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

Ben Cima
Goal kicking matters so much that it can win and lose matches. Regardless of the team a specialist is mandatory and the All-Americans were testament to this on Saturday evening. A spectacular 55-metre penalty won the USA u20 side the match and a place in this year’s World Rugby u20 Trophy in Zimbabwe. If any Minnesota Vikings fans were watching they surely would have done so with nerves. Ben Cima showed nerves of steel.

USA
Prior to the heroics of Cima and the All-Americans the USA Eagles had downed Canada. The come-from-behind 30-22 victory in Austin, Texas saw Todd Clever crossing for a hat-trick. The win sees the USA Eagles collecting five competition points in the Americas Rugby Championship to join the Argentina XV at the top with 8 competition points. It also sees the USA extend their winning run to four test matches against their northern neighbors.

Joaquín Paz
Amazingly Todd Clever’s three tries were not the highest of the weekend. Instead Argentina XV inside center set a bench-mark of four tries in an Americas Rugby Championship match. The form of the 22 year old Joaquín Paz from Córdoba Athletic combined with his documented talent ought to see him involved with Los Jaguares.

Uruguay and Brazil
Both Uruguay and Brazil merit their placing in the UP category this week. Uruguay was expected to win but many more points than four and, indeed, would have had the team had a specialist goal kicker. Uruguay’s five tries to two performance sees Los Teros moving ahead of Spain into 21st place in the world rankings. The performance of the Tupis proved that Brazil is a team going places.

Tomás Cubelli
In Brisbane, Australia the Belgrano Athletic product, Tomás Cubelli celebrated winning on the road with his Super Rugby team, the Brumbies. The Canberra based side defeated the Reds and did so with Cubelli crossing for his first try for the franchise. The Pumas scrum half earned plenty of praise including from Wallabies legend and 1999 World Cup winner Stephen Markham. Also winning were Andrew Durutalo and Tomás Leonardí who started for the Sunwolves against a Top League All-Star team.

Colombia
Colombia is to receive a massive funding increase in 2016. The South American country received $49 million Colombian pesos in 2011 and five years on is to receive ten time this value. Sponsorship has also been significantly boosted with it going from $60 million Colombian pesos in 2011 to $349 million today. Hard work pays off.

UNDER

Rodrigo Silva
With Felipe Berchesi not released by Carcassonne the flyhalf birth has fallen on the shoulders of Rodrigo Silva in the opening two rounds of the Americas Rugby Championship. Used as a winger in the World Cup there is no denying Silva’s utility all-round ability. What he is not, however, is a reliable goal kicker. His misses meant scoring three more tries was not as significant as it should have been. Silva’s opposite, David Harvey, meanwhile landed all seven of his kicks.

Canada
Canada’s strong game against Uruguay was not repeated in Texas. With it Canada has fallen from first to third in the Americas Rugby Championship. The Canadians have also dropped World Rankings points. While remaining 19th in the world, Canada has dropped to 63.42 points. It means Canada are falling further behind not only the USA but also Romania and Russia who are ranked between the North Americans. Wins are required to avoid the unthinkable – falling to 20th, behind Namibia.

Los Jaguares
The baptism of Los Jaguares was sour as the team was outplayed in Cape Town by the Stormers. The preparation cannot be faulted nor can the roster. Quite simply the team did not fire, while the South African opposition was well prepared and won fair and square. There is no reason to panic, though, as it was the first match. Before debuting in Super Rugby the Raúl Pérez coached outfit will have a second warm-up game against the Lions.

East Coast PRO Rugby
Confirmation this past week that Columbus, Ohio is the fourth of five PRO Rugby teams for the inaugural season signifies that the East Coast will have to wait until at least 2017 before having a team. Columbus joins the Californian cities of Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco in having teams in the 2016 competition. Denver, Colorado is set to be unveiled as the final team. Meanwhile the New York area will host an Aviva Premiership just weeks before PRO Rugby kicks-off.

Samu Manoa
The U.S. enforcer is out of action for three months, leaving Toulon with a huge hole. Manoa re-injured his knee playing a friendly match for Toulon against South African Super Rugby franchise the Sharks last weekend. With Paul O’Connell having retired without playing a game for Toulon the team is without two marquee players in the one position.