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

Jamaica
A dominant second half performance saw Jamaica winning away today in Barbados. The Crocs went from leading 15-14 at half time to complete a 50-14 victory. In the second half Jamaica not only dominated but they also punished the Bajan’s errors. A dominant performance gave them a memorable victory and puts them in a strong position to win promotion to the 2019 RAN Championship. The return fixture will take place on May 12. Barbados will travel to Jamaica for the match. It is to be one of three RAN fixtures that date. The others will be Bermuda vs the USA South Panthers and Guadeloupe at home against Curaçao.

Jaguares
Los Jaguares made history at Auckland’s Eden Park on Saturday. The Argentine Super Rugby side claimed a 20-13 win over the Blues, marking the first time that Los Jaguares have defeated a New Zealand side since they joined Super Rugby in 2016. Tries came from Agustín Creevy, Emiliano Boffelli and Tomás Lezana. But this was very much a team effort with no player more important than the next. The match was the third of a four match tour of Oceania. Remarkably Los Jaguares have a 3-0 record on tour. They are now prearrange to take-on the Chiefs in Rotorua, doing so in a position that would currently see them qualifying for the play-off’s.

Houston SaberCats
The first edition of Major League Rugby‘s ‘Battle of Texas’ went to Houston. Like a good old-fashioned Western, the SaberCats outscored Austin Elite by 50-38 in a match that saw an incredible nine tries scored in a wild second half. The result means that the Cats now have their first official MLR win under their belts and will head to the West Coast next weekend for a date with the San Diego Legion. For Austin it’s a second frustrating loss but they’ll have to regroup quickly as the New Orleans Gold arrive in Round Rock on Thursday evening.

Glendale Raptors
In a fierce contest between the league’s top two sides, the Glendale Raptors just held on long enough to take a 19-15 decision over the Seattle Seawolves on a rainy evening at Starfire Stadium. Despite the conditions both teams were committed and gave the sold-out crowd plenty to cheer. The two sides will lock horns again in June at Infinity Park, though their rosters may be significantly altered by June test call-ups. In the meantime the Raptors head to Salt Lake to face the Utah Warriors next weekend, while Seattle have a have a bye before traveling to New Orleans for their their first ever road game on May 12.

San Diego Legion
It wasn’t the prettiest at times but San Diego got their first official Major League Rugby win as they defeated the Utah Warriors by 31-24 at Torero Stadium on Sunday. The much-maligned San Diego forwards were fired up from the kickoff and one could be forgiven for thinking this was a completely different team to the one that was given a hiding in Seattle. Utah’s maiden MLR outing didn’t have a romantic ending but they did not want for opportunities and at least came away with a bonus point. San Diego remain at home next to play the Houston SaberCats on Friday. Utah host the Glendale Raptors arrive at Zions Bank Stadium on Saturday.

DTH van der Merwe
The Canadian winger celebrated his 100th appearance for Glasgow Warriors with two tries on Saturday. While his side fell to a 24-19 defeat, van der Merwe had a memorable game and is in top form ahead of the upcoming June Internationals. His scores accounted for two of three scored by Glasgow in the match. Edinburgh also scored three but had greater success at kicking for goal to claim the 1872 Cup. His tries showed great speed and strength, underlining why he is a leading finisher.

Pumas in Europe
In the Top 14 there were tries this weekend to two players set for Pumas returns. Juan Imhoff bagged a double on Sunday, scoring two intercept tries in Racing 92’s away win over Bordeaux. On Saturday Facundo Isa put in a powerhouse performance, always taking defenders with him during his ball-carrying. He scored a try to showcase his strength. The Top 14 Finale will take place in Paris on June 02. Argentine players in Europe may miss out depending on their clubs. In England Marcelo Bosch scored in Saracens’ dominant away win over London Irish on Sunday.

 

UNDER

Americas Men’s Sevens Teams
Day one of the Singapore Sevens was miserable for Argentina, Canada, and the USA. Day Two was kinder to the North American teams but not so to Los Pumas. Both Canada and the USA progressed to the Trophy Final on Day Two. Canada opened Canada got their day off to a fine start as they eased past France and then beat Wales side in the Trophy Semi Final. The USA crushed both Argentina and Scotland to progress to face Canada in the Trophy Final. The Eagles would run-out 26-12 winners over Canada. Argentina’s miserable tournament included just the one win over Russia and it required a late score. Los Pumas finished 14th, losing to Japan in their final match.

John Moonlight
Retirement has arrived for John Moonlight, one of Canada’s finest. It comes with immediate effect, seeing the sevens captain hanging up his boots nearly a decade after stepping foot on the Sevens circuit. Like other Canadian players before him he is walking away from rugby to take up a career in firefighting. Moonlight debuted on the grandest stage of them all at the 2009 Hong Kong Sevens. He played in a record 65 HSBC Sevens Series events, his last coming in Hong Kong three weeks ago. He also appeared in three Commonwealth Games tournaments, won two Gold Medals at the Pan-Am Games, and Rugby World Cups at both Sevens and XV. In the 2013-14 season he made the HSBC Dream Team.  For Canada’s senior men’s XV’s side he won 23 caps.

Pablo Matera
The inspirational Jaguares captain is out of rugby for two to three months. Matera was injured playing against the Brumbies and is now undergoing a recovery regime in Buenos Aires. The 46-cap Puma will miss Argentina’s home tests in June against Wales and Scotland. He is also a serious doubt to return again for Los Jaguares this season. He is, however, expected to be fit in time for the Rugby Championship. In place of Matera the Jaguares captaincy has gone to fullback Joaquín Tuculet. He led the team to their first-ever win over a New Zealand team on Saturday.

Facundo Isa
A sprained knee on Sunday likely means the eagerly-awaited return of Facundo Isa to Los Pumas will be placed on hold. The Santiago del Estero back row was outstanding against Castres but is now needing time off rugby to recover. The exact time required is not yet known but it doesn’t look good for the June tests. Argentina’s upcoming matches against Scotland and Wales loom as being without both Matera and Isa. Without either player available Daniel Hourcade will be likely to utilize Marcos Kremer, Tomás Lezana, and Javier Ortega Desio as his starting trio.

Further Delays from World Rugby
Who is Europe 1? Romania currently occupy that space but the controversy surrounding Rugby Europe is still to be sorted. Over the weekend it was confirmed that the decision will now be pushed to May 10, almost two months after the match in Brussels that started it all. Ironically World Rugby has long maintained that the reason for having the tournament draw and match schedule done do far in advance of the tournament is to facilitate the promotion of the tournament. The sooner people know who is playing where and when, the easier it is to sell tickets. Portugal, Samoa, and Canada have done nothing wrong and are all awaiting the result to prepare for their next qualifying matches.

D1A Rugby
Over the weekend the men’s D1A Semi Finals were held, and the usual suspects – UCal and Life – were victorious. Rather than celebrate, however, we are instead forced to shake our heads at the D1A board’s decision to shake up original Semi Final match-ups that would have seen Penn State playing Lindenwood for one of the Final spots. Much has been said about the reasons behind it but the bottom line is that messing with the brackets mid-tournament is absolutely unheard of and only serves to throw the competition into disrepute. If you aren’t prepared to accept the unexpected along the way, then why bother with brackets at all?