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

Argentina XV
The top seeds for the Sudamérica 6 Naciones A started their campaign well in Medellín. Their 79-3 victory over Colombia saw free-flowing rugby from the Argentina XV with Lucas Mensa, Matías Osadczuk, and Agustín Segura dancing through the defense throughout. A home game against Chile this coming weekend will provide the team with an excellent chance of going 2-0 up in the competition.

Brazil
Brazil went to Asunción and conquered the Paraguayan capital, completing their biggest ever win over Paraguay. The 66-10 result opened Brazil’s Sudamérica 6 Naciones A title defense in ideal fashion and sees Os Tupis now back in São Paulo targeting a historic win over the Uruguay XV.

Chile vs Uruguay XV
The best match of the week was in Santiago del Chile. Los Cóndores played host to the Uruguay XV in what was a back-and-forth contest in round one of the Sudamérica 6 Naciones A. Ten tries were scored, five from each team. The difference maker was the boot of Uruguay XV winger Federico Favaro, a major asset for Uruguay with an eye to Japan 2019.

Toronto Arrows
The Toronto Arrows won not once but twice this past week. They started by beating the Austin Elite on Thursday and then backed it up against the Utah Warriors on Sunday. The results place the Arrows well and truly in the frame for the play-off’s. In their first season of Major League Rugby the Canadian franchise is proving to be a tremendous success.

San Diego Legion
The San Diego Legion held off a desperate NOLA Gold in the final minutes to secure an important 26-19 victory at Gold Stadium on Saturday. A 70th-minute try from Tai Enosa proved the winner as the Legion took the first meeting between the top two sides to slip into first overall. The Legion now travel to Utah to face the Warriors as they march on towards the play-off’s.

Santiago Videla
There were some impressive performances in the Sudamérica 6 Naciones A this past weekend. Daniel Lima scored a hat-trick for Brazil, and Lucas Mensa was a menace for the Argentina XV, but the performance of the week arguably came from a losing effort. Santiago Videla bagged a double for Chile and also landed three conversions, and a penalty.

Titi Lamositele
USA tight head Titi Lamositele made history on Saturday by winning the European Champions Cup. He started for Saracens who defeated Leinster in what was an English Premiership vs Irish province European club final. Lamositele has developed notably over the course of the RWC 2015-2019 cycle and is a major asset for the Eagles to take to Japan.

Jeff Hassler
There were tremors in Canada last week as people jumped with excitement following the announcement that Jeff Hassler will return to rugby, joining the Seattle Seawolves. There are limited, but nonetheless still, remaining matches in the Major League season for Hassler to suit up for the Seawolves. It is a return akin to that in which Argentina received last year in the form of Juan Figallo.

UNDER

Colombia
Los Tucanes fell to a comprehensive home defeat against the Argentina XV on Saturday. The match officially opened international competition at the senior men’s level between representative teams from the two South American countries. The 79-3 defeat did not come as a surprise, such is the gulf between the top of South America and the middle. Yet it could have been far worse considering how Paraguay, and Venezuela performed in comparable matches.

Paraguay
When Brazil was named for the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship in 2016 and Paraguay was left out there were legitimate complaints. Today there are none with the situation very much showing that Brazil’s heavy investment into the top players has worked. For Paraguay this has seen them falling behind and without a comparative investment the gap will not close.

Austin Elite
On Thursday the Austin Elite were beaten 24-13 by the Toronto Arrows in Canada. While the loss was not by a massive scoreline, the Texan side was lackluster for much of the match, notably so in the opening half. The club also had concerns including Uruguayan Juan Echeverría being yellow carded and Chilean Marcelo Torrealba being forced off injured.

Rugby United New York
In a remarkable match Rugby United New York were beaten 38-31 at home by the Seattle Seawolves on Saturday. A strong opening half performance saw the visitors leading 31-7 at half-time. While the second half come back was brave and impressive they were in big trouble in the opening half with the Seattle win a virtual formality.

Jaguares
Los Jaguares did not play well in the first half and it was costly. Their defeat against the Highlanders could have potentially have been avoided had they had a better opening 40 minutes. They were other factors in the defeat, notably the refereeing. The team selected saw most regulars benched or rested making the result not one to dwell over too much.

Javier Ortega Desio
The RWC place of Javier Ortega must now be considered in jeopardy. The starting N8 from 2019 is having a horrible season for Los Jaguares. His tackle success rate is low and his carrying and line-out have both fallen notably. Against the Highlanders he failed to control a loose ball from which the Highlanders scored

World Rugby and RWC 2019 Referee List
World Rugby’s announcement of the referee list for RWC 2019 was as expected. It has 12 men of whom all are from just six unions. France has four while Australia, England, and New Zealand all have two. The Americas has none with Argentine Federico Anselmi named as an assistant. The last RWC match refereed by someone from the Americas was in RWC 2003. World Rugby must step up its act for RWC 2023.

Ben O’Keeffe
One of the twelve referees appointed was New Zealander Ben O’Keeffe who took charge of the Highlanders vs Jaguares on Saturday. His second half performance was embarrassing, appalling and unacceptable as he failed to officiated fairly for both teams. His failures included missed high tackles, missed offside, missed hands in the ruck, and penalties for being the first player to the ball and fetching legally. The camera showed Gonzalo Quesada laughing at full-time as O’Keeffe allowed the Highlanders to blatantly play the ball on the ground to steal an illegal turn-over.