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

Andrés Zafra
History was made in France on Saturday with Zafra becoming the first ever Colombian to score a try in France. The 22-year-old second row not only crossed but scored the match winner, taking Agen to a shock 16-13 away victory over Castres. He would enter the match as a replacement and make the crucial play. Spotting former French test scrum half Rory Kockott going for a box kick, Zafra executed a charge-down and chased to go over for the try.

Canada Women’s Sevens
Canada claimed a silver finish at the Dubai Sevens on Friday, advancing their quest for automatic qualification for the 2020 Olympics. It was a fine tournament for the Canadians but New Zealand remain a step ahead. The USA Women’s Eagles would end their Dubai in 4th place, also a strong finish. Canada’s Britt Benn and Bianca Farella would make the Dream Team along with USA co-captain Lauren Doyle. The Women’s Series now takes a two month break with the women returning to action in Sydney.

USA Men’s Eagles Sevens
The USA Men’s Eagles earned their best-ever finish at the Dubai Sevens, taking Silver after reaching the Cup Final on Saturday.  A dramatic finish in the Semi Final against Australia saw Danny Barrett barge over in the corner with time expired to send the Eagles into the final. Despite their success and the outstanding showing of Perry Baker, the Eagles were bizarrely snubbed for the official Dream Team with Argentina’s Marcos Moroni the only Americas player selected. The Men’s Series continues next weekend in Cape Town, South Africa.

Canada Women’s XVs
It was far from easy but Canada ended their four-match European tour with a win over Scotland, the final score 28-25 to the visitors after an absorbing game at Scotstoun Stadium. Canada were heavy favorites going into the Tuesday night fixture but in the end were well and truly tested, doing just enough to hold off a Scottish team determined to cause a famous upset. With several young players earning their first caps over the tour and three wins from four, it’s a good return in the early stages of the World Cup cycle.

Rodrigo Silva
Uruguay fullback Rodrigo Silva has joined the Austin Elite for the 2019 Major League Rugby season. A veteran with more than 50 international appearances for Los Teros, Silva is the third South American to be snapped up by Austin following countrymen Andrés Vilaseca and Juan Echeverría. The 26-year-old was one of nine Teros who took part in the World Rugby combine at Glendale. Five South American players have since been signed with eight Uruguayans all told attached to MLR teams for 2019.

Glendale Raptors
The Raptors completed one of the signings of the year in obtaining ‘The Terminator’ – Hanco Germishuys. He returns to Glendale after a two-year spell in Texas first with the Huns and then Austin Elite this past season. Glendale also completed a deal to bring Malon Al-Jiboori to Infinity Park, in doing so opening the opportunity to field an all-Eagles loose forward trio with Germishuys and John Quill. It’s been relatively quiet in the Raptors camp over the past few weeks but fans can rest easy that the MLR finalists will be a top contender once again.

Northeast Professional Rugby
It was a memorable day for the sport in Boston on the weekend as the New England Free Jacks hosted Rugby United New York in the first of what should become a classic rivalry in the coming years. While only an exhibition match played at a field with standing room only, there was a good turnout to watch New York edge New England in an entertaining back-and-forth battle. New York are now gearing up for their first season in MLR while New England have another year to fine tune and build on a bright beginning.

Adam Zaruba
The giant winger returned to the international stage this past weekend as part of the Canada Men’s Sevens team in Dubai. Zaruba missed the entirety of the 2017-18 season after pursuing an NFL contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. He has now opted to help Canada vie for a spot in the 2020 Olympics. While the team ultimately finished 11th in trying conditions, there is reason for optimism in the Olympic qualifying year with one of their key weapons back in action and the standoff with Rugby Canada now at least functionally behind them.

 

UNDER

Argentina
Los Pumas ended their year in London on Saturday, falling 38-35 to the Barbarians. The defeat came after Argentina had been leading 28-7 and sees Mario Ledesma’s team officially winless in their end of year tour. It was a similar ending to the Rugby Championship in which Australia came back from being 31-7 down to win the match in Salta. A clear problem exists in closing out games and captain Pablo Matera is not denying it in the slightest.

Brazil
Brazil’s two match tour of Argentina finished with two losses. Both were tight matches with Tucumán and Salta ultimately beating Os Tupis. In game two it was a one point defeat. The losses are concerning for Brazil who have the players nowadays to win such fixtures as these. All told 2018 will go down as a memorable year for Brazilian rugby and the players will now rest up before beginning their preparations for the 2019 Americas Rugby Championship.

Brazil u18’s
Unfortunately Brazil features twice in Under this week. The u18’s were winless in the Sudamérica Rugby u18’s tournament in Asunción. They lose 34-7 against Uruguay and 25-19 against Paraguay on Friday and on Sunday fell 42–3 against Argentina and 33-0 against Chile. All other countries achieved wins though the real talking point is the gulf in level between Brazil’s juniors and seniors.

Agustín Creevy
On the bench for the first time in a very long time was former Pumas captain Creevy. He entered the match against the Barbarians in the second half and quickly got distracted. In an incident in which a young teammate was returning following a blown whistle Creevy took offense to a slight push. He ran in from 30 yards away to shove the opposition, and was clearly heard telling the opposition players to shut up. A rest is certainly needed to get ready for 2019.

San Diego Legion
What is going on in San Diego? The team has been quiet as a mouse and with the start of the 2019 MLR season now just eight weeks away fans are starting to get a little jittery. This past week they saw Al-Jiboori jump to Glendale, a player they had claims to last season, Eagles prop Tony Purpura confirm his return to Boston, and star midfielder Anthony Salaber opting out of professional rugby altogether for 2019. Off-season additions Psalm Wooching and Jasa Veremalua were confirmed through alternative sources. The Legionnaires deserve better than radio silence.