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

Turks & Caicos
This weekend saw some highly competitive matches around the world. In England it was Newcastle vs Leicester, in France Clermont vs Toulouse, while in the Caribbean it was the Turks & Caicos vs Dominican Republic. The test match was won 24-20 by the hosts who claimed victory with a try in the final minute.

USA Eagles Sevens
The USA claimed 4th place at the Singapore Sevens to edge closer to officially qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Due to a strong showing by England in Singapore the top British side are mathematically in touch though realistically even catching 4th-place South Africa will be a challenge.

Mike Fuailefau and Justin Douglas
A career milestone was achieved by the Canadian duo in Singapore. Fuailefau and Douglas each celebrated their 50th HSBC Sevens Series event, following in the footsteps of current teammates Nate Hirayama and Harry Jones among others. They will soon be setting their sights on July’s Olympic qualifier event with a trip to Tokyo now likely thanks to the success of their friends in the south.

Pumitas
Argentina’s u20 tour to South Africa kicked off with a bang. Los Pumitas were dominant and deadly in their opening match against the Namibia XV and backed it up by mounting a comeback win against Georgia in game two. The tour will conclude on Wednesday with Los Pumitas up against the Baby Boks.

Jaguares
In their best performance under Gonzalo Quesada, Los Jaguares were 51-17 winners over the Sharks in Durban on Saturday. The result sees the Argentine side moving into 6th place overall in the Super Rugby standings and 2nd in the African conference. Pablo Matera and Matías Orlando had memorable performances claiming two and three tries respectively.

Tomás Cubelli and Domingo Miotti
Also standing out for Los Jaguares were starting halfbacks Tomás Cubelli and Domingo Miotti. The new-look combination was outstanding as their creativity opened space across the pitch. Cubelli’s performance was his best since returning to Argentina from the Brumbies while Miotti was, remarkably, playing just his second match and starting for the first time.

Major League Rugby
Just ahead of the weekend the league confirmed their 2020 plans. As expected, the expanded 12 team competition will be split into two conferences, with a new playoff format that adds an extra round. The season will also begin three weeks later to help with the problematic weather and arrival of two more teams in the Northeast.

Seattle Seawolves
The turf at the new AVEVA Stadium didn’t provide much in the way of stable footing, but that didn’t stop the visiting Seawolves from running amok in the second half of their game against the SaberCats. It was one-way traffic with five players touching down in the final 25 minutes to push Seattle up to 2nd place on the table, behind only the NOLA Gold.

AVEVA Stadium
We’ll give the surface problem a free pass this time as the facility is clearly still a work in progress. Its opening, soft as it was, gets a big thumbs up as the SaberCats have a new permanent home that when completed will be on the shortlist of best venues in Major League Rugby.

Thretton Palamo
After 18 longs months on the sidelines Palamo finally shook off a persistent foot injury to play for the SaberCats on Saturday. The youngest player in World Cup history has seen numerous setbacks over his career but his try-scoring replacement appearance gave fans something to smile about and will certainly have caught the eye of Eagles selectors.

San Diego Legion
Prior to the match it was New York’s forwards who were seen as potentially the difference. While RUNY’s lineout drive was effective at times, the same cannot be said about the scrum. San Diego threw down the gauntlet with a dominant performance up front that set the platform for their electric backline.

New England Free Jacks
Boston’s soon-to-be MLR expansion side were decidedly second-best against Leinster ‘A’ on Sunday, but the Cara Cup results matter little in the grand scheme of things. Instead the talk of the series has been the excellent support from New England rugby fans with the match at Mignone Field completely sold out. The Free Jacks have a bright future based on recent evidence.

Marcelo Bosch
The Saracens and Pumas legend confirmed his retirement from professional rugby at the end of the season with a full-time move into coaching and TV commentary in England awaiting him. Bosch isn’t riding into the sunset quietly, however, as the 35-year-old got his name on the score sheet in the surprise loss to Bristol on Saturday.

Shane O’Leary
It was another match-winning performance from O’Leary on Saturday as the flyhalf kicked a last-gasp drop goal to give Nottingham the road win at Coventry. The 26-year-old is enjoying his most accomplished season to date and it’s hard to see what more he could do to earn the favor of Canada coach Kingsley Jones, who surprised many by leaving O’Leary out of the side in the Repechage series this past November.

Will Percillier and Matt Tierney
Two of Canada’s best young players have secured new professional contracts that will see them play in France for at least the next three years. Percillier arrived in Paris in January and is highly rated by Stade Français, who expect the 20-year-old to be competing for a spot in the senior side sooner than later. Tierney is now 22 and already has four seasons split between Pau’s senior academy side and the senior program. Both are expected to be in Canada’s extended squad named for the Pacific Nations Cup.

 

UNDER

Namibia
Playing two matches this past week was the Namibian XV. It wasn’t a full test side, yet many of those who took to the field are expected to feature for Namibia at RWC 2019. It’s highly alarming that the u20 sides of both Argentina and South Africa earned comprehensive wins. There are still many professionals to join up with the squad but their domestic disarray is good news for World Cup pool opponents Canada.

Canada Sevens
Singapore brought to a close the forgettable Asian leg of the HSBC Sevens Series for Canada. After a terrible outing in Hong Kong, this past weekend didn’t go much better and the team will now head home to rest and regroup ahead of the European leg that begins in London at the end of May. The ironic news is that a spot in the Olympics has never looked more secure as the USA’s automatic qualification spot will make Canada massive favorites to win the North American ticket in July.

Houston SaberCats
The stadium’s opening perhaps overshadowed the result, but it did not go unnoticed. Houston were thrashed in the second half and now own the worst points differential in MLR, the only side to have conceded more than 300 points thus far. Justin Fitzpatrick has come under fire from concerned fans with the team winning just three times in 15 attempts under his leadership, the same record as Austin head coach Alain Hyardet. On-field improvements are fast required or there may be more than just a new stadium next season.

NOLA Gold vs Utah Warriors
This one will not go down as one of the all-time great matches in MLR history. NOLA got the win and remain the league’s top team but they performed well below their potential with their lineout accuracy of particular concern. Utah get credit for staying in the game but conceded three soft tries and failed to come away with even a losing bonus point.

Rugby United New York
The first defeat at home will sting, especially as RUNY were leading by seven points at the break. This week’s review will focus on a woeful second half that failed to produce a single point while conceding three tries to the visitors. Had Joe Pietersen’s radar not been affected by a wonky planting foot, the deficit would have been greater.

Toronto Arrows vs Austin Elite
There was no match this weekend between the Arrows and Elite. Sunday’s scheduled contest in Canada was postponed after flight cancellations saw the Texans unable to travel north. The match now needs to be rescheduled, with a mid-week fixture in May now being targeted.

Santiago Cordero
The Argentine speedster is the Americas Player of the 2019 in Europe thus far. This may now change with him having been forced off injured in the 18th minute against the Wasps on Sunday. With Los Jaguares presently without Bautista Delguy and Ramiro Moyano, Cordero’s form this season has surely earned him a recall to Los Pumas for the Rugby Championship pending his own return to fitness.