2021 November Tests – 10 Americas Players to Watch out for

The 2021 November Internationals will be a busy time for test rugby. The Americas will be represented by Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, and Uruguay. The test teams from these countries will all play in away or neutral countries. Brazil travel to Africa while Argentina, Canada, Chile, and Uruguay will play test matches in Europe.

The player rosters all contain both established names and rookies. The purpose of the present article is to identify two players to watch out for from each of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, and Uruguay.

 

ARGENTINA

Argentina will play three test matches in Europe in November. Mario Ledesma named a 32-man roster for the tour. It was subsequently altered with four players replacing injured Pumas. The test matches see the world no 8 Argentina facing the 6th ranked France on November 06, the 14th ranked Italy in Treviso on November 13 and the 5th ranked France in Dublin on November 21.

Ledesma was not shy to hand out test debuts in the 2021 Rugby Championship. Nine players earned their first caps:  props Thomas Gallo, Rodrigo Martínez, Carlos Muzzio and Eduardo Bello, N8 Joaquín Oviedo, scrum-half Gonzalo García, center Lucio Cinti and wingers Mateo Carreras and Ignacio Mendy.

22-year-old Thomas Gallo began his test career unlike all other Pumas before him. His two tries on debut against Australia were the most by a prop during the professional era and just the third time that a prop on test debut scored twice. He garnered further attention with a sensational solo try for Benetton against the Scarlets in the United Rugby Championship (URC).

Lucio Cinti debuted against South Africa. He went on to earn a starting place and to retain it. He now goes into the November Internationals with a new club (London Irish) and has the pressure firmly on veteran Matías Moroni to perform. Cinti is a starting Puma and an Olympian Bronze Medalist at the age of 21.

 

BRAZIL

An historic test match has been booked for November. Brazil will face Zimbabwe for the first time. The match will be played in Stellenbosch, South Africa on November 14. The fully capped test match will see the 24th placed Tupis facing the 34th placed Sables with world rankings points on the line. Brazil and Zimbabwe will both play again, the winner will face the winner or Kenya vs Namibia on November 20 and the two losing teams will compete on the same date.

Brazil ‘A’ performed well in the Americas Pacific Challenge (APC). Lucas Spago was the organizer and play-maker. The young fly half was particularly impressive against the USA Selects and Paraguay ‘A.’ He will be a player to watch out for on the tour to Africa.

Back-rower Adrio de Melo also had a strong APC campaign. Like Spago, he is fully capped by Brazil and has had test starts. What is different now is that 2021 November Internationals loom as an opportunity for de Melo to cement is name in the starting line-up. He looks well-suited to forming a back-row alongside Matheus Cláudio, and André Arruda.

 

CHILE

Chile will travel to the Black Sea city of Sochi. Los Cóndores are to play two test matches against Russia at FGUP Yug-Sport. The fixtures will be on Saturday, November 20 and Friday, November 26. Chile enter the matches ranked 26th in the world, four places below the 26th ranked Russia.

Chile’s performances in the RWC 2023 qualifiers have garnered Los Cóndores plenty of attention. The November tour to Russia will give the side a perfect opportunity to prepare for the next stage; the Americas 2 finals against the USA.

Two names to look out for are Chile ‘A’ hooker Diego Escobar and flanker Raimundo Martínez. Both men impressed in the APC. They were named in the ARN Best of team from the tournament. They both perform the functions of their positions very well.

 

CANADA

Canada will be taking a 28-man roster to Europe in November. The Kingsley Jones coached side will play two test matches, doing so ranked 23rd in the world. They will face the 19th ranked Portugal in Lisbon on November 6 and the 28th ranked Belgium in Brussels on November 13.

The series is bittersweet for the Canadian team and supporters. The team’s elimination from the RWC 2023 qualifiers means it is officially the first phase of rebuilding. Canada’s plan is now to qualify for RWC 2027. The roster for November does see some changes. A talking point has been missing men who play their rugby in Europe.

Michael Smith and Spencer Jones are two young Major League Rugby (MLR) names on the roster. The former plays flanker for the San Diego Legion and the later plays inside center for the Toronto Arrows. Both have played for Canada previously, though they have just a handful of caps each.

All of Smith’s caps prior to date have been as a replacement but he will make his run-on debut against Portugal this weekend. A standout with the national u20 side and UBC Thunderbirds, the 23-year-old openside earned Rookie of the Year honors for San Diego in his first season as a professional.

A positional shift is on the cards for Jones. Having played exclusively as an inside center for both Canada and the Arrows, he will now shift to flyhalf for the Portugal test. It’s not an entirely alien switch for Jones, who has played at No10 in club rugby previously, but this will be a real challenge for the 24-year-old playmaker.

 

URUGUAY

Los Teros will play three matches in Italy, two of them are capped. The capped fixtures will be on November 07 against Romania in Verona on November 07 and against Italy at the Stadio Sergio Lanfanchi in Parma on November 20. Uruguay are ranked 16th in the world while Romania are 18th and Italy are 14th.

Esteban Meneses’ team are in unchartered waters; they qualified for RWC 2023 as Americas 1. It means the team is confirmed for the World Cup at a far earlier time when compared to prior RWC qualifying cycles. Meneses went with the tried and the tested for this year’s qualifiers. Indications are that there will be some experimentation in November.

Both fullback Baltazar Amaya and winger Mateo Viñals have had strong performances throughout 2021. They featured for Peñarol in the SLAR. More recently, both played for Uruguay ‘A’ in the Americas Pacific Challenge. Their test debuts is just a matter of time; in all likelihood both will play against Romania in Uruguay’s next test match.

Amaya is a gifted fullback. He has an excellent counter-attacking game and a style well-suited to Meneses’ structure. In many ways it may be a gift that experienced players got Uruguay to the World Cup. Amaya can now press for Rodrigo Silva’s 15 shirt.

It is a similar story regarding Viñals. He was one of Peñarol’s consistent performances in the SLAR. This carried over into preparations for the RWC qualifiers. He started in the win over the Argentina XV and was a try scorer in the match.