Up and Under

Up and Under is an Americas Rugby News exclusive. It identifies the best and the tops and the flops involving the Americas during the course of the past seven days.

UP

Scotland Coming to Americas in July to Face Four Tier 2 Countries
Scotland are coming to the Americas. The Scottish July 2024 tour will be a busy four match stop in four different countries. Scotland will arrive in Canada and depart from Uruguay. Canada face Canada in Ottawa on July 06, the USA in Washington, DC on July 12, Chile in Santiago on Chile 20 and Uruguay in Montevideo on July 27.

Blockbuster July 2024 Rugby Internationals in South America
July 2024 will feature a blockbuster month of international rugby in South America. In what is indisputably the biggest ever international window for the region, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay will play against visiting teams from other continents. France, Scotland, Belgium, and Hong Kong will all tour South America.

USA to Play Three Home Test Matches in Summer 2024
The USA Men’s Eagles will play three home test matches in the summer of 2024. The USA will have home matches in July against Romania and Scotland and in August against Canada. The first two will be part of the mid-year or July Internationals while the North American battle will be a Pacific Nations Cup fixture and, soon to be confirmed, Rugby World Cup 2027 Qualifier.

Next Generation Shines at South American u18’s
South America makes a huge effort to unlock players of tomorrow. The 2024 South American u18’s was a case in point. Argentina, Brazil, Chile Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay competed in Córdoba. Argentina filled two teams with, surprisingly, the second winning the tournament.

Felipe Contepomi and 50 Players
Felipe Contepomi stated that he in regular contact with 50 players. That is 19 more players than he number from the camp in London. He also said that 30 or 31 will be selected for the home matches in July. Different players will be rested based on when they finish their seasons in Europe. A look at the players notes impressive depth across most positions.

Free Jacks recover from bad start to beat NOLA
The Free Jacks overcame an early two-try deficit to defeat the Gold 27-21 in front of a sellout crowd at Fort Quincy on Saturday afternoon. NOLA had the run of the play for much of the first half but New England rebounded with 27 unanswered points to secure the victory.

Jackals Smash Record against Anthem in Carolina try-fest
Dallas set new franchise marks in tries and points scored as they punished Anthem in Charlotte on Sunday afternoon. Ten different Jackals players touched down contributing to a final score of 68-28 for the visitors, though Carolina did notably record their first ever four-try bonus point. It was a miserable opening for Anthem as the Jackals poured on four tries before Carolina could catch their breath.

San Diego Rule MLR California
San Diego claimed Californian superiority at Saturday night’s Snapdragon Stadium opener, but only just. A five-from-five kicking effort from Lincoln McClutchie helped secure a 19-18 win over RFC Los Angeles, with the visitors scoring late to earn a bonus point.

Smiles in Colorado as Raptors win at last
The final match of the round took place in Denver, Colorado. The American Raptors recorded their first win of Super Rugby Americas 2024 with a bonus point home victory over Os Cobras. Those in attendance at Infinity Park were treated to a highly competitive match. The back-and-forth contest saw the lead change hands regularly before the Raptors went clear late. The Raptors won 29-21.

Yacare Humble Champions Peñarol in Montevideo
Yacare are a team going places. The Paraguayan professional rugby team were impressive 41-24 winners over Peñarol on Friday. The win followed a record-setting 51-07 win over Os Cobras six days earlier. Yacare are in the top three comfortably with Los Dogos and Los Pampas. They are clearly the leading teams this season.

Gonzalo Quesada Takes Italy to Unprecedented Heights
It is uncharted waters for Italy. The central Europeans finished the 2024 Six Nations with their second win of the tournament. Saturday’s win over Wales followed earlier positive results such as a narrow loss to England, a draw against France and a win over Scotland. Italy are now ranked higher than ever before in the World Rankings at 8th in the world. This is an all-time high. It means Italy are now ahead of Australia and Wales.

 

UNDER

Rugby World Cup 2027 Qualifying Pathway Comes with Shakeup
ARN learned that World Rugby have altered the process for Rugby World Cup 2027. It sees winners and also losers. Asia is a winner. The Asia 1 team will qualify directly for Australia 2027. There will not be Americas qualifies in the form of South America 1 vs North America 1; instead, there be a combined regional qualification between North America and Oceania in the form of the Pacific Nations Cup (PNC). Three of Samoa, Tonga, Canada and the USA will qualify as PNC 1, PNC 2 and PNC 3. In other words, Hong Kong has a far easier route than Chile and Canada.

World Cup Expansion but Mega Qualifying Reduction
The expansion to 24 teams has come with a reduction in qualifying competitors, at least for the initial phases. From the Americas, for instance, there is no place for prior Rugby World Cup qualifiers participants such as the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Guatemala, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico or Trinidad & Tobago. The only way a team such as Mexico competes is later against a team such as Brazil Similar, the Cook Islands would need to face a team from another region such as South Korea.

Argentines Prominent Among Italian Players of the Match in Six Nations History
The winner of the player of the match for Italy on Saturday was Juan Ignacio Brex. The Argentine center was also the winner of the same award in Italy’s win over Scotland. Brex’s two in 2024 mean Argentines have 9 out of the 22 (40.9%) Player of the Match awards for Italy in the Six Nations. All four of the Italians learned their rugby in Argentina. None are homegrown Italian players and two of them ere never actually eligible.

Time Out for OJ Noa 
NOLA will be without first choice No8 OJ Noa for the next four games due to suspension. The Samoan international was sent off late in the game against Anthem for a head-high tackle on Shneil Singh that forced the latter off with a blood injury. Noa can suit up again for the April 20 match against Miami.

Long wait on Kevin Brou
Old Glory will have to make due with Kevin Brou this season. The tighthead prop signed on after spending several years in France but suffered a serious leg injury in the preseason. When Brou does return he will be fully Eagles-qualified. Born in New York, the 30-year-old played the last of his 7 test caps for the Ivory Coast in July of 2021.

Miami Sharks Hit by Injury Loss
The Sharks have also taken a hit with news that Alex Tucci has a torn bicep and is likely to miss the entire campaign. Alec McDonnell, typically a loosehead prop, has been filling in as reserve tighthead behind starter Reinaldo Piussi. It remains to be seen if Miami looks for reinforcements.

Old Glory scraps to frustrating draw with Chicago Hounds
Celebrations were muted after Saturday’s Maryland SoccerPlex opener as DC and Chicago scrapped to a 22-all draw. Conall Boomer and Axel Muller notched two tries each for their respective sides, while Old Glory are left to wonder what further punishment might come to Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz after their skipper was sent off in the first half following an unfortunate aerial collision.

Diabolical Start by Peñarol
Peñarol were appalling in the first-half against Yacare on Friday. The performance ranks as probably the worst ever by the Uruguayans since Super Rugby Americas / Súper Liga Americana de Rugby began. A dominant display had Yacare leading by a remarkable 31-0 after 38 minutes of play. This was a team missing players but still one with many Uruguayan players from the World Cup.

Selknam Fall from Winning Position
Los Pampas completed an impressive road win on Saturday. Selknam were 19-13 up in the second-half but the Buenos Aires side were 41-19 winners away against Selknam in Santiago del Chile. The victory sees the side firmly in the play-off’s picture while the pressure is piling-up on Selknam and on defending champions Peñarol.

Raptors make sudden change at Head Coach
A sudden coaching change came at the American Raptors. The Colorado team is no longer under the command of David Butcher. He coached the team in the three matches thus far in Super Rugby Americas 2024, with the team losing to the Dogos, Pampas, and Peñarol on their South American tour. ARN learned through multiple sources that the Raptors failed to obtain a proper work visa for Butcher and assistant coach Cory Hector.

Joker Period Over for Leading Uruguayan Hooker
Charente and Germán Kessler have parted ways. The club signed Kessler as a medical joker from Pro D2 rivals Provence. The end of his contract means he is available now. Will he move on to another club in Europe or could he return to Uruguay and defend Peñarol in Super Rugby Americas?