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

Colombia
Colombia has set a target: qualify for RWC 2031. The ultimate goal is 11 years away and it involves strategic planning. Colombia aims to firstly decrease the gap between Los Tucanes on the one hand and Brazil and Chile on the other. The union has identified 50 players for the RWC 2023 qualifiers, a mix of Colombia’s best based at home and abroad. Those in Colombia will become professionals in the country’s first professional team, Los Cafeteros Pro. The team will compete in SLAR in 2021.

Carrasco Polo, MVCC, Trébol
After two rounds of the Uruguayo de Clubes there have a 2-0 record: Montevideo clubs Carrasco Polo, MVCC and Paysandú club Trébol. The trio all impressed this past weekend. Carrasco Polo were 45-10 winners over Lobos; MVCC defeats Champagnat 28-12; and Trébol were 47-10 winners over PSG. The biggest win, though, went to Old Boys. In their first game of the season Andrés Vilaseca’s club were 77-0 winners against Seminario. Old Christians had a bye.

Rugby Québec
It’s been a busy week in the export business for La Belle Province. Rugby Québec has sent 20 of its best players to French clubs for the 2020-21 season. Most will compete in the country’s top women’s division, the Élite 1, with two heading to Élite 2 and men’s provincial captain Lucas Hotton going to Fédérale 1. All are considered semi-professional and the experiences gained both off the pitch and on will be a huge bonus to the players.

Gordon McRorie
A player-coach gig with AS Milano in Italy sounds like a perfect arrangement to wind down a fine career. At 32 years old McRorie is unlikely to add to his 45 test caps but the experience will progress his coaching credentials which could one day help develop the next generation of Canadian players.

Courtney Holtkamp
Another Canadian making the move abroad is Courtney Holtkamp. The 21-year-old lock or back row is one of the country’s most promising talents and she will now test herself against the best players in England with Loughborough Lightning. Don’t be surprised if more of her international teammates make the jump to the Premier 15s in the coming weeks.

Rugby Canada
Rugby Canada have revised their talent identification program in search of new players domestic and abroad to support their national teams. Led by former international flanker Adam Kleeberger, the program will incorporate more than 50 scouts across the country with a new dedicated recruitment contact – Scott Hobson – based in the UK.

Houston SaberCats
The SaberCats are yet to announce them officially, but flyhalf Sam Windsor confirmed on the MLR Kickoff podcast that three experienced professionals – prop Nikoloz Khatiashvili, lock Apisai Tauyavuca, and center Moa Maliepo – will arrive from Europe for the upcoming season. Khatiashvili is the first MLR prop from Georgia, a country renowned for its scrummaging strength. Most of this past week’s player announcements were re-signings though New England added South African prop Erich de Jager and the Arrows snapped up Canadian-eligible scrumhalf Jason Higgins.

Deion Mikesell
MLR no more for the twice-capped Eagles winger, at least for now. Mikesell has left the Free Jacks to join Pro D2 side Carcassonne. It’s his second stint in France following a four-month stay with the Clermont Auvergne academy prior to joining the SaberCats in 2019. While it’s disappointing in a sense to see him departing, he is unquestionable taking a step up in competition and opens the door for another American player to take their chance with New England.

AJ MacGinty
Eagles ace AJ MacGinty turned out for the Sale Sharks on Tuesday and Saturday. He played both matches at flyhalf and was a prolific point scorer on both outings. He scored 15 points against the Wasps on Tuesday and 10 against the Bristol Bears on Saturday. Sale won both games, an outcome which sees the club rising to second place in the English Premiership.

Enrique Pieretto
On Sunday the Pumas tighthead prop was a replacement for the Glasgow Warriors, thus making his Pro 14 debut. The Glasgow Warriors were 15-3 away winners over Scottish rivals Edinburgh. Pieretto made the move north from Exeter Chiefs. Debuting today for London Irish is Agustín Creevy. He will find a familiar face on the Saracens roster in the form of RWC 2015 teammate Juan Pablo Socino.

 

UNDER

Bui Baravilala
Women’s Eagles veteran Bui Baravilala has retired at the age of 29. She steps down after a decade of representing the USA on the international stage. The Honolulu native first suited up for the national u20 side in 2010 and would go on to achieve senior honors in both 7s and XVs. Baravilala was one of the first group of players to be contracted full-time at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. She made her World Sevens Series debut in 2012, captaining the team at two tournaments, and was part of the USA side that finished in 5th place at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Jaguares
The 2019 Super Rugby finalist Jaguares remain without a competition for 2021. Super Rugby will not take place in 2021, with there being possibilities for separate leagues. That leaves Los Jaguares without the possibility of home matches. A four month sting in South Africa is on the table for Los Jaguares. Then again, South Africa may leave to join the Pro 14. ARN believes that the leading option is SLAR and for the winner to play in Super Rugby play-off’s against top franchises from the new leagues.

COVID-19 Pumas
Six players on Mario Ledesma’s training roster for the Rugby Championship have COVID-19. The first was N8 Javier Ortega Desio who tested positive on August 24. Subsequent tests saw two staff members and five more players testing positive. All have entered isolation where they will remain for 14 days. The UAR’s medical team will oversee them all. The five names to join Ortega Desio are flanker Tomás Lezana, winger Santiago Carreras, center Santiago Chocobares, hooker José Luis González, and prop Federico Wegrzyn.

Rugby Championship in New Zealand
The Rugby Championship is yet to be confirmed. Recent COVID-19 developments in New Zealand mean that the competition may not be played in the country. Should that be the case then the fixtures will be relocated to Australia. There are several possibilities with Brisbane, Gold Coast and Perth reportedly being at the top of the list.

Stade Français
Reports from France unequivocally point to the unlikelihood that Stade Français will be ready for the new season. The Gonzalo Quesada coached team has been hit by COVID-19. Rather than improving, the situation is deteriorating. In addition to cancelled warm-up matches, Pumas Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera and Nicolás Sánchez may also miss out on any rugby before the Rugby Championship. Canadian prospects Quentin James and Will Percillier are in Stade’s academy.