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

Canada Men’s Sevens
Canada’s Men’s Sevens team will play at the Olympic Games for the first time. They secured their spot yesterday after they went undefeated in the 2019 RAN Sevens. A 40-5 win over Jamaica in the final saw Canada joining Argentina and the USA to give the Americas three competitors in the men’s section of Tokyo 2020. After missing out on 2016, it’s a major relief for players, management, and fans alike.

Jamaica, Mexico Sevens
Canada took the biggest prize but both Jamaica and Mexico fared well in George Town. The Jamaicans finished runners-up in both the men’s and women’s class and showed great potential. An investment in their sevens program from World Rugby could reap great benefits. Mexico continue to make steady progress and claimed the women’s title, while finishing third in the men’s division. They remain another Americas nation who could rise further in both sevens and the XV-a-side game.

Canada Women
It was a very good week for Canadian rugby. A 36-19 win over France was one of two matches at the Women’s Rugby Super Series. They followed it up by nearly toppling World Cup finalists England, conceding a late score to fall 19-17. Sophie de Goede is looking every bit a star in the making, while Paige Farries impressed with two wall-taken tries against England.

Jaguares XV
The birth of the Jaguares XV saw a 50-43 victory over the Griffons in South Africa. The win was important for not only the team but for the progress of players as there were World Cup hopefuls involved including four players named by Mario Ledesma on the preliminary RWC roster. They were Gonzalo Bertranou, Rodrigo Bruni, Javier Díaz, and Bautista Ezcurra.

Santiago Cordero
From seemingly out of nowhere Mario Ledesma added Cordero to his roster for the Rugby Championship. The Pumas boss made the decision to call in the Premiership star based on Jaguares players being either injured or potentially needing a match off for the opening round of play against New Zealand in Buenos Aires. Ledesma noted that Cordero was the best winger in England during the past season, a point leaving many wondering why he wasn’t included in the first place.

Pablo Matera
It is not often that a Man of the Match award goes to a player on a losing side, let alone in a championship final. Matera was simply outstanding against the Crusaders and could not be denied. His ball carrying, offloading, and defensive work rate were all extraordinary. Matera was playing his final match for Los Jaguares before continuing his career with Stade Français in the Top 14. On current form, the French club have well have acquired the best flanker in the world.

NOLA Gold
The Gold had a disappointing end to the season, narrowly missing out on the Semi Finals after leading for much of the Major League Rugby season. On the bright side, they are already busy securing top talent after locking up star import Tristan Blewett for a further three years beyond his current deal. It’s a major sign of intent and brilliant news for fans who can look forward to watching one of the most exciting players in the league suit up in a gold shirt for the foreseeable future.

UNDER

USA Women
Two games in and the Women’s Eagles have been unable to win matches at the Super Series. A 33-0 loss against New Zealand this past week followed an earlier 38-5 loss against England. It’s a young side but they will need to learn quickly ahead of their remaining matches against Canada on Wednesday and France on Sunday.

Jaguares
Finishing second in Super Rugby was a major accomplishment for Los Jaguares but they went to Christchurch seeking the title. It was not to be as they fell to a loss in a match that featured just one try. Los Jaguares were unable to score one though Matías Moroni went close on three occasions. The Crusaders otherwise squeezed the life out of them and too many mistakes left them to wonder what might have been.

Rodrigo Capó Ortega
Uruguay’s most famous player will not be involved in RWC 2019. Rodrigo Capó Ortega has failed to recover from injury to be fit for the pre-World Cup training regime. Both the player himself and the Head Coach have made it known that they were wanting him to play in Japan 2019. In missing out it is highly likely that his test career is now after with his 39th birthday fast approaching.

Bautista Delguy
The road to recovery of Delguy is proving to be more complicated than expected. The starting Jaguares winger was injured playing Super Rugby in March and is set to be excluded from the roster for the Rugby Championship. It has been revealed that he needs a further 3-4 weeks recovery before playing again. This translates into a race against time to be picked for RWC 2019.

RWC 2019 Jerseys
The official match jerseys for RWC 2019 are being released presently. To date Australia, England, Fiji, France, Japan, New Zealand, Samoa, South Africa, and Wales have all released their kits for the tournament. Some are proving popular though many are not. Japan’s new take on their traditional white and red hooped shirt has not been received well. None of the four Americas teams have unveiled their designs as of yet.