Up and Under

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

Guatemala
Los Jaguares are now officially the best Central American country and have the bragging rights for the net twelve months and possibly longer. The team’s three wins over Guatemala, Panama and El Salvador means Guatemala will face the South American B Championship’s bottom placed side, Ecuador in repechage. The pathway is there for an unlikely rise to join Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. Such a possibility has Guatemala dreaming of the previously unthinkable.

Costa Rica
Los Guarias rebounded from the loss against Guatemala to finish the South American Championship with two wins, including a record 95-3 win over Panama on Saturday. The second-placed finish may not have been the mission of the team but it was a good recovery. In 2016 Costa Rica may well find itself playing in a larger competition as both Honduras and Nicarágua are on the right track for potential inclusion.

Brazil
Brazil were on the under list last week. The reason being that the Tupis had been badly beaten by Germany, going down 2-0 in as many test matches. It saw Brazil falling below Trinidad & Tobago and Colombia in the World Rankings and, importantly, 9th in the Americas. Hosting Colombia in repechage came at the perfect time to improve in ranking ahead of the historic Americas Rugby Championship. The 44-0 win is likely to silence the critics.

Peru Women’s Sevens
Sticking with South America while returning to Central America is the theme of Peru’s triumph in San Salvador this past weekend. Las Tumis played very well to go through the tournament undefeated. In addition to knocking-over Costa Rica in the final Peru’s women also claimed wins over El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicarágua and Panama. The prize for Peru is a place in the 2016 South American Women’s Sevens in Rio de Janeiro.

Los Pumas Sevens
Argentina’s sevens team also had a noteworthy weekend, falling short to hosts South Africa in the Cup final but reaching their highest level since February 2009. It followed a memorable pair of wins as Argentina defeated New Zealand in the Quarter Finals and Kenya in the Semi Finals. Bautista Ezcurra, who saw Argentina past New Zealand, was named in the team of the tournament.

Dr. Pat Parfrey
The former Canadian coach was chosen this past week to represent Canada on the reformed World Rugby Council. Parfrey’s deep involvement in the sport made him an ideal choice for the post. He joins after having coached Canada at Rugby World Cup 1999 and having more than 30 years of rugby administration experience.

UNDER

Panama
Not everyone can win in rugby, this is no secret. Panama, though, were simply outclassed by Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala. The three large losses indicate that there is a definite gulf between Los Diablos Rojos and the three other competitors. A lot of development is required to make Panama more competitive as, indeed, Honduras was notably more competitive against Guatemala in their recent meeting.

Colombia
Having gone through the South American B Championship undefeated Los Tucanes were well-positioned to challenge Brazil in the repechage qualifier for the 2016 South American A Championship. In theory and according to World Rankings this was the case but Brazil was a level apart from Colombia in their match on Saturday evening in São Paulo. Clear progress has been made but Colombia would appear to not yet at the required level.

Isaac Te Tamaki
Argentina’s overtime win over New Zealand in the Cape Town Sevens Quarter Finals was well deserved but Los Pumas were aided through Isaac Te Tamaki who was red carded in overtime. The New Zealand player was sent off for a horrendously dangerous tip-tackle on Rodrigo Etchart. Te Tamaki lifted and dumped Etchart onto his neck and head and will now most likely face a lengthy ban. The 20-year-old was widely criticized on social media with replays showing he had no control at all over the safety of the tackle.

Leinster, Munster, Northampton, Clermont, Toulouse, and Wasps
Big losses for six clubs thought to be contenders for the European Champions Cup finals occurred this weekend. Leinster were beaten by Toulon who had Samu Manoa playing second-row. Munster, with Lucas González Amorosino, lost at home to Leicester who had Marcos Ayerza and Gonzalo Camacho. Juan Imhoff and Manuel Carizza helped Racing 92 slay Northampton. Pato Fernández’s European debut was for a team well-beaten in Exeter. Without Patricio Albacete, Toulouse sank to a new low, and a Horacio Agulla-less Bath defeated the Wasps in Coventry. These results will have an impact, and in the case of Leinster, elimination has been confirmed.

New Zealand Sevens
Once nearly unbeatable, all of a sudden New Zealand look depressingly mortal. All three Americas entrants defeated the men in black on the weekend, a landmark achievement for Americas rugby but surely a low point for such a proud rugby nation. The Eagles have now rattled off three straight wins against them and with the injuries piling up, what should have been a great season for Sir Gordon Tietjens is turning out to be a nightmare.