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

Awesome Argentina defeat All Blacks in New Zealand
The script of rugby was re-written on Saturday. The mighty All Blacks fell to a home defeat against Argentina for the first time in New Zealand on Saturday. Los Pumas were 25-18 winners in what was a controlled performance with the forwards winning the collisions to give Emiliano Boffelli point-scoring opportunities. Marcos Kremer, Tomás Lavanini, Pablo Matera, and captain Julián Montoya were outstanding.

Brazil hold on in classic against Paraguay
Brazil and Paraguay played what was a classic on Wednesday evening. Brazil were 31-28 winners at the Estadio Romelio Martínez in Barranquilla, Colombia. The win came after Brazil had dominated the first half, leading 24-7 at half-time. SLAR has lifted the level of Paraguay to close the gap on Brazil.

Tri Nations title heads to Brazil
Brazil are the 2022 Tri Nations champions. Os Tupis won the South American B Championship with a commanding win over Colombia on Sunday in Barranquilla. Brazil’s 52-13 victory underlined the team as the fourth best in South America.

Canada all warmed up for World Cup
Canada coasted to a 31-3 win over a largely second-string Wales at Wanderers Grounds in Halifax on Saturday. A masterclass in the scrum set the platform and Wales had no answer to a stifling defense. The match concluded Canada’s World Cup warm-up fixtures, with their next test the Pool B opener against Italy on October 9.

USA take tough win over Scotland
A close contest in Edinburgh saw the USA earning a hard-fought 21-17 victory over Scotland. Both teams were keen to play expansive rugby as they build towards the World Cup, and put on an entertaining spectacle for their appreciative audience. The USA continue their RWC preparations against England at Exeter this coming weekend.

Uruguay XV win in Argentina
Uruguay’s were 26-19 winners in Argentina on Saturday. Playing as the national next-of-XV, the Uruguay XV defeated Rosario 26-19. The final score was not reflective of the overall contest; the Uruguayans had been leading 26-0. Leading Uruguayan players based at home were involved. There was an important return for Felipe Aliaga. The second-rower missed the entirety of SLAR and Uruguay’s test matches against  Japan and Romania.

New Zealand win LA 7s, Australia claim overall title
Australia claimed their first ever World Sevens Series title after finishing third in LA. In doing so they edged out South Africa, Fiji, and Argentina. LA Giltinis star Billy Meakes played for the ‘Misfits’ in the tournament and could be in line for a spot at the upcoming World Cup in Cape Town. New Zealand won the tournament, their only tournament win of the season after missing the first four stops due to pandemic travel restrictions.

Uruguay u20’s on fire
Uruguay completed a clean sweep of the u20 series at Guelph University on Tuesday. They cruised past hosts Canada by a final score of 45-28, though the result was all but wrapped up in a one-sided first half that saw Los Teritos running out to a 33-7 lead.

Future test stars on display in Guelph
The u20 tournament (please don’t call it a ‘conference’) at Guelph University restored vital high intensity competition for some of the rising stars of four nations. Our select XV included five players from unbeaten Uruguay, four from Zimbabwe, and three each from Canada and Chile. It’s conceivable that some could make their test debuts before the end of the year.

 

UNDER

Worcester face worrying wait
These are worrying days for the Worcester Warriors. The club has £6million in unpaid taxes but no money to pay for it. Will the club play in the upcoming English Premiership season? The players and staff are unsure and far from happy about the situation. An American consortium has emerged as a potential buyer. Pumas prop Santiago Medrano is on the roster for the upcoming season.

Injuries hit Eagles ahead of Sevens World Cup
The USA were hit with the loss of captain Kevon Williams, who is out for several months after suffering a lower leg injury in training. Stand-in captain Stephen Tomasin and vice-captain Joe Schroeder were both hurt in Los Angeles, along with a couple others, and suddenly the Eagles are facing the prospect of a World Cup in Cape Town with a severely depleted squad.

Leading Pumas Prop out of Rugby Championship
Francisco Gómez Kodela is out of rugby for two months. The tight head prop was injured while back in France with his club Lyon. Gómez Kodela started for Argentina against the Wallabies and also against Scotland in July. His understudy was Joel Sclavi who made his test debut in July. Sclavi started in the win over New Zealand this past Saturday.

Chile Fall Short in u20’s 
Chile fell 43-35 against Zimbabwe to round on Tuesday. It secured a second overall finish for the Junior Sables in the four-team series hosted by Canada. Tavonga Ablant was the star of the show with two tries and several scintillating runs to cap an impressive three games for the speedster. Hopefully more support for Chilean age-grade sides will come from World Cup qualification.

World Rugby’s Chaotic Handling of Player Eligibility
“The Spanish team (15th in the world ranking) has enough sporting merits to be in the 2023 World Cup in France because it has earned that right on the field of play. But unfortunately it will not be there because of unfair decisions made in the offices.” These were the words of former Spain Rugby Federation executive member José M. Moreno in an open letter written to World Rugby. Spain’s disqualification and disproportionate penalty are on account of administrative failures. Meanwhile other nations have benefitted for years from World Rugby’s own poorly administrated eligibility regulations.