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

Georgia are Coming
The Lelos are coming to the Americas. The Georgian Rugby Union has confirmed that their proposed tour to Canada, the USA, and Argentina will go ahead as planned. As expected the three test dates are June 10, 17, and 24 in what will be the first tour of its kind undertaken by the Eastern European nation. Georgia has traveled to North American shores on two previous occasions, 2009 and 2012, and Argentine once in 2013. The GRU have also confirmed that there is an option to play two ‘A’ matches as well, both in South America. Games against the Argentina XV and Uruguay ‘A’ could see a younger Georgian development squad sent to South America during the second week of their tour.

Daniel Sancery
Brazil’s star fullback is Americas Rugby News’ Rookie of the Year award winner. He made his debut for Brazil against Chile in the 2016 Americas Rugby Championship. On debut he scored  a try less than 10 minutes into his test career and also touched down in each of the next three games including the historic win over the Eagles. His counter-attacking prowess led to a unanimous selection in our 2016 ARC Dream XV and Sancery continued through the South American Championship before turning his sights towards sevens – and the Olympic Games. The year-end tour to Europe was next to finish with 12 caps and five tries in his first season of international rugby

Santiago Ramallo
Regional pride for the Americas took place this past week with Ramallo honored by World Rugby. The Regional Manager of Sudamérica Rugby won the ‘Rugby Builds Character Employee Award’. Ramallo was responsible for World Rugby in organizing the 2016 Olympic Games. In order to contribute to the success of Rugby Sevens in Rio de Janeiro, Ramallo moved with his family more than a year in advance of the games.

Vancouver 7’s
The Vancouver 7’s is officially sold out, Rugby Canada has announced. All 66,000 tickets for the second annual Canadian leg of the HSBC Sevens Series have been purchased. The two day event will take place on March 11th and 12th at BC Place Stadium. The inaugural event in 2016 was a tremendous success. 60,418 tickets were sold for the two day event. With 66,000 tickets sold for 2017, this year’s attendance will set a new Canadian record.

Americas Players in Champions Cup
Players from the Americas stood out this past weekend. Rodrigo Capó Ortega was man-of-the-match for Castres who ended Leinster’s winning streak. AJ MacGinty kicked the Sale Sharks to victory. Scoring for the opposition was DTH van der Merwe. Marcelo Bosch was just short of scoring against Toulon. Samu Manoa came on to deliver trademark tackles against Bosch’s team. Taku Ngwenya scored in the Challenge Cup and Connor Braid landed kicks at goal.  In addition players lost to the Americas impressed with Hanno Dirksen, Tommy Seymour, and Marland Yarde scoring tries.

Jamie Cudmore, Agustín Ormaechea, and Carlos Muzzio
There was also significant contributions from Americas players in the Pro D2. Jamie Cudmore led Oyonnax to a 26-24 away win over Aurillac. It was the first time Aurillac have lost had home since November 2015. Also winning away was Mont de Marsan over Albi. Agustín Ormaechaea and Carlos Muzzio started for the visitors. The result means Albi are in trouble, joining Bourgoin in the relegation zone.

Spike Davis
The over-sized Ohio Aviators winger is set to make his mark on the Americas Rugby Championship. Davis confirmed during the week that he has been included in the US Eagles squad in preparation for the tournament which kicks off on February 4. The rest of the squad is yet to be unveiled officially by USA Rugby but the 27-year-old looks a good bet to make his debut in the state where he resides – Texas – with the opening two rounds set to take place in San Antonio and Round Rock.

UNDER

Langi Haupeakui
The opportunity of a lifetime may well have come to an unsatisfactory end for Haupeakui. The Glasgow Warriors are reportedly set to terminate his contract. The Californian has failed to return to Scotland from the USA this month. His most recent match was a Guinness Pro 12 fixture against Munster on December 2. With him missing club training the Warriors are left with little option but to cancel his contract. In total the Eagles no8 made four appearances for Glasgow since his arrival. Should he be dismissed, he would be the second Eagles forward to be discarded in similar circumstances in recent months, the first being David Tameilau who has since resurfaced in Narbonne after having his contract torn up by Newcastle Falcons.

Argentina’s Selection Policy
The loss of Rugby World Cup stars hurt Argentina in 2016. Los Pumas stormed into the 2015 World Cup Semi Finals with Juan Imhoff being the leading try scorer. Marcos Ayerza was the rock in the scrum with additional players making key contributions. In 2016 only Argentine based players were eligible for selection. Tomás Cubelli and Juan Pablo Estelles were the only exceptions. The policy remains in place as a deterrent to players departing. Yet Argentina’s best forward in 2016, Facundo Isa is moving to play in France. Third-ranked hooker Facundo Bosch recently departed as well.

Three-year Residency Eligibility
Senior World Rugby officials have obtained growing support to change eligibility requirements. This past week both England and Wales joined France’s earlier declaration that they will vote to change Regulation 8. The proposal will extend residency eligibility to five years, two more than the current requirement. The contentious ruling from World Rugby has enabled rich unions to target and capture uncapped players from abroad, obtaining them for international duty after one professional contract. Australia, Ireland and Scotland are opposed. All three have benefitted tremendously from the three-year law.

USA Eagles without 7’s Stars
The USA 7’s roster for Wellington and Sydney is strong. Madison Hughes returns as captain. He is joined by some of the USA’s best players for the senior Eagles side. This includes Andrew Durutalo and Danny Barrett. Their involvement rules them out of the opening round of the Americas Rugby Championship, and possibly more. Other Eagles players including Brett Thompson and Folau Niua will miss the USA’s match against Uruguay in Texas.

The Americas Miss out on France
Argentina will not face France in 2017, the Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR) has confirmed. The FFR’s announcement that France will play Japan this coming November also confirmed home internationals against New Zealand and South Africa. Additional matches will see France playing five tests in the Six Nations from February-March and touring South Africa in June. Of the eleven test matches four will be against South Africa. The match against Japan will be the first outside of Rugby World Cups since 1973. Both Canada and the USA continue to wait for an opportunity.