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

Uruguay
A tremendous showing from Uruguay saw the South Americans downing the Fiji Warriors 29-10 on Saturday. Uruguay sealed the win with a dominant second half with the boot of Felipe Berchesi proving decisive. Los Teros also defended brilliantly, keeping the Fiji Warriors scoreless in the second half. The Fiji Warriors is the national ‘A’ side of Fiji. This need not take anything away from Uruguay who in prior occasions has not been able to get the better of the same side in such a manner.

Brazil Women’s Sevens
In Bolivia Brazil’s Women’s Sevens team won Gold. Las Yaras defeated all opponents in Cochabamba to secure themselves the Gold Medals. Their highly impressive tournament saw only tries being conceded against Paraguay and Argentina. Even so Brazil won these two fixtures by scorelines of 42-12 and 34-05. Claiming Silver and Bronze respectively in Bolivia were Argentina and Paraguay.

Chile Men’s Sevens
In the Men’s competition there was a notable champion – Chile. Against the odds Los Cóndores won Gold by virtue of surprises on the third and final day. Chile’s two matches that day were both wins – 31-0 over Colombia and 52-0 over Brazil. The scoreline against Brazil left Os Tupis highly embarrassed. Brazil had been targeting a medal with Silver more than being a prospect. Instead Silver went to Uruguay and Bronze to Argentina. Los Pumas had a dismal match against Uruguay, losing 36-20 on the final day.

Rodrigo Capó Ortega
At the age of 37 Rodrigo Capó Ortega won his second Top 14 title. The veteran from Montevideo did so as captain of Castres, taking the small-town team from France’s South West to victory over the highly favored Montpellier. This was nothing less than extraordinary in itself and means Capó Ortega has cemented his name in history as the first ever Uruguayan to captain a winning side in an elite final. The first foreigner to captain a team to the Top 14 title was Agustín Pichot with Stade Français in 2007.

Benjamín Urdapilleta
Man of the match at the Stade de France was Benjamín Urdapilleta. The 10-time capped Puma was also man of the match in the Semi Final victory over Racing 92. On both occasions he was deadly from the kicking-tee, enabling his team to build a lead and stay clear. Both victories were as underdogs. In the final Urdapilleta landed 19 points for Castres. The title was the first for Urdapilleta who, at 32, is in prime shape and well suited for a Pumas recall. His style of play makes him a dream player for Argentina to field against Tonga and the USA in Los Pumas’ pool matches at RWC 2019.

Theo Sauder
Canada’s roster for the June Internationals featured one uncapped player. That player is Theo Sauder. The UBC Thunderbirds utility back will have his first taste of training with Canada ahead of this months home matches against Scotland, Russia and the USA. Capable of playing flyhalf, wing, or fullback, the 21-year-old is a graduate of the national u20 program. Sauder led UBC to a Rounsefell Cup Final appearance earlier in the month.

Seattle Seawolves
It wasn’t a great game to watch but the ‘Seawall’ stood strong again in Houston, and the Seawolves came away with a 20-7 road win to retain the top spot on the table. More importantly it means they have officially become the first team in Major League Rugby to qualify for the Semi Finals. It’s an impressive feat given their off-field difficulties in the preseason, and a testament both to the well-rounded squad put together by Director Curry Hitchborn and the hard work of player-coach Phil Mack and his teammates.

Vili Toluta’u
Undoubtedly the breakthrough player of the Major League Rugby season, Toluta’u was tabbed to make the switch to hooker before the season but has instead played flanker in every match and has been nothing short of outstanding. His presence at the breakdown in defense and powerful ball carrying have vaulted him into Eagles contention, and he was duly rewarded with his first senior call-up on Sunday. It’s also further validation of the impact of MLR, with Toluta’u the first uncapped player to be selected primarily on his domestic form.

Argentina u20’s
After two matches of the World Rugby u20 Championship Argentina is well placed. Los Pumitas started with a loss against England but rebounded against Scotland, securing a bonus point victory. They are now preparing to face Italy in their final pool match. Another win and Argentina’s u20 side could well be in the Semi Finals. Furthermore, the performances thus far have been notably better to those from 2017.

UNDER

Argentina XV
The Argentina XV may have won 19-8 against Emerging Italy but this cannot gloss over just how underwhelming the team performed. Argentina’s ‘A’ side had a dour performance in what was a dreadful match. Tries were missed due to knock-on’s, unforced errors occurred with regularity and the team almost handed the Italians the win with a careless interrupt giving them their try. There were few players in the match who did their chances of a call-up to Los Pumas any favors. They were appalling as a team and as individuals.

Houston SaberCats
The Houston Sabercats fell to a 20-7 home defeat on Saturday. For the Texan side it takes their season record to just one win and five losses. The club is rooted to the bottom spot of the Major League table. This past weekend’s defeat was against the Seattle Seawolves, who held a commanding 20-0 lead after 52 minutes. Despite their poor results they remain in mathematical contention for a Semi Final spot but will require wins in each of their remaining fixtures to pull off a miracle recovery.

Brock Staller
Theo Sauder being the debutante for Canada while the notable absentee is Staller. He featured in both of Canada’s World Cup qualifiers earlier this year against Uruguay and was also involved in the Americas Rugby Championship. His non-involvement is a reflection of Canada’s options at the present point in time. New captain DTH van der Merwe is set to start on one wing with Jeff Hassler occupying the other, while the centralized Patrick Parfrey is set to play fullback.

Lomas, Regatas
On Saturday Lomas fell to a 27-0 defeat against CUBA. After four rounds of the URBA Top 12 it means the club is bottom of the table and winless. Also struggling is Regatas Bella Vista. The club is also winless in this season’s URBA Top 12. On Saturday the club fell to a 17-15 home defeat against San Martín. The two clubs have 3 competition points between them. At the other end of the table Hindú, SIC, and Belgrano all have 14 points in a three-way tie for top spot.

Nicolás Sánchez
Under an injury cloud is Sánchez. The only specialist fly half currently contracted to Los Jaguares has been a constant under Mario Ledesma this year. He is expected to start against Wales and Scotland this month in Argentina’s three June Internationals. Yet an injury scare this past week saw him missing training. His involvement in the opening match in San Juan remains unconfirmed. Training in his place last week was Emiliano Boffelli, a player to have been wing and fullback under Ledesma and with no prior starts for either Los Pumas or Los Jaguares as a No10.

Santiago Montagner
The loss of Joaquín Tuculet for the year has seen Boffelli moved to fullback by Ledesma. There are other options within the roster. Another setback occurred this past week with Santiago Montagner also ruled out until 2019. While not having received game time with Los Jaguares he is very much a fringe option. Ledesma has used flanker Javier Ortega Desio in Montagner’s position of no 8 with veterans Benjamín Macome, Juan Manuel Leguizamón, and Leonardo Senatore all now down the list. Montagner was a highly plausible name to debut for Argentina in 2018.