Up and Under

Up and Under is a weekly exclusive on Americas Rugby News. It takes a dive into the best and worst involving the Americas Rugby from the past week.

 

UP

Women’s Eagles Continue Fine Sevens Form
Make it four consecutive podium finishes for the Women’s Eagles on the World Sevens Series. As New Zealand continued their stranglehold on top spot overall, the USA claimed bronze in Sydney now hold a 14-point buffer in the Olympic qualification race with three tournaments to go. France were the better side in the Cup Semi Final, with a four-tries-to-one victory over the USA. The Bronze Final though went to the Eagles in a 12-5 contest against Ireland. Sam Sullivan and Kristi Kirshe were the try-scorers.

Good Balance for Chile
The latest edition of World Cup Radar notes that Chile has a good balance early in the World Cup year. There is versatility across the potential roster with room to rotate according to the opposition. Chile’s team will be heavily based-on the country’s first professional rugby team, Selknam. The Chilean side will be contenders for Super Rugby Americas 2023.

Can-Uru-Arg Castres Connection
Castres were 23-18 winners over Bordeaux on Saturday. Canadian Tyler Ardron, Uruguayan Santiago Arata and Argentine Benjamín Urdapilleta started as the 8-9-10 combination for Castres. It was a reunion of sorts following injuries to both Ardron and Arata. Urdapilleta sent a reminder to Michael Cheika as he slotted five goals for Castres.

Cobras Ready to bite
Os Cobras are ready for Super Rugby Americas 2023. The team’s roster was completed this past week with the arrival of Donnacha Byrne from Ireland. Also flying in was former Pumas and Montpellier tight head prop Maximilano Bustos. He will be the forwards coach. The Brazilian side will play their home Super Rugby Americas matches at the home of soccer club Nacional Atlético, in the Barra Funda district of São Paulo. The Estádio Nicolau Alayon played host to the test match between Brazil and Portugal in November 2019.

Argentines on Fire in Europe
Pumas scored tries this past weekend in Europe. Facundo Isa scored two for Toulon in the vital 27-16 home win over Pau. Ignacio Mendy scored a hat-trick for Benetton in a 40-30 loss in Italy while Sebastián Cancelliere ran in a try for the Glasgow Warriors who fell to a 22-19 home defeat against the visiting Sharks from South Africa.

Herrera the Destroyer Joins Old Glory DC
Patagonian prop Ramiro Herrera is on his way to Major League Rugby. The star from Rugby World Cup 2015 has signed for Old Glory DC for the upcoming season. He will reunite with some colleagues from Hindú. Another transfer this past week saw Bautista Bernasconi moving from Argentina to Benetton. The uncapped hooker made his United Rugby Championship debut in the match against Munster.

 

UNDER

Iván the Terrible
Dark clouds surround  the playing future of Italian bright spark Iván Nemer. The Argentine prop fit in well at Benetton and quickly earned a call-up to the test team. His name was not on the recent Italian roster announcement for the 2023 Six Nations with the reason now known. As a joke, Nemer gave a rotten banana to Benetton teammate Cherif Traoré as a Secret Santa gift. The FIR have taken the action of suspending the prop from playing for six months.

USA lose MLR player to Romania
While the USA will not compete at Rugby World Cup 2023 there may well be a New Yorker playing at the tournament. Romania named Rob Irimescu on their roster for upcoming international competition. Irimescu is a native of New York. His parents immigrated to the USA where he was born and raised. The call-up was somewhat of a surprise given that Irimescu has not been a part of Eagles’ training regimes. He is however a former Collegiate All-American.

Americas Men Struggle in Sydney
No Americas teams reached the Cup Quarter Finals of the Sydney Sevens. It represents a stark reversal in fortunes after the 1st and 3rd-place finishes respectively for Argentina and the USA just a week earlier in Hamilton, New Zealand. Just two wins were shared between the four Americas teams in the pool stage. Argentina were the top Americas finishers in 9th spot.

Argentine Wingers Injured in Top 14
There were two blows to Argentine wingers on Saturday. Racing 92’s Juan Imhoff and Clermont’s Bautista Delguy were both injured. Both players earned caps under Michael Cheika in 2022 and are under consideration for the World Cup. With Argentina currently having a lot of wingers to choose from, an injury at any time in 2023 is bad news for players pressing for selection.

Scotland say thank you to World Rugby’s Eligibility Rollback
20 out of Scotland’s 21 foreign-born players are not homegrown. This means 95% of Scotland’s foreign-born players were trained and produced by rivals. Two-thirds of Scotland’s foreign-born players have represented other countries in some capacity. Two of the players played at Rugby World Cup 2019 for different countries. Flanker Jack Dempsey played for Australia and winger Ruaridh McConnochie played for England.