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’s World Cup Pioneers
The first-ever Chilean roster for a Rugby World Cup has been named. All 30 players on Chile’s roster learned their rugby in Chile. The squad is entirely made up of home-grown players. Three additional players will be added to Los Condores’ roster. Chile will make their Rugby World Cup debut next month against Japan first up in Toulouse.

Uruguay Unbeaten in World Cup Warm-Up Matches
Uruguay completed their Rugby World Cup warm-up matches in style. Los Teros were 33-13 winners over the Argentina XV. Earlier warm-up results were a 26-25 win over Chile and a 26-18 victory against upcoming World Cup opponents Namibia. Thought choices now need to me made as only 33 Uruguayans can be on the plane to France.

Brazil Full of Smiles Against Chile XV
A strong opening half from Brazil saw the 2022 South American Tri Nations champions opening the 2023 South American Four Nations in style. Brazil were 22-0 ahead at half-time and went on to win 27-12. Victor Silva scored in the opening minute. Addition tries were scored by Lorenzo Massari Temer, Gabriel Paganini and Daniel Lima.

Paraguay Humble Colombia in South American Four Nations
Paraguay humbled Colombia on Saturday. Played at the Héroes de Curupayty in Asunción, Los Yacarés were the far better team. The 50-7 win sees Paraguay opening the South American Four Nations with a dream start. Paraguay now turn their attention to the Chile XV. Los Yacarés take-on the next-of-XV of the World Cup bound Chile.

Chile Brotherhood on Display at Rugby World Cup 2023
Brotherhood will truly be on display when Chile take to the field in France. Chile’s roster for their inaugural Rugby World Cup contains four sets of brothers. Two of the four sets of brothers also include players whose fathers also played for Chile and one set of brothers are twins.

Nemer and Brex Power Past Romania
Italy routed Romania on Italy. The 57-7 win included two Argentines. Juan Ignacio Brex played center and Iván Nemer played loose head. The former was a try-scorer. Both players are expected to be name don Italy’s roster for the World Cup. This will see the tradition continue of Argentines wearing Italian colors at Rugby World Cups. Sergio Parisse played in the past five and, despite expectation and form, is not a part of the team heading into France 2023.

Dominic Besag Becomes Second Youngest Eagle
USA u20’s captain Dominic Besag made the step-up to the senior Men’s Eagles on Saturday. He entered the field against Georgia in Tbilisi in the 32nd minute. In doing so, Besag officially became the second youngest ever Eagle behind Thretton Palamo who debuted in 2007.

Men’s Eagles clinch Paris 2024 spot with win over Canada
A strong crowd at Starlight Stadium wasn’t enough to inspire Canada to victory at the Rugby Americas North Sevens on Sunday. Instead it was the USA who claimed the Men’s title with a convincing 24-14 victory in the Gold Final, in doing so earning their ticket to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Ben Pinkelman’s return after a two-year hiatus helped inspire the Eagles.

Canada cruise to Women’s RAN 7s title
Canada’s Women dominated the field to claim the Rugby Americas North Sevens title in Langford. In doing so they booked their spot at next year’s Olympic Games in Paris. As expected it was largely one-way traffic for the Canadians, the only core Sevens Series team competing with the USA already qualified and not required to compete. In six games the Maple Leafs put up 288 points while conceding only a single try, to St. Lucia in the Semi Final.

Argentines Score in Pro D2
The opening round of the 2023-2024 professional rugby season in France saw plenty of Argentines involved. There were also tries. Segundo Tuculet scored for Montauban against Valence Romans. Bautista Pedemonte touched down in Vannes’ win over Nevers. Hooker Pablo Dimcheff scored for Colomiers who lost the season opener against Biarritz. Patricio Fernández scored on debut for Mont de Marsan.

Lindenwood Leads the MLR Draft
The fourth edition of the Major League Rugby Collegiate Draft saw 39 players selected across three rounds with 11 teams from the 2023 season participating. Old Glory had already traded their three allotted selections. Expansion side Miami also took part. For a third consecutive year Lindenwood had the most players selected with four, with three each chose from BYU, Central Washington, Life, and St. Bonaventure. Almost a third of players selected – 12 of them – were back row forwards, while only four were props.

 

UNDER

Canada well beaten on Tonga Tour
Tonga cruised to a second straight dominant victory over Canada in Nuku’alofa on Tuesday, with the final score reading 36-12 in favor of the home side. It was the final tune-up for the Ikale Tahi ahead of the World Cup, and featured a mix of likely travelers and seven uncapped players including five amateurs on the bench. Between the two tests the aggregate was 64-15 for the Tongans.

Eagles Prove Competitive but fall short
Georgia came away from their match against the USA with a 22-7 victory on Saturday in Tbilisi, their final home game before the World Cup. It was a competitive contest with the Eagles defense and set piece putting up a stronger fight than some had expected.

Reckless Play from Chile XV 
While Brazil had been training specifically for this match the Chile XV was more of a side that had been thrown together. Less preparation meant it took longer for the Chile XV to reach their potential. They did well to score two second-half tries, though Brazil were the certainly better team on the day. The Chile XV often ran the ball from deep which saw them losing possession, defending as a result and conceding tries.

Colombia in No Mans Land without Cafeteros Pro
Paraguay’s investments in High Performance Center, and Super Rugby Americas have been key factors as to why they have returned to overtake Colombia. The aforementioned strengthening of the roster via player eligibility has been another. Meanwhile, Los Cafeteros Pro seized to exist after two seasons of the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). The level of the test team was far behind requirements. Colombia had beaten Paraguay by big scores in 2018 and 2019 and narrowly lost in 2022.

Atlanta Left in the Dust
It is official: Rugby ATL is no more. The Atlanta-based Major League Rugby (MLR) franchise will relocate to Los Angeles. An official announcement from MLR confirmed the plans for the team to play on the West Coast as of the 2024 season. The new ownership group will announce the move together with the teams new identity.