have been very inconsistent with Oyonnax losing heavily against La Rochelle on Saturday. Age, meanwhile, blew a late chance to win against Pau. With 10 and 9 competition points respectively the two sides are three and four points behind where they need to be. Stade Français won on Sunday vs leaders Clermont to move out of the relegation zone.

London Irish and Newcastle
While Oyonnax and Agen are in danger both have won matches, unlike London Irish and the Newcastle Falcons. Both clubs lost again this weekend and continue to be not only winless but also sitting bottom of the Aviva Premiership on zero points. Leaders Saracens have 17 more points, a staggering reality considering there have been four rounds played. By way of comparison Clermont lead the Top 14 after 8 rounds on 29 points, sixteen more than the 12th placed Pau.