Up and Under

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

 

UP

Chile Take Monumental Leap to the Future
Chile Rugby confirmed that more than $900 million Chilean Pesos will be invested in a High Performance Center. Parque Mahuida will be completely remodeled to meet World Rugby standards. The playing surface will be entirely reformed with the installation of synthetic grass complete with a shock pad. It will be of the highest standards and will cover a total area of 10,764 square meters.

USA book Tbilisi Date
At last there is a test match in place for the USA this year. The Men’s Eagles will miss Rugby World Cup 2023 but will be involved in matches prior to the tournament. For the time being a match against Georgia in Tbilisi has been confirmed for August. Additional matches against Portugal and Romania are expected to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Argentina XV See off Hawks
The USA Hawks closed out their three-match tour of South America with a 45-33 defeat against an Argentina Development XV. It’s back to the USA for the Hawks, who will camp out in Charlotte to prepare for their four remaining games. They will face Super Rugby Americas sides Cobras and Yacare on April 6 and 29 respectively. In between it will be the Pumitas u20s on April 15 and 21.

Call-Ups for Uncapped Canadians
New names are on Canada’s Women’s roster for upcoming matches in Spain. Front-rowers Cassandra Tuffnail, Holly Phillips will be on the plane. So too will University of Victoria duo Zoe Williams and Justine Blatt-Janmaat. The former is a prop and the latter a scrumhalf from Nova Scotia. Winger Fancy Bermudez has previously featured on the World Seven Series, and Québec collegiate stars Audrey Champagne and Mahalia Robinson could feature at centre and fullback respectively.

All Glory for DC over Toronto
Old Glory DC secured a comfortable 29-3 win over the Toronto Arrows at Segra Field on Saturday evening. After giving up the opening score to the visitors, the home side completely shut down their opponents and earned a four-try bonus point in the process.

Chicago’s First Win in the History Books
History was made at SeatGeek Stadium on Saturday night as the Chicago Hounds edged the Jackals 24-22 to claim their first ever victory as a franchise. Played in frigid temperatures, the match was captivating from start to finish and both sides deserve credit for their efforts.

From Mud to Gold for NOLA
The NOLA Gold backed up their impressive win over New York with a dominant 37-14 victory over the Utah Warriors at The Gold Mine on Saturday afternoon. Six different players scored tries for the home side as their high tempo attack gave fits to the visiting defense.

Peñarol on Fire in Super Rugby Americas
Peñarol remain the team to beat in Super Rugby Americas 2023. The Uruguayans played like kings against Yacare on Friday. They did so despite losing three leading forwards to injuries in the opening quarter. The 45-12 win also came despite Yacare having scored first with a superb try. While there is plenty of time remaining in the season, signs point to Peñarol being in the Super Rugby Americas Final.

Cobras Find the Winning Method
Os Cobras completed their first win of Super Rugby Americas 2023. The Brazilian side overcame Selknam in São Paulo on Saturday. The players and modest crowd celebrated the 30-24 win. With it the American Raptors are now the only winless team and Os Cobras rise off the bottom of the standings. Lucas Tranquez had a smile the size of the moon.

Dominate Dogos Sit Pretty at top of Super Rugby Americas
The first-ever professional derby in South American rugby history took place on Thursday evening in Buenos Aires. Los Pampas were the home side against Córdoba side Los Dogos. The visitors from Córdoba conquered La Catedral in an impressive 29-11 victory. The mental toughness of Los Dogos was a telling part of their win.

Chicago Lands 2023 Major League Rugby Final
Major League Rugby have confirmed that the 2023 Championship Final will be played at Chicago’s SeatGeek Stadium on Saturday, July 8. It will be the third time a set venue has been used for a final, with San Diego’s Torero Stadium used in both 2018 and 2019. The 2021 and 2022 finals were played at the home venue of the highest ranked team.

Hope for Vancouver joining Major League Rugby
Could a Major League Rugby team finally be heading for Vancouver? A new article from The Province sports writer Patrick Johnston outlines efforts by a local group to put together a compelling bid. Among those spearheading the renewed interest are realtor Pat O’Gorman, the father of Free Jacks lock Reegan, and entrepreneur Karl Harrison. If the second name sounds familiar, it’s because Harrison was the leading man behind the original bid that was supposed to bring MLR to British Columbia in 2019.

 

UNDER

One Year On from Aramburu’s death
France hosted Wales on Saturday in the final round of the 2023 Six Nations. The match marked one year since Rugby World Cup 2007 Puma Federico Martin Aramburu was murdered in Paris. There was a moment of silence as part of a tribute to the player prior to kick-off. Aramburu had a highly successful professional career in France, and the UK and scored a try in winning Bronze at the World Cup for Los Pumas.

Blunt Arrows hammered in DC
The Toronto Arrows fell to a 29-3 loss against Old Glory DC on Saturday. The result was evidently poor for the Canadians who failed to score a try and conceded four. It is back to the drawing board for Toronto, who still have two away games before their home opener. The first is at Utah next Saturday.

0-21 for Dallas Jackals
Both the Chicago Hounds and Dallas Jackals went into their encounter on Saturday looking to make history. Neither side had registered a win in Major League Rugby. Chicago won the tight battles to see the Dallas Jackals setting a new Major League Rugby mark for most consecutive defeats at 21.

Rugby ATL pounded at home by impressive Legion
It was not the result that folk in Atlanta wanted. Rugby ATL were beaten 35-10 by the San Diego Legion. The heavy defeat saw the home side scoring two tries while conceding five. There is little time to work out what went wrong; ATL hit the road to play the Houston SaberCats on Saturday

Woeful Pampas Cleanly Beaten at Home
Los Pampas fell to a 29-11 home defeat against Los Dogos on Thursday. The first-ever Argentine professional derby was expected to be close but was not. Pundits had comments that the division of Los Jaguares XV into two teams had come with the expectation of level teams. Los Dogos have clearly been better on the field thus far.

Back-to-Back losses for Selknam 
Selknam lost by six points against Os Cobras on Saturday. Of concern for the Chileans is that it marked back-to-back defeats. It was also the first win for the Brazilian side in Super Rugby Americas 2023. Selknam had rotated heavily for the match. The outcome will likely bring in to question whether such man approach ought to be repeated.

Josh Larsen out of action
New England Free Jacks captain Josh Larsen did not play this past weekend. He was out after having suffered a dislocated shoulder the prior weekend. He will also miss additional matches. To complicate matters further, Reegan O’Gorman is also presently sidelined. This means that the Free Jacks are very thin at lock.

Eliseo Morales Joins Pumas Scrum-half Injured List
United Rugby Championship (URC) Pumas Gonzalo Bertranou and Gonzalo García are out for the season. Tomás Cubelli missed the first half of the Pro D2 season for Biarritz. Now, Los Pampas have a problem. Eliseo Morales missed Thursday’s match against Los Dogos and will miss more. His injury is minor, but the timing is bad for Argentina.