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

North American Women’s 7s
What an exciting weekend for Americas rugby, especially on the Sydney leg of the HBSC Women’s Sevens Series. For the first time ever the Cup Final was contested by two Americas teams, and two North American sides at that. Canada ultimately defeated neighbors USA to win their second ever HSBC Cup title, but what an achievement for both. The Dream Team is also worth noting, with an unprecented five North American players named in the official HSBC selection for Sydney.

Brazil
A sloppy opening half by Os Tupis was quickly forgotten as Brazil dominated the second half against Chile. Scoring both of the game’s tries, Brazil sent a message to their upcoming opponents in the tournament that they mean business. Playing at home Brazil showed Chile how to play rugby in wet conditions to humiliate Los Cóndores. Chile had no means of adapting to the conditions while Brazil was able to convert possession into points. The initial goal of avoiding the wooden spoon has seemingly been taken care of.

USA
The USA completed a successful fightback to secure victory over Uruguay in Texas. The second match of the 2017 Americas Rugby Championship was a thriller. The 29-23 fixture bodes well for the future of a competition of substantial potential. The result means the USA begin their campaign extremely well. With Uruguay out of the way they can now focus on a less demanding assignment for next weekend. Again playing at home the Eagles will be out for revenge against Brazil next weekend. The shock loss in 2016 will give the Eagles all the motivation in the world to deliver at home. The young Ben Cima is to haver a prime opportunity to transfer his u20 form into test rugby excellence.

Argentina XV
A win by 14 points in the snow up in Canada was a positive outcome for Argentina’s ‘A’ side. The young team delivered a performance required to secure the required result in testing conditions. While it was far from being a dream performance there was plenty of reason for the team to feel positive. Individual brilliance from Domingo Miotti and Segundo Tuculet resulted in tries.  Solid set play in general laid the ground work. With players involved having the opportunity to step up to Super Rugby of international level there is plenty of high points to be gained from the performance in the great white north.

Uruguay
Sometimes a loss can be a win. On Saturday Louis Picamoles was Man of the Match in France’s loss against England. In the Americas his equivalent, Alejandro Nieto was arguably the best player on the field. Nieto was one of a number of Uruguayan players to take the step up and deliver a quality performance. Make no mistake Uruguay competing well against the USA is akin to Argentina doing so against New Zealand. Narrow losses by Los Pumas against the All Blacks have not been the norm in the Rugby Championship. As such Los Teros legitimately played well. Further performances are certain to result in victories in the Americas Rugby Championship.

Brazil Women’s 7s
A try in extra time saw Brazil’s women make history in Sydney, defeating England by 17-12. The stunning upset was part of a pulsating second day of action at the HSBC Sevens Series event. With the win Brazil raised the Challenge Trophy, their first piece of hardware since lifting the Bowl at Dubai in December 2014. It marked a complete turnaround of fortune after a disappointing Day One for the Brazilians and continues the impressive progress made by Brazil in women’s rugby. A medal at the Olympics can now be a target for future generations.

Facundo Isa
The Argentine no8 won the Americas Rugby News Breakthrough Player of 2016 Award. He made steady progress in 2016, replacing Leonardo Senatore as his country’s leading player in his position. His blockbusting attacking style thrust him immediately into the Pumas starting role and from then there was no turning back. Isa was the leading carrier in the Rugby Championship and turned heads such that by the time November came around he was in the conversation of the very best at his position in the world. Sadly his involvement with Los Pumas and Los Jaguares is currently in question. A move to France looms and until details are finalized he is sidelined from training.

Jaguares Sign on for Japan
Six players signed on with the UAR this past week until 2019. All six are regarded as elite Argentine players and on course to play at Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan. In signing all are under the control of the Argentine union and free to play at all times for all teams including the Argentina XV, Los Jaguares and Los Pumas. The players are Matías Alemanno, Emiliano Boffelli, Santiago García Botta, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera and Guido Petti. Their agreeing to terms is highly significant for their country. Alemanno is on record in saying it was a tough choice as big spending clubs were interested in him and others.

Felipe Arregui
Argentine prop Arregui has confirmed his return home to Los Jaguares from Europe. Having joined Edinburgh on a short-term deal the 22-year-old is now to bolster the Loose Head prop options for Super Rugby. Arregui linked up with Edinburgh as a medical joker in October. The move was green-lighted by the UAR. Importantly this meant he remained eligible to play for Los Pumas. Arregui joins Pumas Lucas Noguera Paz and Santiago García Botta to be the third choice option.

David Tameilau
Also having secured his playing future as a professional is Tameilau. The US Eagles international has signed a two-year contract extension with Pro D2 side Narbonne. Tameilau joined the team in late October, initially signing as a medical joker. He has made an immediate impact, starting in eight games and becoming the leading ball carrier for the side, playing both at lock and his preferred no8 position. It comes as welcome news for the Eagles and supporters.

UNDER

Chile
Chile’s opening half performance in their first match of the Americas Rugby Championship was not sharp. Their second, though, was abysmal. Los Cóndores were unable to play rugby whatsoever in the rain that took control of the second half in São Paulo. So poor were Chile that virtually every possession ended in a knock-on. On no occasion did Los Cóndores come close to scoring a try. The performance was simply that of a team not up to the required standard. The tougher matches which await Chile will require vast improvement or the losses will be be telling.

Canada SnowMen
The snow made for extremely challenging playing conditions. So much so that even playing at home Canada was out classed. The visiting Argentina XV scored two tries to zero and did so while visibly suffering from the freezing conditions. For Canada it is an opportunity gone begging. It leaves the North Americans outside of the top three after the opening round. While it was the toughest match of the competition it was, nonetheless, one in which Canada had the means to do much better. The North Americans will now need to regroup to find a means to target second position.

Bernardo Miguens
Argentina lost a great player to a tragedy this week. Former CUBA and Puma fullback Bernardo Miguens suffered an accident while on vacation in Pinamar and was unable to respond to treatment. He passed away while being transported to Buenos Aires. He was 58. The fourth child of a rugby family, his brothers Javier and Hugo were both also Pumas. Javier was a scrum half and Hugo a flanker. Hugo even captained his country in the 1970’s. Bernardo Miguens was a Puma from 1983-1987, earning 12 caps. He defeated Australia and France and drew against New Zealand. Rest in Peace.

Tomás Cubelli
Cubelli joins Martín Landajo on the sidelines. Both are out for extended periods, giving Argentina no capped scrum halves for at least the first three months of Super Rugby. Cubelli went off injured in a warm-up match for the Brumbies vs Waratahs on Saturday. Medical exams confirm he will require surgery and a recovery period of four or five months. Landajo is out for three. The two players have played every test match under Daniel Hourcade. No other player has been picked during his coaching which began in October 2013.

Todd Clever, No TMO
USA flanker captain Todd Clever was yellow carded in the first half for a late, dangerous and reckless charge. The referee and touch judge determined it was a yellow card offense. Replays clearly demonstrated that it was above the red card threshold. In other words the lack of a TMO in the Americas Rugby Championship helped the USA defeat Uruguay. Had there been a TMO it is highly unlikely that Clever would have played on. The incident occurred in the opening ten minutes.