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

Robert Paylor
The sophomore lock for the UCal Golden Bears suffered a catastrophic neck injury while playing in the Collegiate Nationanal Championship in May. It left him paralyzed from the chest down. Amidst off-field controversy surrounding the incident Paylor simply went to work on his recovery. In late December he took his first steps without the aid of a harness and a month later was moving upright with only a walker for assistance. Tomorrow he will be discharged from the Craig Spinal Rehabilitation Hospital in Denver – his home for the last nine months – and will begin an internship with Intel in June before returning to his studies at the University of California this fall.

Ontario Arrows
The Arrows earned their first ever win on Friday evening as they traveled to Utah and conquered the Warriors in front of nearly 5,000 fans at Rio Tinto Stadium. The Warriors are set to participate in the inaugural Major League Rugby season, the USA’s newest professional competition which officially kicks off on April 21. The Arrows are being earmarked to join in 2019 with Vancouver also targeted by MLR head office. Before the season starts Utah will face another Canadian side, the Prairie Wolf Pack from the regional Canadian Rugby Championship. The Arrows will play their first ever home game against Rugby United New York in Toronto this coming Saturday.

Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay u20s
Chile and Uruguay recorded thunderous opening round wins in the South American u20s ‘A’ Championship on Sunday. Chile faced Venezuela in the tournament opener in Asunción and recorded a crushing 119-0 victory. What followed was Uruguay against Colombia. In a similarly one-sided match Uruguay completed a 99-5 win. Game three was competitive with Paraguay giving Brazil some problems in the scrum. In the opening half Brazil appeared to be the better team with a win being a certainty. The script was not followed with Paraguay, instead, pulling-off a miraculous 25-23 win in what was a classic.

Los Pumas Sevens
Both Argentina and the USA were Quarter Finalists in the Hong Kong Sevens. Neither side, however, made it any further. They would go on to battle it out for 5th place with the Pumas claiming a 14-12 victory. Argentina defeated Spain by the identical margin earlier on in the day. In defeating the USA, Argentina partially made up for their losses against the USA in the recent Las Vegas and Vancouver tournaments.

Facundo Bosch
There were a number of special performances in Europe this weekend from Americas’ players. But that of Facundo Bosch deserves special mention. The former Jaguares hooker scored a try and also had a hand in Agen’s first and second tries. In general play Bosch lead the statistics with 67 meters made and in making 14 carries was second overall. He also bet three defenders as a ball-carrier. These accolades saw him winning the Man of the Match Award. The match in question was do-or-die and had him playing flanker. Agen won 36-21.

 

UNDER

Rugby Canada
At a time when they might have been celebrating a win by their u19 Men over Munster, or the incoming u20 Women’s series in Halifax, the Canadian rugby community is instead in an uproar over a sudden increase in participation dues levied by Rugby Canada on Saturday. The funds generated by the increase – an estimated $450,000 – will go directly towards the Senior Men’s XVs Team who are on now preparing for the June tests and ultimately the World Cup Repechage qualifying tournament in November. Failure to qualify for the 2019 World Cup would have dire financial consequences for Rugby Canada but their ‘forced donation’ also comes at a cost – increased alienation from the rugby populace. Expect to see more on this subject in the coming days…

Juan Martín Hernández
The Career of ‘El Mago’ ended last week. The 74-time capped Puma was forced into retirement after suffering a knee injury while on Jaguares duty. His retirement call has been celebrated by all of Argentine rugby. So special of a player was Hernández that he played in three Rugby World Cups and started matches in three different positions. From fullback to flyhalf to inside center he was always world class. He was a Top 14 and European Champions Cup winner. Hernández would play in two World Cup Semi Finals and be the first Argentine flyhalf to defeat South Africa in a Pumas shirt. Sadly for all one of Argentina’s all-time greats has retired from professional rugby.

Jaguares
Los Jaguares had their first match in the post-Hernández era. They did so at home against the Crusaders on Saturday. The visitors are the reigning champions and the most successful team in the history of Super Rugby. They were favorites to win but the manner of their victory gave Mario Ledesma plenty to think about. Overthrown lineouts gifted the Crusaders possession and tries resulted. In the end the Crusaders scored six tries, Los Jaguares managed two. The final score was 40-14.

Rugby Europe
In an unprecedented move World Rugby agreed that the controversial World Cup qualifying match between Belgium and Spain on March 18 in Brussels should be replayed. The governing body issued a statement on Thursday afternoon implying that Spain’s request for a change in match officials prior to the match was warranted. That decision, however, has been put on the shelf pending an independent review of multiple allegations of ineligible player participation. Chief among the concerns is the repeated selection of Sione Faka’osilea by Romania having previously played sevens for Tonga. Players from Belgium, Spain, and Russia have now been cited.