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

Argentina’s Star-Studded 33
Argentina’s roster for the World Cup is star-studded. Julián Montoya will lead a 33-man squad which contains many big names of the sport. Players from rugby’s most elite leagues are included. There are players who have wins over all of rugby’s very best countries. Make no mistake, Montoya is leading a roster that has the means to go far in the World Cup.

Nationwide Albiceleste Representation
Argentina’s roster contains players from across the country. There are players from Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Concordia, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Mendoza, Posadas, Rafaela, Rosario, Rufino, Santa Fé, Santiago del Estero, Tandil, and Tucumán. Every player comes from Argentina. There are no players qualifying via a grandparent, parent or via completing residency. All members of the 33-man roster qualify on birth.

International Competition between Chile and Namibia is Born
Rugby World Cup 2023 teams Chile and Namibia went head-to-head on Saturday. In the first-ever match between the countries, the match went down to the wire. It was only decided in the final play of the game. Namibia won a penalty in their own 22 to win the match 28-26. Future matches between the teams is a must with tours and test series compelling options.

Argentina’s Depth is Off the Charts
While there can only be 33-places on a World Cup roster, the missing names showcases that Argentina’s depth chart is bigger than in prior World Cup years. A team could certainly be selected from the absent players and be competitive many teams against at the World Cup. It would be stronger than the Argentina XV side that won both games on tour against Georgia and Portugal in 2022.

Home-based Argentina XV to test itself against Uruguay and Chile
Final adjustments have been made to the Argentina XV roster. Coming off wins over Namibia and Chile, the national next-of-XV will play farewell matches against Uruguay and Chile over the coming two weekends. The roster sees opportunities for Super Rugby Americas, Pumitas and 7’s players with European-based players now preparing for the upcoming season instead. Some names to look forward to are Efraín Elías, Benjamín Elizalde, Luciano González, Mateo Soler, and Boris Wenger.

Colombia Ready for South American 4 Nations
Colombia is ready for the upcoming South American 4 Nations. Los Tucanes will compete against Brazil, Paraguay and the Chile XV this month. A 28-man roster has been named to wear the colors of Colombia. Leading players included are Jhon Carlos Álvarez, Diver Ceballos, and Cristian Rodallegas.

List of Pumas in Four World Cups Grows by Two
Agustín Creevy and fly half Nicolás Sánchez are set to appear at a fourth Rugby World Cup Both men also played at Rugby World Cups 2011, 2015 and 2019. They follow Pedro Sporleder, Agustín Pichot, Felipe Contepomi, Mario Ledesma and Juan Manuel Leguizamón. Creevy and Sánchez are Argentina’s most capped players of all-time. The former has 100 caps and the latter 97.

Miami Sharks Taking Shape
The Miami Sharks have confirmed the signings of four players selected in the recent Expansion Draft. Head to Major League Rugby’s newest team are Canadian international Shane O’Leary, Dallas Jackals duo Eric Naposki and Alex Tucci, and uncapped Free Jacks No8 Tomás Casares.

 

UNDER

Canada Overpowered by Tonga
Tonga took a decisive 28-3 result over Canada in the first match of their two-test series in Nuku’alofa. The power of the Ikale Tahi in the contact area was too much for the visitors, who failed to score any points at all in the second half despite playing most of it with a one-man advantage. Canada did not score a try all match with their only points an early penalty goal.

Rugby Canada ‘oblivious’ to live stream
What is wrong with this organization? Their social media channels insisted that no live broadcast of the game was available in Canada due to ‘technical limitations.’ This was an absurd claim, as evidenced when a perfectly good stream was open to everyone via the Tonga Broadcasting Facebook page. To make matters worse, Rugby Canada’s social media account then refused to acknowledge that stream despite numerous people sending them the link. It was as if they didn’t actually want people to watch.

USA No Match for Portugal
Portugal took full advantage of their only warm-up test ahead of the World Cup with a runaway 46-20 victory over the USA in Algarve on Saturday. While the Eagles matched their hosts up front, they were outclassed by the electric Lobos backline that had far too much pace and guile for their guests. Of note is how well the Eagles won their match one week earlier against Romania.

Chile suffer heartbreaking defeat against Namibia
Los Cóndores fell to an agonizing two-point defeat to Namibia on Saturday. The home side had been in total control but it was the Africans who won the contest. Chile had a strong match overall but fell away in periods which was deadly. The 28-26 loss was almost avoided by a penalty which went wide and three opportunities for late tries only for Chile to be penalized.

Chile Blow Big Lead
Los Cóndores were on course for victory and they knew it. Leading 26-7 they looked to continue playing enterprising rugby. Instead, an intercept pass was thrown for a gift try. The 14-point-try was swiftly followed by two others to give Namibia the lead. Now only should Chile have won but the comeback was the 10th biggest in international rugby history.

No Andrés Zafra on Tucanes Roster
Colombia’s roster for the South American 4 Nations was missing some names. The most important of them is Andrés Zafra. Since moving to France for his professional rugby career, the Colombian second-rower has not played again for his home country. Hopefully Colombia will be able to play in matches during the RWC 2023-2027 cycle with the giant from Los Carboneros club in Cúcuta.

Uruguayan Coach Slams Rugby Eligibility Laws
Esteban Meneses believes that eligibility laws are unfair. He believes that homegrown teams are victims of the system. He asked “Why aren’t Uruguay or Georgia rewarded if they do things well?” In other words, Uruguay and Georgia are punished for being productive while Tonga and Samoa capture elite test players from rivals and are rewarded for it.

All Red from Tongan All Black 
Tonga lost George Moala to an early second-half red card against Canada. The New Zealander was sent-off for a dangerous lifting tackle on Ben LeSage. Rugby Law 9.18 notes that a player must not lift an opponent off the ground and drop or drive that player so that their head and / or upper body make contact with the ground. A six week ban is the norm for such incidents.

Japan without top name for Chile
Pieter Labuschagne will not play against Chile at the World Cup. Japan’s opening World Cup match will be against Los Cóndores in Toulouse on September 10. Labuschagne is out of the match through suspension. The South African flanker was red carded playing for Japan against Fiji. World Rugby handed Labuschagne a three match suspension for a dangerous tackle (Law 9.13).

Unbalanced Global Qualifying
The global qualifying unbalance for Men’s Rugby World Cups sees the Americas and Europe at a disadvantage. The outlook of regional progression in these regions is better than others where regression has been and will continue to be a larger factor. Meanwhile, 60% of teams at the World Cup did not have to compete in qualifiers.

Departures hitting Dallas Jackals
The Dallas Jackals have bid farewell to a pair of their best players who are off to Italy. Loose forward Conrado Roura has signed for newly-promoted Vicenza, now known as the Rangers, while versatile back Alejandro Torres will join CUS Torino. Both clubs are in the Serie A, the top Italian domestic division. In addition, Eric Naposki and Alex Tucci have been drafted by the Miami Sharks.