Up and Under

Up and Under is a weekly exclusive on Americas Rugby News. It reviews the best and worst from games involving the Americas teams over the previous week.

 

UP

Jaguares
At half time few Los Jaguares were a battered and outperformed team. Yet, in the second half a four tries to zero raid saw the Argentine Super Rugby team completing a solid win over the Reds in Buenos Aires. After three weeks the team has a 2-1 record, but a tough three matches awaits Los Jaguares who now tour South Africa.

Old Glory DC
A sellout crowd took in Old Glory’s home opener and the Major League Rugby debut of Tendai Mtawarira. They were treated to a thrilling contest that saw DC upsetting the defending champion Seattle Seawolves. Jason Robertson’s 18-point performance led the way in a match that was undecided until the final whistle.

Rugby ATL
Make it two wins from two for ATL as they came away from their southern derby in the bayou with a win over the NOLA Gold on Sunday. It was a fierce battle with the visitors just pulling away in the final quarter. The next challenge will come on their home turf as they host Rugby United New York on Sunday.

San Diego Legion
The Legion came away comfortable winners over the Colorado Raptors on Sunday, closing out the Major League Rugby Vegas Weekend with a 49-22 result. Though the Raptors managed to score three tries, the Legion never looked likely to slip up after taking the lead in the opening quarter.

Utah Warriors
The Warriors scored 26 unanswered points in the second half to secure a come-from-behind win over the New England Free Jacks in Las Vegas on Saturday. In doing so they responded to questions of their ability to play for a full 80 minutes. This was the first win for the team under new coach Chris Latham.

Rugby United New York
The Gilgronis made it interesting late in the game but RUNY were too good for Austin, taking a 49-31 result in Las Vegas on Saturday. It was a wild try-fest that will leave no shortage of work for team analysts ahead of training next week. New York had to front up with several leading players absent or injured.

Toronto Arrows vs Houston SaberCats
It was an exciting contest but probably less so for the Arrows staff. After taking a commanding 24-5 lead into halftime, Toronto came out flat in the second half and very nearly blew the win entirely as Houston were held up over the line on full-time.

Argentine Hookers
An outstanding weekend of play saw six tries from Argentine hookers across three professional leagues. Julian Montoya touched down for a hat-trick for Los Jaguares, while Santiago Socino replaced him to also score. In France, Facundo Bosch scored a sensational solo try and in the USA Diego Fortuny went over for the Houston SaberCats against the Toronto Arrows in Las Vegas.

Nicolás Sánchez
With 13 points, and a last minute try, Nicolás Sánchez saw Stade Français to a 21-20 win over La Rochelle on Saturday. Sánchez saw the Parisians home in a win which moves the team up to 24 competition points. It eases the relegation fears, although there is still a lot of rugby to be played. Sánchez was joined by Pumas captain Pablo Matera in the starting line-up, while Facundo Bosch was a try scorer for La Rochelle.

Santiago Cordero
Bordeaux were 37-19 winners in the top of the table Top 14 clash on Saturday against Lyon. Among the try scorers was Pumas winger, Santiago Cordero. He ran in for a 76th minute score, doing so in front of a packed Stade Chaban Delmas, which had 34,000 people in attendance.

 

UNDER

Uruguay and 1972
Tragedy this past week saw the death of a rugby hero who never played the game. Sergio Catalán, the herdsman who helped save Uruguayan rugby players trapped in the Andes in 1972 passed away at the age of 91. Catalán found two survivors, rugby players from Montevideo’s Old Christians Club, from the 1972 plane accident. The events have been documented in multiple books and a 1993 Hollywood movie titled ‘Alive’.

MLR Vegas Weekend
It was an interesting idea but it’s hard to call the Vegas experiment anything but a complete flop. The late change from Summerlin to Sam Boyd Stadium didn’t pay off with the poor attendance looking even worse in the much larger facility. With virtually zero on-the-ground marketing during the build-up, it’s no wonder stands were empty. The neutral-venue plan needs a serious re-think if it isn’t canned entirely.

Seattle Seawolves
Two games in and the two-time defending champions have tasted defeated in both. While injuries are certainly taking their toll, they have only themselves to blame for the loss to Old Glory. The amount of errors committed in loose play was criminal after enjoying complete dominance in the scrum.

Colorado Raptors
The Raptors are yet to impress in 2020. Sunday’s loss to San Diego seemed inevitable. Their set piece is a real problem and one that the arrival of Digby Ioane won’t solve. With any hope of Hanco Germishuys coming to terms seemingly lost, there are hard days yet ahead for Colorado fans.

Cardinal Stadium Football Lines
It’s not all good for Old Glory. The scrum was steamrolled, the video production shaky, but the worst part was the field itself. When Robertson scored in the third minute it was impossible to tell which one was the tryline. Management no doubt considered this the least critical box to tick when choosing a venue for their first season but having blasted Starfire for their previously blue lines, we simply can’t give them a free pass. We look forward to the grand opening of DC’s new rugby park in 202?.

Manuel Leindekar
In a shock result Oyonnax were beaten 23-22 at home by Rouen on Friday. This meant that the 4th-placed side fell at home against the 15th placed team, a side facing relegation. In the starting line-up for Oyonnax was Uruguayan Manuel Leindekar. He and his teammates, will not be having a good start to the new week.

World Sevens Series
The entire Asian leg of the World Sevens Series has been postponed due to the coronavirus epidemic. Regarded as the premier tournament of the year, the Hong Kong Sevens has been postponed from April to October, with Singapore also suffering the same fate. Added to the self-inflicted scheduling fiasco on the Oceania leg and it’s hard to imagine a more disastrous run-in for the circuit in an Olympic year.

RFU Championship
The bad press continues for the professional game in England. With the Saracens scandal and subsequent relegation still ringing loudly, there is now the issue of funding for the division they are to compete in next season. The RFU have decided to drastically cut funding to their second division, a decision that will directly affect the livelihood of all involved and could have wider implications beyond England’s shores.