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

Canada Women
Canada’s women’s team made it a perfect two-for-two as they ended the Can-Am Series in Chula Vista with a convincing 37-10 win over the Women’s Eagles on Saturday afternoon. The USA took a step forward from the 39-5 result on Tuesday but once again could not contend with the experience and forward pressure of the confident Canadians. Both sides now move on to the next stage of their World Cup preparations. Canada will travel to New Zealand in June to face England, Australia, and the Black Ferns. The USA have yet to confirm any further World Cup warm-up matches.

Canada’s November Internationals
Canada’s end-of-year tour to Europe in November will include test matches against Georgia, Tonga, and Russia. Venues for the three matches are expected to be confirmed this week. All three will be played in Europe with the match against Georgia certain to be on Georgian soil. Either England or France is the likely location for the match against Tonga while the same may be the case for Russia. Ideally the match would be played in Russia though there an another neutral venue is a possibility. Extremely strange decisions from World Rugby saw Canada play matches against Samoa, Russia, and Namibia at Colwyn Bay in North Wales between 2012 and 2014.

Honduras
Pirates Rugby Club are now the Honduras national champions. The club from Islas de la Bahía were crowned champions on Saturday, winning the Torneo Nacional de Rugby 10’s, a nine team tournament of 10-a-side rugby. The Pirates topped the podium with Zamorano finishing in second position. Third place went to Los Toros. Honduras is yet to become a member of Sudamérica Rugby though is seeking to do so. The country faced western neighbors Guatemala prior to the South American C Championship. The November 2015 fixture was Honduras’ first ever rugby test match.

Agustín Costa Repetto
34-year-old Agustín Costa Repetto made history this past weekend. Playing hooker for Colomiers the former Puma scored his 50th try as a professional rugby player. The try was his 4th for Colomiers. Previously he scored 10 for Tarbes and while playing in Italy he scored 23 for Petrarca and 13 for Mogliano. Costa played three tests for Los Pumas in 2005. This included a try scoring double against Chile.

Americas Players in Europe
Costa Repetto’s 50th try saw Colomiers defeating Aurillac 21-19. Also scoring in the Pro D2 was Taylor Paris. The Canadian winger scored the only try of the game as Agen won 19-12 away to Carcassonne. In England Jebb Sinclair made his long awaited return from injury for London Irish. At the elite level Marcelo Bosch scored for Saracens who booked a place in the European Champions Cup Semi Finals. Both Juan Figallo and Titi Lamositele were also involved. Patricio Fernández was on the bench for Clermont. His side are also Semi Finalists having downed Toulon on Sunday. Samu Manoa was forced out for Toulon while Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe featured in the second half. Greg Peterson features for Glasgow against Saracens. Tyler Ardron scored for the Ospreys who miraculously fell at home to a 14-man Stade Français.

 

UNDER

Woe Canada
Though the women continue to thrive, confidence in Canada’s men’s program is worryingly low at the moment. Failure to qualify for the Olympics in 7s and a dip in rankings outside of the Top 20 for the XVs has seen the national governing body come under fire heading into this past weekend’s Annual General Meeting. Optimism, as ever, will accompany the meeting of the minds in Toronto but only time will tell if this is a ‘turning of the tide’ or an acceptance of a ‘new normal’.

Cam Pierce Concussion
Canadian second row Cameron Pierce has announced on Social Media that he is taking an extended break from the game due to the continuing effects of concussion. The 25-year-old, who has won three test caps, sustained a serious blow to the head early in the season and then suffered a recurrence of symptoms following attempts to return with Pau’s reserve side. With his contract at the Top 14 club expiring at the end of the season he has called an early end to his campaign and though he has stopped short of ‘retirement’, he will not immediately seek a new contract despite interest from Pro D2 sides.

Jaguares Injuries
Los Jaguares are to play three matches over the coming weekends in South Africa. The tour is to be the second of the season for the Argentine Super Rugby franchise and the most demanding. The team heads into the matches in good form but hard work is required to return home with positive results. The roster picked for the tour shows a number of areas of concern. The loss of Julián Montoya means the back-up hooker to Agustín Creevy is to be Loose Head prop Roberto Tejerizo. Still out injured are Martín Landajo, Tomás Lavanini, Juan Manuel Leguizamón, Manuel Montero, Matías Moroni and Javier Ortega Desio. Marcos Kremer will tour, doing so with a minor knee injury.

Thomond Park TV Angles
One of France, Ireland or South Africa will host Rugby World Cup 2023. All three have their own claims as to why they ought to host the tournament and there are differing reasons as to why this is the case. A certain venue is Thomond Park, the home of Munster rugby. This past weekend the venue’s TV angles were found to be problematic on multiple occasions. Toulouse scored from a clear forward pass but suspect angles prevented it from being called. Earlier on Tommy O’Donnell  was penalized for something which replays failed to show. While prior to that the same is true of Leonardo Ghiraldini. Such facilities are not good enough for Ireland 2023 to become a reality.

Ospreys
How low can you go Ospreys? Following on from a shock loss away to Benetton Treviso the Welsh region now sank to a home defeat against Top 14 strugglers Stade Français. The Sunday loss saw the Parisians securing an unlikely spot in the Challenge Cup Semi Finals, doing so despite losing a player to a red card. It means the coaching career of Gonzalo Quesada may end in France on a high. The former Puma is departing Stade Français at the end of this season. On the flip side Canadian Tyler Ardron and Ohio’s Sam Underhill will now need to focus on the Pro 12 with the dream of a Challenge Cup title now over.