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

Chile and Uruguay 7’s
A second encouraging tournament in as many weeks saw Chile qualifying for upcoming global competitions. Los Cóndores secured their places in the Vancouver 7’s, Las Vegas 7’s and the Hong Kong 7’s.  Los Cóndores 7’s reached the Semi Finals in both Punta del Este and Viña del Mar are were unfortunate not to have made the final in the latter of the two. Careful planning is now required. The final round of the Americas Rugby Championship will coincide with the Las Vegas 7’s. The Vancouver 7’s will be played one week later. Uruguay sealed the remaining spot in Hong Kong with a solid day two in Viña del Mar.

Argentina 7’s
Fiji exacted their revenge from Punta del Este with a 19-12 win over Argentina to claim the to spot in Viña del Mar in the second leg of the Sudamérica Sevens Series. After losing out to the Argentines a week ago in Punta del Este, the Fijians upped their game in Chile and had little trouble making the final, ultimately showing just enough guile to get past some of Argentina’s best young players, some of whom should become regulars on the HSBC Sevens Series in the years to come.

Cuba
A great development opportunity awaits Cuba. The Caribbean island nation will host Baltimore, Maryland club the Wild Geese RFC. The club will embark on a six-day trip to Cuba this week. Involved will be 30 players in the “El Cubano Ron y Cigarros Recorrido”. The Wild Geese have a 25 year tradition of “Old Boys” Rugby that is known for good play, a welcoming attitude, and great camaraderie.

Vancouver 7’s
Only 5% of tickets for the Vancouver 7’s remain reports Patrick Johnson for the Province. The encouraging sales make the second annual Canada Sevens a hit. The upcoming tournament is head towards a sell out. For the 2016 event organizers inxreased their ticket goals on numerous occasions. Demand was so high that additional seating areas were opened. The 2017 tournament will again be at BC Place. The two day competition will take place on March 11-12. By way of comparison the upcoming Wellington Sevens is set to be a disaster. A staggering low number of 1,300 tickets have been reported as having been sold for the January 28-29 event.

Aaron Carpenter
The Canadian no8 is no longer a London Welsh player. Carpenter has signed for his third Greene King IPA Championship club in less than a year, joining Doncaster Knights effective immediately. He will play under the auspices of former Canada defense coach Clive Griffiths and will become the latest Canadian to wear the club’s colors once recovering from a broken arm suffered in November. Tyler Hotson, Jon Phelan, Connor Braid, and the late John Cannon all played for the club in recent years. London Welsh have been forced into liquidation with their immediate fate to be determined later this month.

Titi Lamositele
Backing up from last week Titi Lamositele had another impressive afternoon. The USA Eagles loosehead prop came off the bench and saw the Saracens’ scrum improve significantly. Lamositele was also effective around the park. He aided his team fight back against the Scarlets. The Welsh region had been in command only for Saracens to claw their way back and snatch a draw in overtime. Curiously the English club also drew their previous match, doing so against the Exeter Chiefs.

Sebastián Poet
Four goals from Poet contributed to Charente’s 26-17 victory over Albi this weekend. The win was Charente’s 9th of the season and keeps the club in with a shot at the play-off’s. Sitting in 6th position on 44 points, Charente is just one point outside of the play-off’s zone. The club is in the Pro D2 for the first time in history. More points from Poet and the club may be able to press for promotion to the Top 14.

Tomás de La Vega
Good things take time is a common idiom which when used effectively can be powerful. The name Tomás de La Vega is likely to appear often in 2017 on Americas Rugby News. The name is also likely to be be appearing for positive reasons. Having been a highly promising flanker he was capped for Argentina only to concentrate on his studies rather than become a professional player. Now aged 26 de La Vega is back at the right time for Argentine rugby. He was named on the roster for the Americas Rugby Championship and is a highly strong contender for both Super Rugby and test duty with Los Pumas.

UNDER

20-Team Rugby World Cup
The Rugby World Cup has been given a wake-up call as the FIFA World Cup has expanded to 48 teams. Last Tuesday’s announcement that the 2026 FIFA World Cup would be increased from 32 to 48 participants sees it having more than double that of rugby’s showpiece event. Rugby must now taker action to prove that CEO Brett Gosper’s words carry weight. Bosch has strongly hinted at expansion to 24 teams. He has also named Brazil, China, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Spain and the USA as key markets for the future.

Brazil 7’s
Unable to win a match in either the Punta del Este 7’s or Viña del Mar 7’s, Brazil is to pay the price. The Brazil 7’s team failed to qualify for the Las Vegs 7’s and Vancouver 7’s competitions. Competing in the Hong Kong 7’s is also not going to take place this year. It marks a significant fall from grace as the hosts of the 2016 Olympic Games had been competitive in prior years at the Vinã del Mar 7’s. This year not only Uruguay but also Chile and Colombia were better.

USA Falcons
The USA’s Developmental Rugby Sevens side struggled in Chile. The USA Falcons lost to Uruguay and Argentina on Day One with their win over Brazil being the only positive. On Day Two the Falcons started with a 26-20 defeat against Chile and it did not end there. A 26-15 loss against Colombia followed setting up a match against Brazil to avoid the wooden spoon. A 14-7 win saved the Falcons from finishing bottom in Viña del Mar.

Facundo Bosch
French club Agen have confirmed the arrival of Facundo Bosch from Argentina. The hooker from Necochea has signed on with the club until 2019. He is one of seven arrivals, one of the others is Argentine Leandro Cedaro who joins from La Rochelle. The loss of Bosch is significant for Argentina. His moving to Agen makes him ineligible to play for Los Pumas. It also leaves Los Jaguares with just two specialist hookers – Agustín Creevy and Julián Montoya. These same two players have been the only two used for Argentina since the 2015 Rugby Championship. With limited opportunities Bosch has taken up an offer abroad, leaving Argentina a hooker down one month before the Super Rugby season.

Juan Martín Hernández
The year has not started well for veteran Juan Martín Hernández. The Jaguares inside center has been ruled out of rugby for a month, handing Los Jaguares a significant blow. In the first training session of the year Hernández collided with second-rower Juan Cruz Guillemaín. The impact caused facial trauma and a fracture. His recovery time required 48 hours of immediate rest to be followed by one month without physical contact.

Matt Evans
Canada has been dealt a heavy blow just five months out from their World Cup qualifying series against the US Eagles with the news that star fullback Matt Evans has suffered a serious knee injury. An awkward fall in a tackle against London Irish last month resulted in significant damage to the lateral side of his left knee, and he went under the knife of orthopedic surgeon Jon Matthews two weeks ago. It’s the second time the knee has been repaired by Matthews, albeit previously on the medial side. Consigned to missing the rest of the season and the June internationals, Evans has a long road of rehabilitation ahead and hopes to be up and running again in September.