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

PRO Rugby
What a way to get PRO Rugby off the ground! Denver won 16-13 against Ohio thanks to a Will Magie penalty in extra time. The Coloradans entertained their brave supporters in freezing conditions. Meanwhile in Sacramento fans were treated to some terrific running rugby as the home side toppled San Francisco 37-25. With some 5,700 in attendance across the two games, it’s hard to call it anything but a banner day for the new organization. Now if they can only sort out their streaming issues we might be on to something…

Tomás Cubelli
Another strong performance for the Brumbies sees Cubelli being a leading Americas export. The Buenos Aires scrumhalf has started every match for the Canberra-based franchise and is being extremely well used by coach Stephen Larkham. Come the Rugby Championship, Australians may well be fearing the number nine.

Axel Müller
22-year-old future Pumas winger Axel Müller was in destructive form at the Singapore Sevens this past weekend. The Mendoza flyer was named to the official HSBC Dream team for the tournament. He scored three tries, including one in each of the Quarter Final and Semi Final and is closing in on selection for the Olympic Games.

Rioplatanese Castres
Players from either side of the shores of the Rio de La Plata contributed heavily to Castres’ 33-28 away win over Grenoble in the Top 14 this past weekend. Uruguay’s Rodrigo Capó Ortega captained the team to victory while Argentine Benjamín Urdapilleta kicked seven goals in a match-winning performance. The win sees Castres move into the top six, an unfavorable position for France ahead of the June tour to Argentina.

Juan Pablo Socino
With his international career now over the Aviva Premiership is all or nothing for Socino. The Newcastle Falcons center was joined by fellow Puma veteran Gonzalo Tiesi in a midfield partnership which got the job done on Sunday. Newcastle completed a home win over London Irish to all but guarantee their stay in the Premiership for next season.

UNDER

Canadian Backs Injuries
Disaster has struck Canada. With Taylor Paris still working his way back from knee surgery, Canada have lost first Jeff Hassler and now DTH van der Merwe for the June internationals, both to shoulder injuries. Hassler went under the knife during the week and now van der Merwe looks likely to join him after exiting the game against Glasgow in the weekend with his arm in a sling. To make matters worse, Ciaran Hearn lasted only 23 minutes for London Irish against Newcastle on Sunday. Mark Anscombe will be praying nothing happens to PRO backfielders Nick Blevins and Phil Mackenzie in the coming weeks.

Canada Men’s Sevens
There is no gentle way to put this. Canada’s men’s side is a shambles. After a miserable showing in Hong Kong they dropped all five matches in Singapore, failing to win a game in a tournament for the first time since February of 2010. Meanwhile Samoa are on the rise, defeating New Zealand to lift the Plate. With only two rounds remaining on the circuit before the Olympic qualifiers, it will take a monumental shift in form for the men to join the women in Rio.

London Irish
What a disappointing season it has been for the Madejski faithful. After some exciting signings in the offseason and the arrival of a new Head Coach in Tom Coventry, spirits were high heading into the season. Sadly those hopes have been well and truly crushed, with relegation to the Championship looking all but certain after the woeful defeat to Newcastle. Canadians Jebb Sinclair and Ciaran Hearn have been rare bright spots for the club this season, but that comes as little consolation with the trap door looming.

Torneo Clasificatorio
No rugby was played in the Torneo Clasificatorio Uruguayo this weekend. The reason being that the country fell victim to a powerful storm which devastated much of the country. Among the most gravely affected are the people of Dolores. The URU is organizing a campaign to collect donations to help Dolores’ population recover.

Gonzalo Quesada
While it does not get much better than being hammered in a European Champions Cup Quarter Final Stade Français managed to under-perform yet again. The Quesada-coached side was at full strength and despite also having home advantage the Parisians fell 26-20 against Montpellier. Quesada’s team remain in 12th spot and no chance of a playoffs appearance or a place in next season’s Champions Cup.

Durutalo, Leonardí, and the Sunwolves
Appalling defense from the Japanese franchise resulted in a humiliating 92-17 defeat. Remarkably it was not the biggest Super Rugby defeat of all time, that belongs to the Waratahs who went down 96-19 against the Crusaders in 2002. The loss was also not as poor as the Reds’ 92-3 defeat by the Bulls in 2007. The scoreline is welcome news to the struggling Jaguares who face the Sunwolves this weekend in Tokyo.