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

Silver in Toulouse, Bronze overall for for Women’s Eagles
The Women’s Eagles wrapped up their 2022-23 World Sevens Series campaign with a Silver finish in Toulouse. It was the second Silver and sixth podium finish of the campaign for the USA, who can now look towards next season and ultimately the Olympic Games having already secured automatic qualification. The Eagles finished 3rd on the overall season’s rankings behind New Zealand and Australia, with Ireland also securing their place at Paris 2024 along with hosts France.

Argentina Qualify for Paris Olympics
Argentina have booked their ticket for Paris 2024. This will be the third Olympic Games for Argentina. They were defeated by Great Britain in extra time during the Quarter Finals of Rio 2016. At the 2021 edition in Tokyo they lost to eventual champions Fiji in the Semi Final, and then defeated Great Britain to claim the Bronze Medal.

Season’s best performance for Canada Men
Canada celebrated their best tournament of the season despite losing both games on Day Three by convincing margins. An upset win over Australia in the Quarter Final was a highlight. The fourth-place result saw them move to within one point of 13th-place Kenya on the overall rankings but as noted below it won’t be enough to avoid the relegation playoff.

Muted Celebrations as Arrows end losing streak with draw against ATL
Toronto’s seven-game losing streak is at an end, though celebrations would be muted after a 34-34 draw against Rugby ATL at York Lions Stadium on Friday night. The Arrows recovered from a 17-nil first half deficit to salvage the tie, leaving the visitors frustrated to leave behind two vital competitions points in their hunt for a playoff spot.

Legion reach Nine and Counting
The San Diego Legion stretched their winning streak to nine games after a 26-12 win at The Gold Mine on Saturday, but it was far from easy. It took until the 78th minute for the result to be secured as an injury-depleted NOLA put in a brave performance against the odds. Who can stop San Diego in MLR 2023?

New England Eye Eastern Conference Title
The New England Free Jacks continued their march towards an Eastern Conference title with a convincing 42-24 win over Old Glory DC on Sunday afternoon. Bright, sunny conditions at the nation’s capital allowed for running rugby and 10 tries were scored between the two teams.

Utah Outlast Dallas
The Dallas Jackals rebounded from a horror start to make things interesting, but the Utah Warriors ultimately came away with the bonus-point 36-26 victory at Choctaw Stadium on Saturday. Three tries from Connor McLeod led the way for the visitors with Joe Mano scoring the other two.

Selknam upset Pampas in Buenos Aires
Selknam went to Buenos Aires and conquered La Catedral. The 23-19 win was a comeback victory; Los Pampas held a 13-0 lead well in the first-half. The grunt of the forwards proved the difference for the Chilean side. Selknam’s remaining matches are at home against Yacare and away to Peñarol. They represent a pathway for Selknam to secure a place in the Semi Finals.

All-Action in explosive Yacare vs Dogos showdown
It was all action in Asunción on Saturday evening. With home advantage Yacare came away with a win that few had anticipated. Up against the Semi Final bound Dogos, Yacare had an explosive start and went on to down the Argentine side 45-29. As the match in showcased, Super Rugby Americas is an exciting product. The balance of Argentines to Paraguayans in the Yacare line-up appears to be on the money.

Francisco Gorrissen leads Vannes into Pro D2 Semi Finals
For Vannes players and supporters the Top 14 dream is alive. Vannes traveled to Nevers for a barrage play-off. They returned home 20-17 winners to qualify for the Pro D2 Semi Finals. Francisco Gorrissen captained Vannes to victory over Nevers. The Argentine was joined by Uruguayan captain Andrés Vilaseca in the starting line-up.

Pumas Wingers in 2015 Mode
Veteran Pumas wingers impressed in France over the weekend. Santiago Cordero scored for Bordeaux who ran over Pau and Juan Imhoff scored for Racing 92 against Toulon. Cordero and Imhoff were Argentina’s starting wingers at RWC 2015. Both missed out on RWC 2019 due to politics; players based in Argentina were given preference. Both men are in Michael Cheika’s plans for RWC 2023.

Namibia to tour South America for Rugby World Cup Warm-Ups
The second best African test team will tour South America in July and August. Namibia will play away test matches against Uruguay and Chile and also play a non-capped match against the Argentina XV in the neutral location of Montevideo. Namibia is ranked 21st in the world. Uruguay is 17th and Chile is 22nd. All three will compete at Rugby World Cup 2023. It will be the seventh Rugby World Cup for Namibia.

 

UNDER

No Spanish Speakers or Americas Referees for Rugby World Cup 2023
World Rugby labeled the referee panel for Rugby World Cup 2023 as Everyone’s team. While certainly featuring most of the world’s elite, the fact that once again no officials from the Americas can be considered among them is both disheartening and an indictment of World Rugby’s match official development strategy in the region. Indeed only one member of the entire group comes from outside the traditional Tier 1 nations. Progress? We think not.

Men’s Eagles fall from great heights in Toulouse
It was a miserable weekend for the Men’s Eagles, who failed to win a single match and finished in a tie for dead last with Germany. A shutout loss to Kenya brought their tournament to an early end. After a bright start to the campaign, the Eagles have fallen dramatically to 9th overall and will have to earn their spot in the Olympics through the regional qualifier to be hosted by Canada in August.

Canada and Uruguay Playing for 7’s Survival 
World Rugby’s decision to reduce the number of 7’s teams to 12 for 2024 means Canada and Uruguay are playing for survival. So too is Kenya. Tonga awaits these three teams in a promotion-relegation series. It remains to be seen if plans to trim the World Series to just 12 men’s teams next season can revive what appears to be waning interest in the circuit, and if teams who miss out on core status will keep their programs alive.

Shown and Awe as Houston Fall Apart 
The Seattle Seawolves scored 31 unanswered points in the second half to take a 34-17 come-from-behind victory in Houston on Saturday night. Despite holding the vast majority of possession and territory for nearly 50 minutes, the SaberCats failed to close out the game and took no competition points out of the pivotal Western Conference clash.

Chicago Suffer Heartbreak
It was heartbreak for the Hounds in Chicago as a late try gave the New York Ironworkers a 21-20 victory on Sunday afternoon. The expansion side gave the defending champions all they could handle and a last-second penalty goal attempt from Luke Carty rang off the uprights to the dismay of the home faithful.

Pumas Futures unclear as Brive are Relegated from Top 14 to Pro D2
Brive have been relegated from the Top 14. The team’s 16-13 home defeat to Castres on Saturday confirmed that the team is bottom for the 2022-2023 season. Brive will compete in the 2023-2024 Pro D2 as a result. Lucas Paulos is reported to be close to finalizing a move to Castres next season. Rodrigo Bruni is expected to stay at Brive while ARN has learned that Nicolás Sánchez is expected to reunite with Tomás Cubelli at the Miami Sharks in Major League Rugby (MLR). The future of Los Pumas 7’s player Axel Muller is unclear.

Cobras Can’t Withstand the Peñarol Punch
Os Cobras were unable to withstand Peñarol’s punch on Saturday. Played just outside São Paulo, Penãrol were comfortable 38-15 winners over the Brazilian Super Rugby Americas side. The Brazilian outfit will not complete in the play-off’s. Peñarol are highly likely to finish top of the table. At present they are penciled in to play host to Yacare in the Semi Finals.

Still No Titi Lamositele in Eagles
Leading USA prop Titi Lamositele remains out of the USA squad. He missed the Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifiers and will not return for upcoming international duty. The native of Washington state won the most recent of his 32 caps at Rugby World Cup 2019.

Injured Eagles Miss Out
Biarritz lock Nafi Ma’afu is one of seven players listed as injured and unavailable for Eagles selection. The others are back row quartet Ben Bonasso, Cory Daniel, Jason Damm, and Hanco Germishuys, midfielder Paul Lasike, and utility back Mike Dabulas. Bonasso recently returned to the field for New York but it seems will be given a break during the offseason instead of traveling to Europe.

Seawolves without captain Hattingh for several weeks
Seattle will be without Riekert Hattingh for a few weeks. Their captain underwent surgery on a broken foot and will miss most of – if not all – of the remainder of the regular season. It’s a significant blow to the Seawolves, who are just three points ahead of Houston for 2nd spot in the Western Conference that brings home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Rest Time for Captain Julián Montoya
Los Pumas’ and Leicester Tigers captain can now put his feet up. Julián Montoya led the Leicester Tigers into the English Premiership Semi Finals. Leicester were eliminated by the Sale Sharks. This means it is the end of the season for the decorated club. Montoya has a lot of work ahead of him for Argentina.

Guido Petti Missing All Season
One round remains in the Top 14 season; yet, Guido Petti is yet to play a single match. The Argentine forward was injured against South Africa in the 2022 Rugby Championship. Petti required surgery and had a repeated operation. His non-involvement has been complicated for Bordeaux and for him personally. For Argentina it means that a huge question mark surrounds his involvement in the World Cup.

Even the Giants Get Hurt
Marcos Kremer missed Sunday’s Top 14 match for Stade Français against Lyon. Kremer will also miss the final round match against La Rochelle. He will be available again for the play-off’s. Kremer is one the best forwards in the World. He was outstanding in Argentina’s win over New Zealand in 2020 and even better in the win over New Zealand in 2022.