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

Uruguay shine with Gastón Mieres hat-trick
A star performance from Gastón Mieres saw Uruguay past Brazil, winning 36-13 in Sunday’s World Cup qualifier. The result confirms Uruguay as South America 1. Los Teros will now look to the north as they await the winner of Canada vs the USA. The North American winner will face Uruguay to determine who qualifies for RWC 2023 as Americas 1. Mieres is no stranger to North Americans. He had a solid MLR season for the Toronto Arrows.

Chile advance in RWC Qualifiers
Los Cóndores are a force to be reckoned with. Their scrum had the better of both Brazil and Uruguay and their game plan proved to be effective. Chile’s investments in High Performance has bulked up the players and the results have come on the field. In short, Chile has advanced in RWC 2023 qualifying. Los Cóndores will face the loser of South America 1 vs North America 1. The France 2023 dream is alive.

Rugby ATL Champions of the East
Rugby ATL did just enough to defeat Rugby United New York by 10-9 in an arm-wrestling match at Lupo Family Field on Saturday night. In doing so the Ratlers claimed the Eastern Conference title and booked their place in this coming Sunday’s grand finale. For Rugby ATL the win marked their first win over RUNY this season. The Eastern Conference champions are now 80 minutes away from MLR history.

LA leaves it late to beat Utah in thrilling West Final
The LA Giltinis have advanced to the Major League Rugby Championship Final after a thrilling 17-13 win over the Utah Warriors in Sunday’s Western Conference Final. Two tries from replacement winger Ryan James, his second with only three minutes to play, rescued the Giltinis at the Memorial Coliseum. LA will now host Rugby ATL in the grand finale on Sunday. Whoever wins will become just the second team to lift the MLR Shield.

MLR expands to Dallas for 2022
The Dallas Jackals are officially back in the picture for the 2022 Major League Rugby season. League Commissioner George Killebrew confirmed the expansion to 13 teams during the Eastern Conference Final broadcast, with the Jackals now set to go live one year after their false start in 2021. Dallas were meant to join LA as the two new teams in 2021, but in mid-January – two months prior to the season’s start – the Jackals announced that they were delaying entry until 2022 largely due to challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Flag-Bearing Nathan Hirayama
Nathan Hirayama had the rare honor for Friday’s opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. The 33-year-old Men’s Sevens co-captain was selected as one of Canada’s two flag-bearers, the other basketball player Miranda Ayim. The recognition comes after well over a decade of toil on the World Sevens Series that sees Hirayama third among the world’s all-time scoring leaders.

Recruitment starts with a bang for Seattle Seawolves
The Seattle Seawolves have secured two of their standouts from the 2021 season on long-term deals. Hooker James Malcolm and outside back Lauina Futi have each committed through the end of the 2024 Major League Rugby season. They follow captain Riekert Hattingh in signing new contracts. Originally from American Samoa, Futi qualifies for the USA on residency.

UNDER

Eliminated Brazil look to RWC 2027
Brazil are down and out. Os Tupis put up a real fight in the first half; they were 13-10 ahead at half-time and Uruguay had Manuel Ardao yellow carded. The second half saw an organized Uruguay getting the job done. It spelt elimination from the RWC 2023 qualifiers for Brazil. Questions will now be asked about the future. Many of Brazil’s starting players are aging. Will there be a clean-out? With Os Cobras there is a platform to develop the team for the RWC 2027 qualifiers.

Killer late defeat for New York
Alex Maughan’s try broke New York hearts. The outcome sees New York eliminated as the losing Eastern Conference Finalists. On two occasions Rugby United New York have reached the postseason, and on two occasions they have conceded late tries to fall agonizingly short of the big game. The focus now shifts to 2022 and discussions on how to take the next elusive step into a Championship Final.

Ciaran Hearn calls it a day
Ciaran Hearn has retired from rugby. The longtime servant of Canada retired at the age of 35. His final match came was the final round MLR fixture wherein Old Glory DC defeated Austin Gilgronis 29-25. Hearn had a lengthily playing career both as a professional and as a test match player. His test career began in 2008 and concluded in 2019. This saw him earning 73 test caps, the most by all backs to have played for Canada and the third most overall. He made nine appearances in RWC matches, they covered three tournaments: RWCs 2011, 2015 and 2019.

Argentina SLAR Exodus
There is an ongoing player exodus from Argentina. Players from the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) have been recruited to continue their careers abroad. Player movement has seen Jaguares XV players in addition to Argentine players who played for other SLAR teams, departing for Europe. Seventeen SLAR 2021 players have departed Argentina and more will follow.