Up and Under

Up and Under is a weekly exclusive on Americas Rugby News which reviews the best and worst from games involving the Americas teams over the previous week.

 

UP

New York Rugby
The birth of professional rugby in New York is here. The Rugby United New York team won their historic first match on the weekend, downing the Ontario Arrows 36-19. It could have been an even more impressive win given that New York had been leading 33-0 early in the second half. The Arrows recovered to make the score more respectable. Eagles involved included Dylan Fawsitt, Nate Brakeley, Seamus Kelly, Luke Hume, and Mike Petri, while former Eagles coach Mike Tolkin is in charge. New York will face Boston this coming weekend in the Bronx. One of the world’s most iconic markets is now destined for Major League Rugby.

Canada
Canada’s chances for 2019 World Cup qualification got a major boost on Sunday. The North Americans faced the daunting prospect of missing out on qualifying for a World Cup for the first time in history. They were looking like facing Samoa or Romania in the Repechage. Spain’s shock loss to Belgium means that Romania have qualified and Samoa are likely to meet Spain in the knock-out match. Canada has never beaten Samoa and has not beaten Romania since 1995, meanwhile they defeated Spain this past November.

Uruguay Professional Rugby Moves
Finding a way of professional rugby in Uruguay has not been an easy task. Agreeing upon which path to take is not easy. Ultimately it cannot happen without financial backing. The means of making this a reality may well now have been identified. This past week it was confirmed that advanced talks have been made between the URU and soccer clubs Nacional and Peñarol. They would play in the South American Professional Rugby competition which is penciled in to begin in 2019.

Japan vs Romania
RWC 2019 will open without a Tier 1 team. This fact alone is tremendous for rugby and has been known since the match schedule was released. The participants in the opening match are now known – Japan will host Romania in the first game of the World Cup. Curiously both Japan and Romania were involved in some of the most memorable moments of RWC 2015. Japan defeated South Africa in the biggest upset in World Cup history while Romania faced Ireland in the largest-ever attendance in tournament history.

Jess Wooden
The veteran US Eagles fullback has become the first player from her nation to represent the women’s Barbarians. Wooden started against the British Army in just the second ever women’s fixture for the invitational club side, scoring a try in the first half as the Barbarians completed a 37-0 win on a snowy pitch at Aldershot. The 29-year-old is not the first Americas player to earn selection to the side. That honor is shared by Canadian duo Kelly Russell and Amanda Thornborough who played in the inaugural women’s Barbarians match against Munster in November.

Tomás Baravalle
A busy week for Baravalle saw him securing his playing future and scoring a try. The Argentine hooker departed for Italy and has had an instant impact. With limited options for Los Jaguares and the Argentina XV he has gone on to be a regular in the Guinness Pro 14 Championship for Benetton Treviso. His decision to re-sign with the club until 2020 will continue the debate surrounding what is best for Argentine rugby with regards to overseas eligibility for the Pumas.

Benjamín Urdapilleta
The Castres goal kicker has become the all-Time leading Argentine scorer in France. With 17 points in yesterday’s win over Brive, Urdapilleta now has 1170 points in Top 14 matches. The mark moves him officially ahead of some extremely noteworthy players: Felipe Contepomi, Juan Martín Hernández, Martín Bustos Moyano, and Gonzalo Quesada. Despite his success and proven abilities, Urdapilleta remains unavailable for Pumas selection due to their selection policy on overseas players.

 

UNDER

Rugby Europe, World Rugby
Rugby authorities were heavily criticized on Sunday afternoon. This was based on the outcome of the Belgium vs Spain World Cup qualifier in Brussels that saw Belgium upset the heavily-favored Leones but not without controversy. The match saw Spain heavily penalised by the Romanian match officials, and the loss ensures Romania’s qualification for the 2019 World Cup in Japan. The result was further soured by the actions of Spanish players who confronted the officials following the match and forced referee Vlad Iordachescu to be escorted from the field. World Rugby has since confirmed an investigation into the incident and the fallout is expected to be severe. It is a dark day indeed for the sport which has received a black eye from both the unsavory post-game images and the extremely poor decision by Rugby Europe to appoint Romanian officials to the match.

Jaguares
A dreadful performance from Los Jaguares saw the Argentine side falling 18-7 at home against the Reds on Saturday. The home side lost possession on 26 occasions and was sloppy at tackles and in the line-outs. The performance was a massive drop-off from that of the previous weekend against the Waratahs. The team failed to deliver and had neither the attack nor the defense required. The same players are to face Wales and Scotland in June, doing so as Los Pumas.

Americas Falcons
In quick time three Americas players have announced their departures from the Newcastle Falcons. Juan Pablo Socino is leaving at the end of the season to join Edinburgh. Since the announcement was made two others have departed and have already played their final match for the Falcons. DTH van der Merwe is already back at Glasgow while Belisario Agulla is on his way back to Buenos Aires.

Anglo-Welsh Cup Final
The 2018 Anglo-Welsh Cup Final was to take place this past weekend. Due to snow in Gloucester the match was called off, and is now due to be rescheduled. It meant that Santiago Cordero missed out on playing in a club final. The Argentine speedster had been named at fullback for the match. He had a highly impressive performance in the Semi Final win one week earlier.