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

One of the great weekends in South American rugby history
This past weekend will be remembered for a long time in South America. All three test teams in action were victorious, and for the first time the continent will have three representatives at a Rugby World Cup. Many have pointed to SLAR as a contributor to their success, but each country has long-established roots in amateur rugby that have provided talent to the national programs. It’s that connection from the ground up that should be the takeaway for North America.

Chile make history with Qualifier victory over USA
Los Cóndores completed a sensational 31-29 upset win over the USA on Saturday afternoon to qualify for their first ever Rugby World Cup. A sold-out crowd at Infinity Park was left shocked as the Chileans overcame a 19-nil deficit to record the historic victory. Chile celebrate the greatest victory in their history, and now take their place as Americas 2 at RWC 2023. They will compete in Pool D against England, Japan, Argentina, and Samoa. The USA have one final chance to qualify as part of the four-team round-robin Repechage tournament in November.

Los Pumas bounce back to claim Scotland series
Argentina recovered from last week’s defeat to defeat Scotland in Santiago del Estero. A last-second try to Emiliano Boffelli gave Los Pumas a 34-31 victory and a series win by two games to one. With it Michael Cheika’s side now turn their attention to the Rugby Championship. Argentina and Scotland will meet again in November. Canadian-born hooker Ewan Ashman scored two tries for the Scots. Ashman moved to the UK at age 4 and qualifies for Scotland through his father.

Uruguay fight back to split series with Romania
Also showing more fight this week were Los Teros, who held on to defeat Romania 26-20 on Sunday at the Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo. It salvaged a series split against the Oaks and restores some confidence after the disappointing loss at the same venue a week ago. Uruguay were notably bested in the scrum, where the weight of their two first choice locks Ignacio Dotti and Manuel Leindekar was badly missed. More effort is needed to get taller athletes involved at the domestic level.

Pable Lemoine adds another line to his resume
The former Uruguay prop was a fine player in his day, but his coaching accomplishments are even more impressive. After guiding Los Teros back to the World Cup and establishing their high performance program, he has now taken Chile to new heights. More than anything Lemoine has instilled belief in his teams. He will return to France next year a folk hero.

Exeter re-signs North American legion
There will be a large number of North American internationals at Sandy Park again next season. Exeter Chiefs have confirmed their returnees and departures ahead of the 2022-2023 Premier 15s campaign. Eight US and Canadian players have put pen to paper on extensions to re-join the club following November’s World Cup in New Zealand. Canadian lock McKinley Hunt is the only one set to move on.

Canada shows their hand for Commonwealth Games
Rugby Canada has named their rosters for the upcoming Commonwealth Games 7s in England. There are three players on the women’s side – Olivia Apps, Bianca Farella, and Breanne Nicholas – who competed at the Gold Coast four years ago. None of the men’s side were there. Ciaran Breen is a notable inclusion after returning from an academy stint with French club Carcassonne.

USA South Panthers headed to Colombia
After a long pandemic delay, the USA South will finally hit the road against in August. Colombia will be their destination, and there will be some Major League Rugby talent making the trip. Mexico were initially due to participate as well but are no longer on the fixture list.

 

UNDER

USA Rugby
Were there coaching mistakes? Is MLR not good enough? Was the preparation time too short? Did the players just crack under pressure? Maybe Chile were simply a better team on the day? Whatever happened, it was a bad result for USA Rugby. Gary Gold’s team are still alive but it’s up to the union to figure out how to bring the team together to prepare for November’s Repechage and give them the best chance of victory against Portugal, the toughest opponent who now stands between France and disaster.

World Rugby
Once again we are putting World Rugby on blast. CEO Alan Gilpin was in attendance at Infinity Park. How nice that he was able to watch in person while so many were unable to watch at all. If they were so concerned about North America’s progress, why didn’t World Rugby insist the Americas Rugby Championship continued as planned, and why didn’t they produce an alternative plan to give Canada and the USA more time together? If Gilpin wants to point fingers, he can start by looking in the mirror.