Up and Under

Up and Under is an Americas Rugby News exclusive. It identifies the best and the worst involving the Americas from the past seven days.

 

UP

USA Storm to title in Spain
It was a memorable night for the Eagles on Saturday as they stormed to a 42-12 win over hosts Spain to claim the La Vila International Cup. On the flipside Los Leones endured a thoroughly forgettable second half that saw them repeatedly throw away possession, conceding three tries and 22 unanswered points in the final half hour of the contest.

Lucas Rumball Inspires Canada to Big Win
Another poor start had Canadian fans nervous, but the Maple Leafs recovered to beat a woeful Brazil side 40-15 in La Vila on Saturday. Canada’s fitness and forward strength was the difference with captain Lucas Rumball leading the way with three tries of his own. Cole Keith, Matthew Oworu and Andrew Coe also scored for the rampaging Canadians.

Argentina Untouchable as South America’s Leading Youth
Argentina’s position as the giants of the Americas shows signs of continuing. The South American Tri Nations saw Argentina backing-up their mid-week 68-0 win over Chile by similarly easily defeating Uruguay to secure the South American u19 Trophy for another year. Los Pumitas converted a 40-3 half-time lead into a 59-8 victory over Los Teritos in Santa Fé on Saturday.

SIC end 15 year wait to secure Argentine Club Glory
After a 15 year gap SIC are the Argentine Nacional de Clubes champions for 2023. The team from the northern Buenos Aires area of San Isidro defeated Universitario de Tucumán 25-18 in the Final. It was a final between the Buenos Aires Champions and the Mainland Champions. Former Puma Lisandro Ahualli de Chazal started for Universitario.

Juan Imhoff Makes Further History for Racing 92
Juan Imhoff signed for Racing 92 after his World Cup debut campaign in 2011. The Rosario speedster is still at the club. On Saturday he played his 250th match for Racing 92. This is the most appearances by ay Argentine ever in France’s elite. In addition, Imhoff holds the record for most tries scored by any Racing 92 player past or present with 75 tries. He is also the record holder for the most tries scored in the Top 14 by an Argentine.

South American Tries in French Top 14 and Pro D2
Pumas second-rower Lucas Paulos scored for Bayonne in their 35-16 win over Pau. Segundo Tuculet scored for Montauban and also had a try assist. Montauban were 32-21 winners over former Top 14 giants Biarritz. Argentine Bautista Pedemonte and Uruguayan captain Andrés Vilaeca were try scorers for Vannes in the team’s 47-10 win over Agen. Meanwhile, Puma Lautaro Bazán Vélez scored for Rovigo in Italy’s Serie A Elite.

Juan Martín González Stands Out Again
In the English Premiership Juan Martín González is 2-0 for Saracens. Los Pumas’ first-choice back-rower scored on debut for the English Premiership club and scored again in game two. His second try was on Saturday in a London derby against Harlequins. González also scored on debut for his former club London Irish and for his country in his test debut against Romania.

Super Rugby Americas Future – Special Player Draft
South American rugby players are in search of professional opportunities. This has seen the creation of Super Rugby Americas Future. The new institution is to be a special player draft held in Montevideo, Uruguay from November 22-25. Teams taking to the field will be playing as Paraguay Talents, Argentina Talents U20, Uruguay Talents U23 and the combined Chile / Brazil.

Argentina With World Cup Boost For Olympics 
The World’s best Rugby Sevens player from 2023, Rodrigo Isgró is back. The big name from Mendoza returns to Argentina 7’s with an eye to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Isgró is listed for the upcoming Dubai tournament the tournament following his outstanding last twelve months. In addition to his impressive year on the 7’s World Series, Isgró made his debut for Argentina against Australia in the Rugby Championship and went on to also play in the World Cup, scoring a try against Chile in Nantes.

Utah Scrum Anchors
Utah have now confirmed three Eagles options at the anchor position of tight head prop for the upcoming Major League Rugby (MLR) season. Paul Mullen is the latest to sign on for another year, following Angus MacLellan and Takaji Young Yen. The latter is the youngest and newest to join the capped club, and should see more game time in 2024 after playing just twice this past season.

 

UNDER

Strong Start in otherwise substandard showing from Brazil 
Os Tupis had the best of the early exchanges against Canada on Saturday. The South Americans turned away the first Canadian attack and then moved into scoring position after ill-discipline from the men in red. Gabriel Oliveira reached over on the short side of a ruck for the first try of the game, with Lucas Tranquez converting from wide out. He would add a penalty goal soon after to make it 10-nil to the South Americans. From then on Brazil all apart.

Chile Struggle with the Dreaded Short Turn-Around
A powerful performance from Argentina saw Los Pumitas easily overcoming Chile in the South American u19’s. The 68-0 victory set up a final between Los Pumitas and Uruguay. Chile’s performance was substandard, though having to play the match so soon after facing Uruguay was beyond flawed. World Rugby took too many World Cups to put an end to teams playing twice in five days.

Nate Brakeley Calls it a Day
It was a great moment for Nate Brakeley on Saturday. The veteran Eagles forward decided it was time to call it a day. After 34 test matches, Brakeley is hanging up his Eagles’ boots. The 34-year-old from Marblehead, Massachusetts captained the USA in the Eagles’ two matches in Spain. Both were wins with the USA ending 2023 by beating Brazil and Spain by every healthy margins in La Vila.

World Cup Hosts not playing any Tier 2 away matches
France’s fixtures for 2024 and 2025 went public this past week. France’s two match tour of Argentina for July 2024 was confirmed as was a home match against Los Pumas in November 2024. France will host Japan in November 2024 and Fiji in November 2025. Other than that every French fixture is against a Tier 1 side. There is no move for France to face Uruguay while in South America in July 2024.

Tomás Lavanini’s Recovery
Having been injured during the knock-out stags of the Rugby World Cup, Tomás Lavanini was expected to require time to recover before playing his first Top 14 match of the season. The Buenos Aires enforcer remains sidelined and there is not yet any indication of when he will play for Clermont. The central French side fell to a late loss against Toulon on Saturday.

Argentina to Italy Player Drain
ARN understands Italy approached Gerónimo Prisciantelli months ago with the offer of him making the player transfer from Argentina to Italy. Prisciantelli plays his rugby for Zebre in Italy and is a regular starter at both fullback and fly half.  He is uncapped but is attached to Argentina. His last match for the Argentina XV was in July 2022, meaning Italy could, in theory, cap him as of July 2025.