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

Argentina’s November Internationals
Los Pumas has added another fixture to their calendar. In between the Rugby Championship and touring the UK the South Americans will play in Tokyo. It sees Argentina having a full end-of-year tour of four tests. Such a tour has long been a dream for Argentina. With the union now having central contracts it is possible to play more often. In addition it means the global game is a winner as evidenced by playing against Japan. The Brave Blossoms can now boost their World Cup hosting preparations against a 2015 Semi Finalist.

Agustín Ormaechea
This past weekend delivered some stellar games of rugby across Europe. The Aviva Premiership opened with a superb match between Gloucester and Leicester. Paris and Clermont fought to 30-30 draw on Saturday and it does not end there. Another excellent contest saw Mont-de-Marsan coming back to defeat Dax 33-29 in the Pro D2. Having lost a player to a red card after just 12 minutes, the win was quite remarkable. Uruguay’s Ormaechea directed play brilliantly from scrum half and scored a try. Argentine Martín Chiapessoni scored for Dax.

Conor Trainor, Evan Olmstead
Trainor found himself on the score sheet for a second consecutive week. The Canadian continued his strong start at Vannes by scoring a first half try. Playing away to Charente, Vannes held a lead for the duration before being overtaken in the 78th minute by a penalty. Vannes return home with a losing bonus point. It places them in 5th position, a very strong start albeit after just two rounds. In northern England Evan Olmstead enjoyed a winning debut in the Aviva Premiership, defeating the Sale Sharks 19-17. USA playmaker AJ MacGinty debuted for the opposition.

Juan Imhoff
Racing 92 ended the weekend by defeating Toulouse 28-14 on Sunday evening. Playing his second Top 14 match of the season Argentina’s Juan Imhoff made it two tries from two matches. He crossed for one of Racing 92’s three tries.

Bautista Delguy
If the name is not familiar to you it is ok. At least it is for now. Mark down Delguy as a future Jaguar and Puma. This past week he scored two tries from fullback for Los Pumitas vs Los Teritos. The match was played in Montevideo on Wednesday. He returned to the field on Saturday in Buenos Aires club duty for Pucará. Again playing fullback he scored an amazing solo try against CASI.

Facundo Isa
It seems the global rugby media cannot get enough of the Pumas no8 at the moment. The 22-year-old has been a talking point as one of the finest Pumas. Praise has come worldwide, including from Argentina. Former Puma Gonzalo Tiesi labelled him an All Black playing for Los Pumas. To think he is doing so well at such a young age is exciting for Argentina’s future.

UNDER

Canada ‘A’
If Rugby Canada was looking for a reminder that amateurism vs professionalism is a mismatch it has gotten it. The three match tour of the UK certainly exposed players to a higher level of play, evidently too high however as the disappointing results demonstrated. The 63-0 loss to Glasgow Warriors in Stirling was illustrative of Canada’s central issue: amateurism. More professional players are needed across the board. Joining PRO Rugby or creating a Canadian pro league cannot come soon enough.

Canada vs Samoa… on neutral soil
There is no denying that Canada and Samoa will be a quality match. Likewise there is no doubt that Grenoble is a superb venue and location. The question though, is why can Canada not host the match instead? The dark days of playing at neutral Colwyn Bay are gone but the problem remains. Rather than taking place in neutral France on November 26 why not play it on November 5 in Canada, before both teams then play away test matches in Europe.

USA November Internationals
Although Canada’s November schedule has a game on neutral ground this is far less significant than the problem facing the USA Eagles. While the clock is ticking the USA continue to have just two end of year test matches. The Eagles will play away to Romania and face Tonga somewhere in Europe on the following Saturday. Two games. How come? The answer is that the Eagles will play in a non-capped international against the Maori All Blacks in Chicago on November 4. Surely hosting Tonga on this date would be better. From there the Eagles ought to have tests in Europe. Three tests per November is the norm. The Eagles are being sold short.

Manuel Montero, Tomás Lavanini
The cost of victory over the Springboks was well and truly felt by Argentina. Young winger Montero and second row Lavanini both went down hurt and were ruled out of the upcoming two matches. So badly hurt was Lavanini that he is out until 2017. He is eyeing a return to the field in March for Los Jaguares. Also ruled out of facing New Zealand and Australia is Jerónimo de la Fuente. The Rosario midfielder’s place has been taken by Tucumán’s Gabriel Ascárate. Both Montero and de la Fuente will be fit for round five against New Zealand in Buenos Aires.

Diego Domínguez
As one of only five players to have scored 1000 or more points in test rugby, Domínguez is a living legend. As a player he played two tests for his native Argentina before going on to play 74 for Italy. Under current eligibility laws this would not be possible. As a player he had a successful career in Europe and is now a coach. This season he is in charge at none other than Toulon. His start has not been easy. The unthinkable happened on Saturday as Toulon lost at home against Brive. Without better results instantly Toulon will act swiftly against him.

Horacio Agulla
Also losing at home this weekend were both Bordeaux and Castres. The latter fell 26-18 to La Rochelle in a result nobody saw coming. La Rochelle played superbly, well and truly deserving the win. Horacio Agulla missed an early opportunity to score in the right corner. Having overrun his outside center he could not receive a pass for what would have been a simple try. In general play he had a quiet match.