Americas Rugby Dream Team 2021

The year 2021 was a busy one for Americas Rugby. Disruptions meant that it was short of being a normal  year, though there were test matches for nine countries. The Men’s teams from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay and the USA all played test matches.

The current article identifies the top performers from each of the Americas’ competitors. Players from all teams are also considered in a competitive manner to determine the 2021 Americas Dream Team.

Consideration has come from all test matches involving the Americas. As such Italy ‘A’ vs Uruguay is excluded from the following data and overall analysis. Likewise, matches from the Americas Pacific Challenge have not been considered.

Form for domestic or club teams is also excluded from the analysis. Consideration is based exclusively on performances in test matches involving one or two teams from the Americas.

Argentina’s disappointing year is reflected in the Americas Rugby Dream Team for 2021. A winless Rugby Championship and lack of positive results overall sees less contenders for places than in most years. Brazil, Canada and the USA also underperformed in 2021.

Uruguay and Chile were the teams that came away with the best results. The former qualified for RWC 2023 as Americas 1 and the latter eliminated Canada to be closer than ever to qualifying for a Rugby World Cup.

Some positions had a single candidate who stood out above the rest, others were hot competition. The front-row positions were a bit of both. ARN believes that David Ainu’u was the most consistent loose head. He was solid in the RWC qualifiers.

Julián Montoya was one of Argentina’s best of the year. He led Los Pumas with distinction, doing so despite the year being long, entirely on the road and involving multiple quarantine bubbles. Matías Dittus completes the front-row. The Chilean played like Martín Scelzo in his prime. Any elite team needing a powerhouse tight head ought to be paying attention.

There was competition for places in the second-row. Clemente Saavedra narrowly misses out. Manuel Leindekar was tremendous for Uruguay in the RWC qualifiers while Marcos Kremer gave it his all in every match. Sometimes this saw him on the receiving end of a string of penalties.

Many Americas teams rotated throughout the year in the back-row. Argentina certainly did with Kremer moving between positions. His best position remains a matter of opinion. Two players who were highly consistent in the back-row were Manuel Ardao and Martín Sigren. Both played like Tier 1 players. The SLAR duo went from strength-to-strength in 2021. Facundo Isa was solid for Argentina. It is a mystery as to why he is not starting every match for his country.

Many names merit consideration for scrum-half. Santiago Arata was excellent for Uruguay but missed more tests than he played. Tomás Cubelli was excellent in July but missed the Rugby Championship. Gonzalo García was arguably the best Pumas scrum-half in the Rugby Championship but he did not receive game time in November.

Three 9’s who were regulars and had strong years are Canada’s Ross Braude, Chile’s Marcelo Torrealba and the USA’s Ruben de Haas. There are cases as to why each of them merits the spot. de Haas was instrumental in the USA’s home win over Canada and always started when available.

Fly half was a position of woes for numerous teams. Some lost their top players due to rugby’s lack of a global season while others experimented. Felipe Berchesi  missed November for Uruguay and Gloucester winger Santiago Carreras played fly half for Argentina in the Rugby Championship.

Brazil and Canada also experimented at pivot while Chile played more than one fly half with Rodrigo Fernández proving to be a Canadian heart-breaker. Pablo Lemoine went for Fernández at fly half and Santiago Videla at fullback. The outcome was a balanced Chile team and one that caused Uruguay numerous problems and eliminated Canada in the RWC 2023 qualifiers. Both Fernández and Videla make the Americas Rugby Dream Team 2021.

There are multiple contenders for both inside and outside center. Santiago Chocobares at inside center gave Argentina a new dimension. He missed the November Internationals. Andrés Vilaseca led Uruguay very well while Pedro Lopes was excellent for Brazil in Africa in November.

The best 12, though, was a Cóndor. ARN deems Chilean test rookie Matías Garafulic as having had the best 2021. He was electric both as a ball-carrier and a defender. Aged just 21, the younger he has a massive future ahead of him.

Chile’s Domingo Saavedra is also in consideration for the outside center position. Ben LeSage impressed for Canada while Matías Moroni and Lucio Cinti were sound for Argentina in what was a struggling back-line. The top pick, though is Uruguayan Nicolás Freitas. He played wing and in both center positions. Every time he was busy.

Argentina went through one winger after the next. Of them Emiliano Boffelli and Mateo Carreras were the top performers. Boffelli played at fullback and wing while Mateo Carreras’ test debut came at the end of the Rugby Championship.

The USA also had some notable wingers in 2021. Mike Kruse and Christian Dyer had impressive rookie seasons. They went on to be the starting wingers in the RWC qualifiers. The king of the wing, though is clear; Gastón Mieres was the Americas’ top winger in 2021. The Toronto Arrows outside back scored four tries in the RWC qualifiers.

 

AMERICAS RUGBY DREAM TEAM 2021

1 David Ainu’u (USA)
2 Julián Montoya (Argentina)
3 Matías Dittus (Chile)
4 Marcos Kremer (Argentina)
5 Manuel Leindekar (Uruguay)
6 Manuel Ardao (Uruguay)
7 Martín Sigren (Chile)
8 Facundo Isa (Argentina)
9 Ruben de Haas (USA)
10 Rodrigo Fernández (Chile)
11 Emiliano Boffelli (Argentina)
12 Matías Garafulic (Chile)
13 Nicolás Freitas (Uruguay)
14 Gastón Mieres (Uruguay)
15 Santiago Videla (Chile)