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

Canada fight to the death in Women’s World Cup Semi Final
England defeated Canada 26-19 at Eden Park on Saturday in one of the all-time classic World Cup Semi Finals. Despite the gut-wrenching result it was one of the great Canadian performances in recent memory against a fully professional Red Roses side who have now won a record 30 consecutive tests. The Maple Leafs still have something to play for as they now take on France in the Bronze Final this weekend.

Strong start for USA in World Cup Repechage
The USA opened the World Cup Repechage tournament with a 68-14 win over Kenya on Sunday. Sticky conditions in Dubai contributed to some sloppy play from the Eagles in the first half, but they were always in control with their dominant scrum wearing down the Simbas pack. Dylan Fawsitt and Christian Dyer both scored hat-tricks.

Awesome Argentina send out World Cup warning 
Rugby World Cup 2023 rivals, England and Argentina clashed on Saturday in London. The match was the one and only fixture between the teams during the RWC 2019-2023 cycle. Argentina were 30-29 winners. The win was Argentina’s second ever against England in England. It comes 16 years after the first in 2006.

Emiliano Boffelli merits a place among the Greats
Man of the Match at Twickenham Stadium went to Emiliano Boffelli. The winger from Rosario scored a try and kicked 20 points. He was immense all round, countering the high-ball threat that England have used against many teams. Earlier this year Boffelli scored 20 points in Argentina’s 25-18 win over New Zealand, the winning try to claim a series win over Scotland and 18 points in Argentina’s win over Australia. Is he a 2022 World Rugby Player of the Year candidate?

MLR headed to the Windy City
This past week Major League Rugby confirmed the addition of a team from Chicago for the 2023 season. The announcement, which came in the form of a video tease, was widely expected after last week’s decision to move ahead without established teams from Austin and LA. An expansion draft will help populate their roster while further details are expected mid-month.

Argentina and USA competitive at Hong Kong Sevens
Australia emerged victorious as the World Sevens Series returned to Hong Kong this past weekend. Argentina were the top Americas side in 5th place. Matías Osadczuk’s hat trick led the way as Los Pumas cruised past the USA in the last match of the tournament for the two sides. It was nonetheless a strong return for the inexperienced Eagles.

Uruguay write sevens history against Great Britain
Uruguay closed out their first tournament as a core team on the World Sevens Series with a 13th-place finish in Hong Kong. Their record was an encouraging three wins from six, including a famous victory over Great Britain in the pool stage.

Mateo Sanguinetti Reaches 75 caps
Uruguayan prop Mateo Sanguinetti earned his 75th cap on Sunday against Georgia. Sanguinetti is just the 5th Uruguayan to earn 75 or more caps. He is now one short of equalizing the record for an Uruguayan prop; Mario Sagario has 76 caps. Sanguinetti can end 2022 as the third most capped Uruguayan in history. He is behind contemporaries Diego Magno (101) and Gastón Mieres (79).

Ignacio Calles gives Pau Top 14 relegation zone space
Pau were 33-7 winners over Bordeaux on Sunday. The result takes Pau up to 19 competition points. Perpignan are in 13th on 14 points and Brive are bottom on 13. The win was a very important one. Puma Ignacio Calles was among the scorers. It comes at the perfect time not only for Pau but also for Argentina. Calles trained with Los Pumas in Manchester, England in late October.

UNDER

Slow start proves fatal for Chile
The beautiful Stadionul National Arcul de Triumf was the setting for Saturday’s test match between Romania and Chile. In what was a competitive contest, the Stejarii were 30-23 winners over Los Cóndores. Playing in their alternate white strip, Chile were slow starters. The home side’s impressive opening half had them in command with an early 18-0 lead. Chile outscored Romania 23-12 thereafter.

Uruguay fall short against Georgia
Three tries from loose forward Beka Gorgadze propelled Georgia to a 34-18 win over Uruguay on Sunday. Turnovers while in possession cost Los Teros several chances to score as the two World Cup opponents renewed acquaintances in Tbilisi. Georgia scored four tries while Uruguay scored two. Los Teros move on to Bucharest to play Romania for a third time this year.

Canadian Men touring minus European talent
Canada’s roster to face the Netherlands and Namibia this month is without several overseas professionals.  Among them are World Cup trio Matt Tierney, Evan Olmstead, and Tyler Ardron. Montpellier lock Tyler Duguid and Montauban center Liam Bowman, both uncapped, are also missing along with Pro D2 pair Matt Beukeboom and Will Percillier.

Brazil’s Juniors fall to Paraguay 
Brazil’s prior RWC cycle of claiming wins over Canada, Chile and the USA looks like being hard to replicate anytime soon. Brazil’s current generation of players are evidently distant to Chile’s. The u20’s picture is similar. Brazil claimed a win over Colombia this past week but were outmatches by Paraguay. The 26-19 loss is a set-back for Brazil.

World Rugby’s choice of venue and kickoff times for RWC Qualifiers
The USA faced Kenya in Dubai on Sunday. Kickoff was 7am Eastern, 4am Pacific. World Rugby has spoken of trying to build the American audience, but only die-hard fans would have tuned in to Sunday’s game. As for the venue, the stands looked next to empty and the surface was turn to shreds during scrums. Surely playing the matches in France – ideally Paris – would have made more sense.