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

USA
The US Eagles set a new record for tries and points scored as they romped to a 51-34 win over Canada at Swangard Stadium on Saturday. It tops the 41-23 mark set in Ottawa in 2015 and extends their winning streak to five tests against the Canucks, their best ever run of games against their northern neighbors. While it’s presumptuous to use the match as a barometer ahead of the World Cup qualifiers given the number of top players absent from both sides, the result does give the Eagles bragging rights and great confidence heading into the final rounds of the Americas Rugby Championship.

Uruguay
At home for the first time in 2017, Uruguay completed a bonus point win over Brazil. Their 23-12 win was their first of this year’s Americas Rugby Championship. The win ends a losing streak which dates back to June 2016’s win over Spain. More importantly is that Uruguay won the match by scoring four tries to zero, doing so without really getting past third gear.

Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia Women’s 7’s
Brazil were crowned South American Women’s 7’s Champions on Sunday. Their outstanding two-day performance saw them undefeated. Argentina was also highly impressive and, crucially, qualified for the  upcoming Las Vegas 7’s. Celebrations for Argentina did not end there as they have also now qualified for the Core Qualifying bracket at the Hong Kong 7s in April. The winner of that tournament will be promoted to full core status for the 2017-18 HSBC Women’s Sevens Series. Also earning a ticket to Hong Kong are Colombia, who won a nerve-wracking Plate Final over Paraguay by a single score.

Americas Players in Europe
Another weekend has gone by with players from the Americas proving their worth. In France history was made with back-to-back tries scored over two rounds in the Top 14. Pablo Huete scored a magnificent try for a second-rower, doing so against powerhouses Clermont. Also scoring in the French championship was retired Puma Horacio Agulla. Mariano Galarza was jumping for joy as he helped Gloucester down Saracens at Kingsholm. In the Pro 12, Blaine Scully had an excellent match for the Cardiff Blues, scoring a try. Former USA junior Hanno Dirksen touched down for the Ospreys.

Major League Rugby
Speaking of professional rugby, a new elite-level club competition is coming to America. Initially a group of five teams forming the ‘Major Rugby Championship’, the group has now expanded to nine with plans to begin formally under the ‘Major League Rugby’ name in 2018. While the new-found competition has not explicitly stated its intentions to become fully professional, some of the members are already paying their players, most notably the Austin Huns who are currently playing a series of friendlies with their ‘Elite Squad’. The competing clubs come from Austin, Dallas, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, New Orleans, Seattle and Utah.

Psalm Wooching
Washington Huskies linebacker Psalm Wooching is switching his focus to rugby. Projected as a late-round NFL draft pick or free agent signing, the 23-year-old has opted to turn down a chance at a professional football career in favor of a shot at the Olympics. Born in Hawaii with Samoan heritage, Wooching said in a statement on social media that his first love was rugby. Wooching already has considerable experience in rugby. He was a High School All-American while playing for Kealakehe and has also turned out for the club rugby side at Washington.

Nelson Calderón
Never give up, give it your all, play like your life depends on it. These are just a few examples of common coaching phrases even pre-match to players the world over. In the case of Nelson Calderón they are seemingly entirely accurate. The Chilean second-rower ended a five-year absence this weekend. He earned his first Cóndores cap in half a decade. Now aged 37 the second-rower is a case in point of rugby values.

 

UNDER

Canada
Canada have taken a tumbling in the rankings. They remain 3rd in the Americas but are now 20th in the world. Above them are both Namibia and Russia, two sides Canada has defeated in all previous meetings. The loss against USA was Canada’s biggest of all-time in points conceded. It also stretched the USA’s streak to five wins in a row, another record. Canada started poorly, trailing by 12 points in the opening five minutes. The first sequence of attack saw Eagles center Bryce Campbell burst through a tackle and put Ryan Matyas into space barely a minute into the game. A lineout steal from Nate Brakeley caught the Canadians unawares and quick hands found Mike Te’o free and into the corner.

Canada 7’s Funding
Canada’s beleaguered men’s sevens program has been dealt a major blow to their plans for the 2017-18 HSBC Sevens Series. Struggling with injures and desperate to regain form after a poor year in 2016, the team has now been informed that their funding from the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Own The Podium program has been cut in its entirety. The result is a loss of $850,000 CAD in support for the men, a significant amount given Rugby Canada’s already strained financial position. A temporary impasse between the players and Rugby Canada about player pay was settled just weeks before the new season.

Brazil
Brazil need to admit their game plan is not working. Brazil has a quality scrum but the lineout continues to fail from one week to the next with no progress whatsoever. Josh Reeves at flyhalf is proving to ask questions of the defenses with his high kicks but is his play in general better than Moisés Duque? Should Brazil not look to Duque, the man who took Brazil to its greatest ever win, against the USA a year ago? The Sancery twins are Brazil’s greatest attacking assets. They remain largely pedestrian under the existing Brazilian game plan.

Argentina XV Halves Combination
The Argentina XV remain undefeated after three rounds of the Americas Rugby Championship. Their win away to Chile on Saturday sees them 3-0 with two matches left to play. The remaining matches are to be played in the deep south of Argentina. Such is the level of Argentina that the country’s ‘A’ side can outperform the test sides of continental rivals. Against Chile, though, the Argentina XV was far from reaching their peak. Sloppy play from the Argentina XV was all too common, especially in the opening half. Lautaro Bazán and Juan Cruz González were the halves. As talented as they are Saturday was not their finest performance.

Germán Albanell 
A shocking display of goal kicking from Albanell kept Brazil in the match. The Old Boys flyhalf was unable to convert any of Uruguay’s four tries. His one goal of the match was a straightforward penalty. The score would be the final points of the match. Brazil’s goal kicker, Moisés Duque, landed 4 of 5 penalty attempts. Albanell was 1 from 5 for all kicks. Had he kicked as well as was the case against the USA then the match would heave been vastly different. Uruguay ought to have won by far more points.

Facundo Isa
2016 did not see Argentina bringing in the results. The country’s November tour was a flop and in the Rugby Championship expectations were not met. The leading player was Facundo Isa. The rampaging no8 has been identified as Argentina’s most dangerous player, yet he will not play at all for Los Pumas in 2017 or 2018. Instead he will be playing in France for Toulon. His departure leaves Leonardo Senatore, a player on the wrong side of 30, as the Pumas no8. Senatore is expected to play in the position for Los Jaguares against the Kings this coming weekend. Los Jaguares are preparing without Juan Martín Hernández, Ramiro Herrera,  Martín Landajo, Manuel Montero, Tomás Lavanini, Javier Ortega Desio, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Juan Manuel Leguizamón, and Enrique Pieretto.