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
Uruguay is close to obtaining home tests vs England and Georgia. The URU is involved in conversations with both unions who are to play test matches in Argentina in June 2017. The two European countries will be playing in Argentina that month and Uruguay is seeking to to play one match against each of them. Such fixtures would occur before their respective matches against Argentina. Confirmation is expected out in the first week of October. Should Uruguay host England and Georgia it would be truly be a breakthrough for Los Teros and for global rugby.

Jamie Cudmore
Well done Jamie Cudmore. The veteran 38-year-old has come out against concussion protocols. The Canadian second-rower has said his former club, Clermont Auvergne, ignores his safety and thereby placed him in harm. Cudmore has come out stating that the club’s doctors allowed him to return to the field after having suffered a serious head injury in the 2015 Champions Cup Semi Final against Saracens. Two weeks later he was knocked-out early against Toulon in the Final yet was allowed to return to play. Having spent 11 years at Clermont Cudmore is now at Oyonnax in the Pro D2. He turned down offers to join Top 14 rivals as he did to join Gloucester or the Scarlets in the Aviva Premiership and Guinness Pro 12.

AJ MacGinty
Playing away from home the Sale Sharks completed a valuable draw against Worcester on Saturday. Scoring 14 points in the 34-34 thriller was AJ MacGinty. Having returned from injury the USA Eagles fly half enjoyed a fine performance. It seems his superb form which took Connacht to the Guinness Pro 12 title has carried over to the Aviva Premiership. The Sale Sharks now sit in 8th position. They play at home against Leicester this coming weekend.

Patricio Fernández, Benjamín Urdapilleta
Patricio Fernández is into his second season in the Top 14 with Clermont and is now getting regular game time. On Sunday the two-time-capped Fernández started fly half before moving to fullback in place of the injured Scott Spedding. From there he ran in two tries, one of which was truly magnificent. The sooner Fernández joins Lois Pumas the better. Also having a good weekend in France was Benjamín Urdapilleta. The former Oyonnax point-scorning machine landed 21 points in a big home win over Racing 92.

Blaine Scully
USA winger Blaine Scully helped the Cardiff Blues to avoid humiliation on Saturday. Playing away to Zebre in Italy the Welsh region won 23-21. Both teams scored three tries and it was the Californian Scully who scored first for the Blues. The win keeps the region’s perfect start to the season in tact. With 4 wins from 4 matches the Cardiff Blues and Ulster are tied for top spot in the Guinness Pro 12.

Old Christians, Old Boys
Uruguay is just one game away from having a national champion. Either Old Boys or Old Christians Club will be crowned the 2016 Campeonato Uruguayo winners. Both earned their places in the 2016 final by winning their respective Semi Finals. Played this past weekend Old Boys saw off Carrasco Polo by a single point. The 19-18 win included Teros players from Rugby World Cup 2015. Old Christians were also given a tough match but less so. They defeated Trébol 27-19.

UNDER

Rugby Championship Schedule
There were no Rugby Championship matches this past weekend. Instead New Zealand arrived in Argentina and Australia arrived in South Africa. These are to the be round five fixtures with round six seeing Argentina vs Australia (in England) and South Africa vs New Zealand. The familiar calendar has been the case every year except for 2015 when a reduced format was used for the tournament. 2017 will see no changes. Indeed it has been revealed that Steve Tew of the NZRU turned down requested from SA Rugby and the UAR to reverse the fixtures for 2017.

Martín Bustos Moyano
Martín Bustos Moyano will undergo surgery this week. For Bayonne the loss of the goal-kicking fullback from Córdoba is rough. The club is already without former French test fullback Benjamin Thiery. With both players missing the club is now in search of a medical joker. Seven rounds into the 2016-17 Top 14 season, Bayonne are in 13th spot. With the realistic danger of relegation the club needs to find a quick-fix solution. This weekend Bayonne will play away to La Rochelle.

Agustín Ormaechea
While he did not play bad himself his club Mont-de-Marsan lost at home this weekend. In going down 23-21 to Agen Mont-de-Marsan has dropped to 10th spot in the Pro D2. For Ormaechea it means realizing the dream of seeing his club earn promotion to the Top 14 is difficult. Regardless it is beyond question that Ormaechea is an exceptional player and should really be playing at the elite level.

Pablo Matera
Reports in the Rugby Paper suggest that Pablo Matera may be returning to England. Having spent time with the Leicester Tigers before signing for the UAR the hard-running flanker is now being approached by his former club. Looking to strengthen their roster to return to their former dominant ways the East Midlands club would do well with Matera. For Argentina it would be a major loss. He and Facundo Isa are the bedrock of a solid back row looking ahead to 2019.

No TMO in the Guinness Pro 12
In Europe it is spoken of as being the big three. That being the three big professional leagues of the Top 14, Aviva Premiership and Guinness Pro 12. They are, Super Rugby aside, the biggest on the planet and are all hugely successful in economic terms. The Pro 12 is the weaker of the three and at times this can be apparent. So far this season there have been non-televised matches and even matches without a TMO. Consider then that there was a TMO in the Uruguayan Championship Semi Finals this past weekend.

Los Tilos and Mariano Moreno
Buenos Aires clubs Los Tilos and Mariano Moreno have been relegated from the URBA Top 14. Neither club will play in the 2017 URBA Top 14 but, then again, the competition will be significantly changed. For 2017 it is to be the URBA Top 12. The competitors are to be Hindú, Belgrano, San Luis, Regatas, Newman, SIC, CASI, CUBA, Alumni, La Plata, Pucará and Atlético del Rosario.