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

Argentina
Daniel Hourcade will be keeping his job. Under immense pressure heading into November, the Head Coach of Los Pumas got his second win of the year on Saturday. He has his replacements to thank as the impact of Gonzalo Bertranou, Lucas Noguera Paz, Guido Petti, Benjamín Macome, Matías Moroni, and Julián Montoya was profound. Pablo Matera was again the best Puma of the match while Marcos Kremer and Sebastián Cancelliere underlined their class despite their status as newcomers in the squad. With Mario Ledesma at the Jaguares more opportunities for younger players like those two is assured.

Brazil
History was made by Brazil on Saturday afternoon. For the first time ever Os Tupis won a test match in Europe. Brazil defeated Belgium 23-19 at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. The win came despite Belgium having started the strongest, appearing to be well on their way to victory. In achieving the landmark result Brazil rise above Chile in the Americas Rankings. They now prepare to face Spain, doing so with renewed confidence of adding to their growing list of upsets which includes Portugal, Canada, and the USA.

Canada Men
Canada are back in the win column after a nine-month drought as they defeated Spain by 37-27 at the Estadio Universidad Complutense in Madrid on Saturday. The much-needed win did not come easily, with Canada forced to claw back from an early 17-3 deficit to draw level at the break and take the lead with a much improved second half effort. With some confidence restored Canada now prepare for their final match of the November series against Fiji at the neutral venue of Narbonne on Saturday.

Costa Rica
Costa Rica is the newest World Rugby member. The  World Rugby Council unanimously voted in favor of the Federación de Rugby de Costa Rica as a new and full member of World Rugby. Costa Rica is the ninth Sudamérica Rugby union member to obtain World Rugby membership. It joins Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. It coincides with Costa Rica joining the new Sudamérica 4 Naciones B competition. The country is to do so together with Guatemala, Peru and Venezuela.

Uruguay
Uruguay overcame Namibia in Windhoek, winning 52-36 on Saturday. They did so with No 8, Alejandro Nieto running in a hat trick and winger Federico Favaro kicking with 100% accuracy. Remarkably the match was just the second in history between the countries. In coming away with a victory Los Teros now hold a 2-0 record. The teams meet again at the same venue this coming Saturday. Also a special mention to the Uruguay XV. The national ‘A’ side ran out 22-15 winners over Entre Ríos in Paysandú on Saturday. A strong result for their quest to promotion to the top level of the Campeonato Argentino.

USA
2017 will go down in the record books as one of the best ever for the USA Eagles. They built on their earlier wins this year to defeat Germany 46-17 in the first ever test match between the countries. The victory was the 6th of the year for the Eagles. With it they have a record of 6 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses in capped internationals this year. Captain Blaine Scully had a strong match while Joe Taufete’e, Nick Civetta, Ryan Matyas, and AJ MacGinty were also standout performers.

 

UNDER

Canada Women
Canada brought a young and inexperienced side to Allianz Park on Friday and it showed as they were completely overrun by England to the tune of 79-5. The World Cup finalists taught the visitors a lesson in attacking rugby as they crossed the line 13 times and dominated the match from start to finish. It’s the second-highest number of points conceded by Canada in a test match, bettered only by the 88-3 battering suffered at the hands of New Zealand at the 1996 Canada Cup. Canada return to the field against England on Tuesday. This time they play at The Stoop.

Jim Dixon
The Canadian rugby community demanded action, and that’s certainly what they got last Monday. General Manager Jim Dixon was axed with while a half dozen of the financial department staff are also on their way out. Rugby Development Manager Dustin Hopkins will assume the GM role in an interim capacity as the search for a replacement begins. Of the others set for departure the most notable are Chief Operating Officer Myles Spencer and Chief Financial Officer Linh Nguyen. The pair will see out their contracts with the company with their positions relocated from the Rugby Canada’s Richmond Hill office to the new Headquarters in Langford.

Chile
Playing matches against Kenya, Hong Kong, and Russia in only eight days is madness. This is what Los Cóndores were forced to endure. The Chileans started well, beating Kenya by a healthy margin. They were unable to achieve wins against either Hong Kong or Russia with the latter putting up a big score. Chile are now preparing to face Germany this coming Saturday. It is another demanding match but an important one as Chilean rugby continues to develop. The players of Chile, Hong Kong, Kenya, and Russia need to have more time between matches in the future.

World Rugby and Africa 1
Namibia has been Africa 1 at every World Cup in the professional era. South Africa pre-qualified on all occasions while Africa 2 was never able to get past the Repechage stage. Uruguay, by contrast, qualified for Rugby World Cups 1999 and 2015 via the Repechage. Los Teros earned direct qualification for 2003 ahead of the USA. With Namibia falling at home to Uruguay and RWC regulars Canada now facing Uruguay for the Americas 2 spot, surely it is time for World Rugby to end the policy of favoring Africa 1 in qualification.

Patricio Fernández
Injuries are an unfortunate and often unavoidable part of rugby. One of Argentina’s finest players, Patricio Fernández, suffered a severe knee injury on Saturday. Playing for Clermont in the Top 14 the Rosario pivot made a line break only to plant awkwardly while side-stepping and drop to the ground in immediate pain. He now faces a lengthy period out of rugby with a fractured knee cap and possible ligament damage.