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

Jamaica
The Caribbean Island nation of Jamaica has risen in the Americas Rankings thanks to disposing of St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Saturday. The match was the opening fixture of the Rugby World Cup 2019 qualifiers. The 48-0 performance sees Jamaica advancing while St. Vincent and the grenadines will need to wait another four years before playing another qualifying match.

Argentina XV
A comfortable away win over Brazil saw the Argentina XV crowned inaugural Americas Rugby Champions on Saturday evening. With four wins and one draw the developmental Argentine side finished with 22 competition points, seven more than both Canada and the USA and eight more than Uruguay. Of note was the extensive list of young players, many still under 20s involved in the campaign.

Uruguay
By playing to the traditional strengths of Uruguayan rugby, Los Teros toppled the USA in Montevideo this weekend. The performance means Uruguay finished on 14 points, one shy of both North American countries. To think that Uruguay were ever so close to defeating the Argentina XV is telling. Uruguay could have won the tournament. Los Teros, nonetheless, finish up better than most had predicted pre-tournament.

Canada
A rampaging performance in Santiago saw Canada recover from losing against the Argentina XV last Sunday and means Canada finish the tournament higher than expected midway through the tournament. Canada was far too strong for Chile, scoring at will to return home with a path to succeeding in June against Italy, Japan and Russia.

Brazil Women’s Sevens
Brazil’s women’s Rugby Sevens team successfully defended their Sul Americano title this weekend, going undefeated in Rio de Janeiro. In what was the thirteenth consecutive title for the Brazilians all teams were defeated by large margins, the smallest being 22. Argentina finished second ahead of the Rio 2016 bound Colombia in third.

Matías Nordenflycht
In kicking eight points for Chile against Canada this weekend, Los Cóndores center Matías Nordenflycht finished the Americas Rugby Championship as the top points scorer. His 53-point haul was followed by Canadian scrumhalf Gordon McRorie’s 45 points and Argentina XV’s fullback Pedro Mercerat who scored 43.

Juan Pablo Estellés
The player of the weekend from the Americas was Argentina XV’s Juan Pablo Estellés. The right winger ran-in three tries against Brazil in what was a very strong showing. Estellés finished the tournament with five tries, the same number as inside center Joaquín Paz who was called up to Los Jaguares after running-in four against Chile. Expect Estellés to be selected at some point during the campaign. The pair topped the try scoring list for the tournament.

Las Vegas
The city of sin proved a wonderful host to an exhilarating HSBC Sevens Series tournament. A new record of 80,138 attended over the course of three days, and the atmosphere was electric. The hosts finished a very respectable 4th place and every report from players and fans alike has been positive. With Vancouver set to smash Canadian records next weekend, a successful ARC, and PRO Rugby hype starting to roll in, it’s clear that the appetite for elite level rugby in North America is very much on the rise.

Perry Baker
While the impact of the arrival of Carlin Isles cannot be understated, the emergence of Baker as a legitimately world class winger on the HSBC Sevens Series must be noted. He scored two marvelous tries against Canada, one showing a new skill with a chip-and-chase, and was named to the tournament Dream Team. Equally pleasing is his improved defense. If the Eagles are to challenge for an Olympic medal, Baker will have a big say in the matter.

UNDER

Chile
Despite winning in round one Chile finish the Americas Rugby Championship dead last. Los Cóndores were hammered by the Argentina XV, USA and Canada with the scoreline being notably larger than those suffered by Brazil against the same opposition. FERUCHI must act by introducing a high performance program or Brazil will overtake Chile as fifth in the Americas very quickly.

USA
The start to John Mitchell’s tenure as USA Eagles coach has been shaky. A draw against the Argentina XV were followed by wins over Canada and Chile yet in South America the Eagles mysteriously lost against both Brazil and Uruguay. Of note is that the Eagles had access to big-name European-based professional players such as Todd Clever, Cam Dolan, Eric Fry ,and Titi Lamositele for one or both of these losses. Uruguay had players come home too, but from lower divisions in England and France.

Los Jaguares
It was not a great performance from Los Jaguares this past weekend. The Argentine Super Rugby franchise was in a strong position to win but failed to score any second half points, thereby losing by four against the Sharks in Durban. Discipline was again at the forefront with two players yellow carded in the opening half, a repeat of the game vs the Cheetahs. Controversial refereeing from Jaco Peyper saw scrum penalties going the way of the home side, a telling factor in points being scored in the second half.

Gonzalo Quesada
It is nothing short of remarkable that the Quesada-coached Stade Français are now in 12th position of the Top 14. The same club that won the 2015 Top 14 title lost 19-12 on Saturday against the Pro D2 winners, Pau. The Parisians are now 19 points outside of the barrage play-offs zone. Getting there will require far better performances and luck to go their way.