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

Eagles Ready to Fire at Women’s World Cup
Kate Zackary will captain 1 32-women roster at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand next month. She is one of nine players with previous World Cup experience and among 20 who have played with overseas clubs in the past year. Others who were at RWC 2017 include props Catie Benson, Nick James, and Hope Rogers, second row Kristine Sommer, back row Jordan Matyas, midfielder Alev Kelter, and fullback Tess Feury. Rogers was also at RWC 2014 alongside winger Meya Bizer.

Uncapped but going to the World Cup
The USA Eagles roster for the Women’s World Cup also has places for new talent. Uncapped inclusions are Beantown prop Erica Jarrell and Life West hooker Jett Hayward. The latter was an unused replacement against Scotland last month. The Eagles  will compete in Pool B along with Italy, Japan, and Canada. They will open their tournament against the Azzurre on Sunday, October 9 (Saturday, October 8 in USA).

Sigren Becomes a Knight
Chilean captain Martín Sigren has signed to play in England. The 26-year-old arrives at the Doncaster Knights for the 2022-23 season. Sigren joins the English second division side after having captained Chile to a first ever Rugby World Cup earlier this year. Doncaster will be Sigren’s first professional club abroad. He played for Chilean professional side Selknam in the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). The team reached the Semi Finals of SLAR 2021 and the SLAR 2022 Final. Sigren arrives in England with 24 test caps.

Buenos Aires Quick Fire Solution following Green Day
Officials won in a race against time. Argentina vs South Africa was scheduled to be played at the Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield but was moved to the Estadio Libertadores de América days before the fixture. The change came after an inspection of the playing surface concluded that the conditions on the field fell short of requirements. The field deteriorated following a concert from USA rockband Green Day.

Dream URC Debut for Ignacio Mendy
Ignacio Mendy had a dream debut in the United Rugby Championship. The one-time capped Puma scored two tries on debut for Benetton. The Italians were convincing winners over the Glasgow Warriors on Friday. Mendy’s one cap was against South Africa in Port Elizabeth in 2021. Despite not having played under Michael Cheika this year, Mendy is well placed to earn a place on the roster in November.

Bautista Ezcurra impresses in Pro D2
Also scoring on Friday was Bautista Ezcurra. The former Pumas center scored midway through the second half for Grenoble against Rouen in the French Pro D2. Rouen went into the match undefeated this season. The 20-11 result means that Grenoble are now tied with Rouen and two others at the top of the table.

Mateo Carreras gives Cheika plenty to think about
Mateo Carreras was a try scorer on Saturday. The 2021 rookie Puma side-stepped defenders to score a try for the Newcastle Falcons against the reigning English champions, the Leicester Tigers. Carreras was on the Argentine roster to face the All Blacks in New Zealand but did not receive game time.

 

UNDER

USA in danger of losing prop to Ireland
Former USA u20 international Roman Salanoa was named in the Emerging Ireland squad for the upcoming matches in South Africa. The USA will also be sending a team to play in the series, though they will not collide with the Irish entry. Salanoa was born and raised in Hawai’i and played for the USA at the 2016 World Rugby u20 Trophy tournament. He joined the Leinster academy program in Dublin later that year, and made the switch to Munster in 2020. The 24-year-old is now eligible for Ireland on five-year residency.

Notable Absentees from USA Roster for Women’s World Cup
Lock Alycia Washington and versatile Loughborough back Bulou Mataitoga were named in the non-traveling reserves with Life hooker Saher Hamdan and Colorado flanker Rachel Ehrecke. Beantown center Emily Henrich misses out with injury. Meanwhile, Kris Thomas, Naya Tapper, Cheta Emba, Nicole Heavirland, and Kayla Canett were all part of the team in 2017 and competed at the RWC Sevens in Cape Town this past weekend. This time only back row Jordan Matyas has switched over directly from the Sevens squad.

Argentina Suffocated by big Boks
Trailing 22-20 and having the momentum, there was reason to believe Argentina were on course to complete an impressive comeback win on Saturday. Instead, South Africa hit-back with two late tries to win by a healthy margin. Argentina’s poor opening half saw South Africa up 22-6 at the break. The Springboks’ forwards had suffocated Los Pumas.

Puma debuts in made URC defeat
While Ignacio Mendy was working his magic for Benetton, it was not celebrations for all Argentines. Lucio Sordoni was making his URC debut for the Glasgow Warriors. Sordoni started at prop while Sebastián Cancelliere played wing. Both players, like Mendy, are yet to feature for Argentina under Michael Cheika.

No Hablo Español
It has been common for referees to be criticized for being appointed France test matches in France only to officiate entirely in English. Argentina is rugby’s other powerhouse team which is required to know English. No Argentine official has ever refereed a Rugby Championship match. Los Pumas’ matches are entirely officiated in English. SLAR matches are officiated in Spanish and three South American countries will play at the World Cup.

Zebre narrowly miss out on Leinster scalp
Zebre Parma hosted URC powerhouses Leinster on Saturday. The Irish province was expected to win big but won by a scoreline of 33-29. Zebre were close to making history. The Italians had two Argentines in their team for the match. Prop Juan Pittinari and flanker Guido Volpi both played. They are examples of Argentina’s extensive depth at present.