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

Comprehensive victory for Canada over USA in Spain
Canada opened the Pacific Four tournament with a comprehensive 50-17 victory over the USA on Saturday afternoon. Played at the neutral venue of Madrid, it was the 8th consecutive success for the Canadians against their North American rivals and left no doubt as to who was the better side with eight tries to the Maple Leafs and two for the Eagles.

Women’s Eagles Qualify for Paris Olympics
The Women’s Eagles are headed to Paris 2024. While they were ultimately defeated in the Cup Quarter Finals in Hong Kong, the USA’s pool stage results were enough to guarantee a top four finish on the World Sevens Series and with it an automatic qualification spot for the Olympic Games.

USA Eagles in Hot Demand before World Cup in Europe
The USA will face three World Cup teams in August. Squaring off against the Men’s Eagles will be Romania, Portugal, and Georgia on consecutive weekends beginning on August 5. These are three World Cup competitors for the USA who failed to qualify for RWC 2023. Scott Lawrence takes charge for the first time as Interim Head Coach and says he intends to bring a team capable of winning.

Utah stops New England in barn burner
Utah put a halt to New England’s three-game winning streak with a 26-24 victory at Zions Bank Stadium on Friday night. It was an enthralling contest from start to finish, with the Warriors and Free Jacks going toe-to-toe in what was arguably the most exciting match of the Major League Rugby season to date.

History and Relief for Dallas Jackals
Dallas have done it. After 22 consecutive defeats, the Jackals at last have their first ever franchise victory. Despite conceding the majority of possession and territory to Toronto, the home side held on to take a 14-11 result over the Arrows at Choctaw Stadium on Saturday night.

Raptors and Cobras put on a classic Slobber-knocker
In entertainment terms it was quite simply the best game of the Super Rugby Americas 2023 season thus far. Os Cobras and the American Raptors put on a slobber-knocker in Colorado. Os Cobras survived to defeat the Raptors 43-40 in a classic on Sunday.

Super Rugby Americas Set to Expand to Panama
New frontiers are being crossed in Super Rugby Americas. A plan was presented to Sudamérica Rugby for the creation of a new franchise for Super Rugby Americas 2024. The new team will be Central America’s first professional rugby team. The franchise will see Panama becoming the latest country to join professional rugby. The team will be the Panama Eagles and will play home matches in the country.

Argentines Advance in European Champions Cup
The best clubs from Europe and South Africa battled it out in the round-of-16 this past weekend. Julian Montoya’s Leicester Tigers over came Emiliano Boffelli’s Edinburgh to reach the final 8. Joel Sclavi’s La Rochelle overcame Gloucester with Santiago Carreras, Mayco Vivas and Matías Alemanno. Toulouse with Santiago Chocobares and Juan Cruz Mallía defeated the Bulls.

More Winners in the Challenge Cup
More Argentines were winners in the European Challenge Cup play-off’s. Tomás Lavanini scored for Clermont who eliminated Bristol. Bautista Delguy also started. Facundo Isa was simply brilliant for Toulon who eliminated the Cheetahs. Francisco Gomez Kodela helped Lyon defeat Stade Français. Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro and Juan Ignacio Brex started in Benetton’s win over Connacht. Lucio Sordoni and Domingo Miotti started for Glasgow’s record win over the Dragons.

Montauban Rescue Mission Underway
With four rounds remaining in the Pro D2 season Montauban are fighting to avoid relegation. The team celebrated a vital 30-15 win over Aurillac on Friday. Argentine Segundo Tuculet was a try scorer in the win. The recent recruit Tomás Lezana made an impact from the bench. The win takes Montauban to 45 points. The club is second from bottom and one point behind Carcassonne, two behind Charente and four behind Rouen. The bottom two after four more rounds will be relegated.

UNDER

Broken Arrows limp home to Toronto
The historic defeat to Dallas brought a close to a disastrous opening road swing for the Arrows to start their campaign. Injuries again wreaked havoc and with just one win from six games the team is now sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference table. Thankfully they have their home opener to look forward to next weekend, and there is a chance to make up ground with the rest of the East teams struggling against their Western counterparts.

Chicago Hounds Overpowered at Home
The SaberCats came away from Chicago with a 38-21 win over the Hounds at Choctaw Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Houston’s size and power up front proved too much for their hosts, as they dominated the set piece and collisions on the way to a six-try-to-three result.

Peñarol’s unbeaten streak ends at La Catedral
Peñarol’s unbeaten streak in Super Rugby Americas 2023 game to an end this past week. Los Pampas celebrated an important result. The Buenos Aires team defeated the Uruguayans 20-19 on Wednesday at La Catedral. The outcome means Los Dogos retain top spot of the standings with half of the season over.

Make it four in-a-row for Selknam
Yacare put on a good performance in front of their home supporters. Played at the home of Paraguayan rugby, the Héroes de Curupayty in Asunción, Yacare were 21-11 winners. The result was Selknam’s fourth consecutive defeat. The Chileans opened Super Rugby Americas 2023 with two rounds. They have since been unable to win a match. While the losses are of concern, Selknam could have won every game and it is important to note that the team is rotating players in preparation for the World Cup.