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

San Diego Legion
The Major League Rugby Championship Final is returning to San Diego. A superb sideline conversion from Joe Pietersen with just seconds remaining on the clock gave the Legion a 24-22 win over Rugby United New York in a thrilling Semi Final at a packed Torero Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Full credit to New York, who came within minutes of upsetting the top seeds and making the final in their inaugural campaign.

Seattle Seawolves
Meeting San Diego in the final will be the Seawolves. The defending champions were 30-17 winners over the Toronto Arrows in a equally absorbing if frustrating match for Arrows fans. Seattle are now just one win away from retaining the MLR Shield. As with New York, Toronto can hold their heads high after an excellent debut campaign. Canadian fans will now pin their hopes on Seattle with their large Maple Leaf contingent set to play a major role in the finale.

MLR Celebrity Status
In the lead-up to the Seattle vs Toronto match there were messages of encouragement from prominent celebrities backing both teams. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson tweeted his support for the Seawolves while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did so for the Arrows.

Old Glory DC
The soon-to-be MLR franchise notched their second victory in a row on Sunday, defeating the visiting Ontario Blues by 29-15. It wasn’t an easy win as Ontario led in the 60th minute, but Old Glory held their composure to pull away at the end. The win brings a close to their spring exhibition campaign and DC will now begin recruitment in earnest for the big show in 2020.

Jaguares
A comprehensive performance from Los Jaguares saw them easily beating the Sharks and claiming a home Super Rugby Quarter Final. The back-three stood out in claiming all five tries as Emiliano Boffelli, Sebastián Cancelliere, and Santiago Carreras scoring all of the tries. Gonzalo Quesada’s side now has the luxury of rotating at will against the Sunwolves this coming weekend.

Canada u20
A 67-38 aggregate win over the USA saw Canada qualifying for the 2019 Junior World Trophy. They claimed the final spot in the tournament while will take place in July in Brazil. The Canadians will compete in in Pool B along with Japan, Kenya, and Uruguay.

Argentina u20
Los Pumitas played two games in the U20 Championship. The first was a nervous defeat against Wales while the second saw a comprehensive victory over Fiji. With it Los Pumitas are in second spot of their pool. Their remaining match is against France, the go into the game in second spot in the group.

Argentina u18
The South American U18 tournament saw Argentina making light work of all opponents. No team came close to competing against Argentina with Uruguay losing by the lowest margin in what was a 28-0 defeat. The results underline the continued hierarchy within the region, underlining the gap that others must aim to close.

 

UNDER

Argentina XV
A diabolical opening half performance from the Argentina XV saw them falling to an unforgivable defeat against Russia on Sunday. The Argentina XV were embarrassed by Russia, yet it could have been far worse. The final score of 48-40 is different to what it had been with Russia ahead 45-14 at one point. Do not expect to see opportunities at Jaguares or Pumas for the Argentina XV contingent any time soon.

Brazil
Looking past the scoreline and it is clear that Os Tupis were outmatched by Spain. The scrum was tremendous in the second half though otherwise Brazil barely threatened. Daniel Sancery’s try was a moment of luck rather than reward for good play. Spain also barely fired a shot at all in the second half scoring just 3 points.

Brazil’s 80th Minute Blunder
Ask any rugby coach or captain what to do with time up with an attacking line-out deep inside the opposition territory when behind by one score. The odds-on response by a wide margin would be to set up a driving maul. Brazil did not take the obvious route, instead opting to go off the top and pass to the backs, only to knock on and see the final whistle blown.

CBRu
Brazil’s rugby administration has not been the strongest promoter of home internationals. Low attendances are not rare but there were only 417 people for Brazil vs Spain in Osasco. The disaster was due to a number of factors but the stand-out point is the game was not promoted. In fact the venue was not known until less than two weeks before the game.

Chile
Los Cóndores were beaten at home by Romania. The match marked the beginning of international competition between the sides, a welcomed accomplishment for the sport of rugby. Chile were outmatched overall but were able to frustrate Romania, forcing them to play hard to achieve the result.

Uruguay
A 30-28 defeat against Namibia on Sunday saw Uruguay losing for the first time against the second best test side from Africa. Having fallen behind 17-0 early-on a loss was always likely. However a comeback saw Los Teros leading with time-up only for a penalty to see Namibia claiming victory. The performance was poor from Uruguay, a team that defeated Canada, and the USA earlier in the year.

Joaquín Díaz Bonilla
A weak part of Los Jaguares win was the goal-kicking. Joaquín Díaz Bonilla missed kicks that simply but be taken at this level. He would miss multiple penalties, and conversions. In terms of the big picture this makes his chances of international duty very low. Domingo Miotti has proven to be the leading domestic player while Nicolás Sánchez, and Benjamín Urdapilleta are both to be involved for Los Pumas from France.

Americas Top 14 Players
The Top 14 Final this year will see no Americas players involved. The last player who could have made the final is Francisco Gómez Kodela who started for Lyon against Clermont in Sunday’s second Semi Final. It is a rarity as Top 14 Finals have year-after-year seen notable Americas players involved, particularly from Argentina.