Up and Under

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

 

UP

USA accepted as potential Rugby World Cup Host
USA Rugby has been formally accepted as a candidate to host an upcoming Rugby World Cup. A feasibility study that began in August of last year has been completed with a bid proposal now to be submitted in January 2022, part of a process to determine hosting rights for RWC’s 2027, 2029, and 2031. The 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens took place in San Francisco but the USA has never hosted the Men’s or Women’s XVs tournaments. Prior two-time host Australia are favorites to host RWC 2027.

Brazil go into RWC Qualifier with all the pieces
Os Tupis will play host to Paraguay in São José dos Campos on June 26. Two key points came from the announcement. The choice of venue – São José dos Campos is Rugby City Brazil and the quality of the Brazil roster. It’s a full strength squad with all playing professionally in SLAR, MLR, or Italy.

The 29-year Wait is over – Pumas to Bucharest
Argentina is to face Romania in Bucharest in July. Los Pumas will play a test match in the Eastern European country on Saturday, July 3. The fixture will be a first-ever test match for all of the 2021 Los Pumas in Romania. The last time Argentina played in the Eastern European country was 29 years ago. Los Pumas were 21-18 winners in 1992.

Utah Warriors vs San Diego Legion
In a crucial MLR Western Conference match, the Utah Warriors and San Diego Legion went head-to-head on Saturday The contest was back-and-forth for the duration. It was a festival of offense with a dozen visits into the try zone. The Warriors came back from 17 points down to win at the death. An instant candidate for MLR Match of the Season.

Austin pressure top two in the West
Austin dominated an exhausted Toronto Arrows on Saturday. The win combined with San Diego’s loss puts the Gilgronis five points clear in third place, but they still trail Utah by an equal margin. There is time to make up the gap with four games left but none are at home. The AG’s will be counting on New York to help them out this weekend.

NOLA Gold remain alive in the East
NOLA kept their playoff hopes alive with a 25-21 win over Old Glory DC at Segra Field on Saturday. It was a scrappy match that saw three Gold players spending time in the sin bin. Each side scored three tries with penalty kicks proving to be the difference. The result is that NOLA are third in the Eastern Conference, five points behind New York.

New York ends ATL’s winning-streak
Rugby United New York defeated Rugby ATL 31-24 on Sunday. In what was a pulsating contest at Belson Stadium, the result ends Rugby ATL’s six-game winning streak. Atlanta did not go home empty handed; To the contrary, two losing bonus points keep the Ratlers at the top of the Eastern Conference.

Americas forwards in Biarritz’ stunning promotion win to Top 14
Biarritz will play in the 2021-2022 Top 14. The Basque club won promotion by defeating Bayonne Saturday. The play-off was tryless yet it was simply amazing. The scores were tied 3-3 after 80 minutes and 6-6 at the end of extra time. That meant a penalty shoot-out determined whose destination was the Top 14 and whose was the Pro D2. Steffon Armitage kicked Biarritz into the Top 14. The former England flanker is from Trinidad & Tobago. Canada’s Evan Olmstead started for Biarritz.

Argentines Shine in Busy weekend
A number of Argentines played impressive rugby over the weekend. Players shined across different leagues in what was one of the final weekends of the regular season in Europe. Julián Montoya and Tomás Lavanini were try scorers in an important Leicester Tigers win and Martín Landajo scored in a Harlequins win. meanwhile, Bautista Ezcurra, Thomas Moroni, Joaquín Tuculet, Julián Domínguez and Juan Cappiello all scored in the MLR.

South American Timber brought in by Brive
Top 14 club Brive signed a new South American player and re-signed another. Colombian Andrés Zafra will join the team from rivals Agen while Puma Lucas Paulos has extended his contract. The result is mouth-watering for South American rugby; it means an all-South American second-row combination.

 

UNDER

Rethink needed as USA lose MacGinty to injury
The US Eagles are set to be without their star flyhalf and newly-appointed captain for the July internationals and beyond. AJ MacGinty was stretchered off with a knee injury in the 80th minute of Sale’s Premiership match against Exeter Chiefs on Saturday afternoon. The July Internationals are all but over for MacGinty and his place against Canada in the RWC qualifiers is also in doubt.

Pumas lose Matías Orlando for July and others may follow
Argentina suffered an early injury blow with Matías Orlando ruled out of the July Internationals. The outside center was injured playing for the Newcastle Falcons. His absence sees a change to the roster with Champions Cup Final star Juan Cruz Mallía called in Orlando’s place. Juan Imhoff and Pablo Matera are also in doubt. Los Pumas face Romania in 18 days time.

Struggling for Game time
Friday’s Top 14 barrage play-off was the battle of Paris. Both Racing 92 and Stade Français are home to five big name Pumas. Yet, three missed the match. Juan Imhoff missed through injury though for Emiliano Boffelli and Nicolás Sánchez it was another match with others preferred. Boffelli and Sánchez have not ben regulars for their clubs this season. Struggling for game time is not ideal ahead of international duty.

Changes coming to SaberCats
Changes are on their way at the Houston SaberCats. Head Coach Paul Healy will depart at the season’s end. The decision comes as the SaberCats occupy the bottom of the overall table with just two wins from 12 games. Under Healy the club has gone 3-14 with their combined record in Major League Rugby across four seasons now 10 wins and 31 losses.

Blunted Arrows
The road trip that never ends reached a new level of misery in Texas. Toronto fell to 47-21 loss at a blazing hot Bold Stadium, setting a new mark for points scored against the Canadian franchise. It’s the first time the Arrows have suffered three consecutive defeats. There are reinforcements on the way to help in the short term but thoughts are already shifting to a long overdue return home.

Wrong Call Ref
Saturday’s thriller at Salt Lake was not without controversy, though it seems to have gone unnoticed by many. San Diego scrumhalf Ethan McVeigh was knocked out in a collision at the 75-minute mark, but when Carlo de Nysschen attempted to return to the pitch he was denied by referee JP Doyle. The reason given was that MLR does not use the head injury assessment (HIA) and as the Legion had used up all eight subs, they could not bring another player back on the field. It left the Legion with only 14 players for the remainder of the match. Unfortunately Doyle was incorrect. Law 3.33(c) clearly states that in the case of a head injury, a tactically-replaced player may return to the pitch. It does not require HIA. Evidently the San Diego management and 4th official were also unaware and did not challenge Doyle’s decision. Hopefully this case will be used as a learning experience moving forward.