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

Uruguay
Sitting pretty at the top of the South American A Championship standings is Uruguay. After two rounds Los Teros are the only side to have won both matches. In Asunción on Saturday Los Teros had a spectacular second half performance to topple Los Yakarés. Meanwhile in São Paulo Brazil and Chile competed to a 20-20 draw, a result which leaves Chile two points adrift of Uruguay whom they face next weekend in Montevideo.

Dominican Republic, Turks & Caicos
Wins for both the Dominican Republic and Turks & Caicos this past Friday and Saturday see both climbing the Americas Rankings. Their respective victories over Curaçao were well received by their rugby communities. Two two Caribbean nations are developing unions who, overtime, will become members of World Rugby. The same is true of Curaçao.

Ohio
A shut-out performance from Ohio saw the heartland Americans downing San Francisco 51-17 on Sunday. The comprehensive performance was a warning to all others that Ohio means serious business. The team is in good stead ahead of a trip to Sacramento next weekend. Special mention ought to be made to Chilean Sebastián Kalm who had a spectacular match for Ohio.

Denver Forwards
Not to leave out the backs, who had a very good outing against their vaunted San Diego counterparts, but the Denver forwards have established themselves as the finest in the competition after three wins on the trot. For the second game in a row the scrum decimated the opposition and the maul is just as impressive. With Pedrie Wannenburg leading the charge and four Eagles front rowers, other teams will need to adapt quickly to stop the tide.

Los Jaguares
The disappointment of not having won a match since the opening round was significantly diminished on Saturday as Los Jaguares hammered the Kings in Buenos Aires. The Super Rugby victory featured eleven tries with back-rower Leonardo Senatore being responsible for three of them. The first home win in the franchise’s history was one that will long be remembered.

Ben Cima
Not for the first time this year a late kick at goal won an important match for the All-Americans. Similar to the win over Canada in Austin, Texas it was Ben Cima who secured a win for the USA’s under 20’s team. A long-range penalty from mid-field saw Cima sinking Los Teritos hearts as the All-Americans came out with a fifth place finish at the World Rugby Junior World Trophy in Zimbabwe on Sunday.

Rio de La Plata Players at Castres
Another great performance from the Tarn in week 22 of the Top 14 sees Castres continue to storm up the standings. Leading Castres to their 37-6 win over Pau was former Uruguayan captain Rodrigo Capó Ortega. Meanwhile pulling the strings at fly half was former Puma Benjamin Urdapilleta. The Buenos Aires pivot had a fine performance in scoring a try and kicking three goals.

UNDER

Paraguay
Saturday’s first half effort from Los Yakarés was outstanding. Indeed two minutes into the second half the Paraguayans held a two point lead of a team that went to Rugby World Cup 2015. From there, though, it was capitulation as seven unanswered tries from Uruguay resulted in a second big loss in as many weeks. Paraguay now faces the task of defeating Brazil in Asunción this coming weekend to avoid the wooden spoon.

San Francisco
San Francisco is in for a long season. Three rounds into the competition and the Northern Californian side remains winless. Central to the team’s shortcomings is the forward pack, specifically the number of players out of shape. In round four San Francisco will play host to San Diego, a team stacked with talent across the field.

Jebb Sinclair, Ciaran Hearn
Disaster has struck long-time serving Canadian internationals Jebb Sinclair and Ciaran Hearn as their club, London Irish has been confirmed as bottom place of the Aviva Premiership this season. The club has been relegated to England’s second division – that is, unless the Bedford Blues win the RFU Championship Final. With the Blues not meeting Premiership criteria the club is London Irish’s only hope.

Rugby World Cup 2023 back in Europe
With political turmoil once again engulfing South African rugby the country’s bid to host Rugby World Cup 2023 is in tatters. The government has blocked the country from bidding for hosting major events from four sports, one of which is rugby. The South African Rugby Union had announced it would bid to host the event by the June deadline. Now the tournament is to return to Europe with one of France, Ireland or Italy hosting. Europe has hosted the World Cup every eight years since the tournament began.

García, Postiglioni and Coria
An appalling performance from Zebre in the Guinness Pro 12 condemned the Parma-based side to bottom spot of the Celtic-Italian league. Involved were Argentine players Gonzalo García, Bruno Postiglioni and Emiliano Coria. Eagles forward Greg Peterson has a match to remember, scoring a try for the victorious Scots. In order to avoid the wooden spoon Zebre must defeat the Newport Gwent Dragons next Saturday. With Treviso beating Connacht defeating the Dragons is now mandatory to reach the 2016-2017 European Champions Cup.