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

Belize to debut in World Rugby tournament
Belize are set for their first ever appearance in a World Rugby tournament. The Central American country will participate in the upcoming Rugby Americas North (RAN) tournament in Turks & Caicos in October. The 2021 RAN Sevens will take place at Meridian Rugby Fields on October 16 and 17. This year’s Men’s competition will provide teams with the opportunity of securing a place at the 2022 World Rugby Challenger Series. That series will take place in February and March.

Canada and USA Women secure mouth-watering tours
A two-year hiatus from international competition for the Senior Women’s XVs of Canada and the USA will at last come to an end in November. Both sides confirmed four tests as preparations ramp up for next year’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. The two North American rivals will face off twice at Colorado’s Infinity Park before departing for the UK. Canada play England on Saturday, November 13, with a match against Wales the following Sunday, November 21. The Eagles have confirmed their own match against England on the 21st but have yet to reveal their first overseas opponent.

MacGinty leads strong Eagles into battle
AJ MacGinty will lead the USA Canada in next month’s RWC 2023 qualifiers. The Sale Sharks flyhalf has recovered from a knee injury that ruled him out of the Eagles tour to London and Dublin last month. There are five further additions who missed out on the tests against England and Ireland. Recalled are Rugby ATL standout Chance Wenglewski and San Diego Legion pair Nate Augspurger and Ryan Matyas. A pair of uncapped back rows arrive in Rugby United New York’s Benjamín Bonasso, a former Argentina age-grade international, and Moni Tonga’uiha of the NOLA Gold.

Chile secure vital fixture to prepare for RWC qualifiers
Chile will face the Argentina XV in September. The match will be uncapped but is of vital importance as Los Cóndores are seeking to make history against the runner-up of Canada vs USA. Preparation will be critical to Chile’s odds of creating an upset – as they so nearly did against Uruguay.

Nicolás Sánchez equals Agustín Creevy’s Pumas record
El Tucumano Nicolás Sánchez earned his 89th test cap on Saturday. This is the same number as the most capped Puma of all-time, Agustín Creevy. Sánchez is set to become the most capped Puma in the upcoming rounds of the Rugby Championship. He is already his country’s highest scorer, recently becaming the first Puma to score 800 test points.

Olympians debut for Los Pumas
2021 Tokyo Olympic Bronze Medalists Ignacio Mendy and Lucio Cinti are now Pumas. The duo from La Plata both made their test debuts on Saturday. Both players earn the opportunity ahead of established names; players based in Europe. The decision to start Mendy and put Cinti on the bench represents both an eye to the future and a reward to both for their efforts in training.

Major League Rugby Draft expands in second edition
The second edition of the Major League Rugby Collegiate Draft took place last week. A total of 39 players were selected across three rounds with all 13 teams for the 2022 season participating. Toronto, Houston, and New York each took part for the first time. Lindenwood University led the way with six players selected. Five Canadians were picked, two by teams based in the USA. Other nations represented include Argentina, England, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

 

UNDER

Argentina beaten in the collisions and well beaten on the scoresheet
South Africa secured their second victory in as many weeks against Argentina with a dominant 29-10 in Port Elizabeth on Saturday afternoon. It was a poor spectacle with the set piece at the forefront and attacking rugby almost completely absent across the 80 minutes.

Pumas concede a record 21 penalties against world champions
Los Pumas conceded a record number of 21 penalties on Saturday. Such a number is far to high to defeat or seriously challenge, the world champions. The lack of discipline meant Los Pumas were never in a position to compete for victory. In addition to conceding a penalty every four minutes, Argentina also lost two players to yellow cards. The Springboks conceded 10 penalties during the match.

Uruguay lose Leandro Leivas to rival sport
One of Uruguay’s longest-serving internationals has opted to step away from rugby. Leivas departs test rugby with 76 caps since debuting against the USA in 2008. The 33-year-old winger scored 23 tries in tests and was selected to both the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.

Facundo Isa and Matías Moroni sidelined through injury
Argentina faced South Africa without Facundo Isa and Matías Moroni on Saturday. Both players had started the prior week against the same opposition. The duo were unable to play this past weekend due to injury. It remains to be seen if either Puma will playa again in the 2021 Rugby Championship. Isa is out for the tournament while Moroni is sidelined for four weeks.