Up and Under

Up and Under is a weekly exclusive on Americas Rugby News. It identifies the tops and the flops from the past seven days of everything involving Americas Rugby.

 

UP

Argentina Upset South Africa for Historic Rugby Championship Triple Crown
Argentina completed an upset win over South Africa on Saturday at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero. The 29-28 victory sees Los Pumas claiming a historic Rugby Championship Triple Crown. Mateo Carreras, Pablo Matera, Joel Sclavi, and Tomás Albornoz score tries.

Uruguay Confirms Three Solid November Internationals 
Los Teros will play three test matches in Europe in November. The matches will be part of the November 2024 Internationals. Los Teros will be up against familiar opposition from recent years. The test matches will see the South Americans facing Spain, Japan and Romania.

November Tour for Brazil Men’s and Women’s
Brazil will have a buy November. The Men’s test team ha a two match tour of Hong Kong while the Women will tour the Netherlands. The former is a vital part of the quest to qualify for a first Men’s Rugby World Cup. The latter i officially preparation ahead of As Yaras debuting at the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025.

Super Rugby Americas Expands to Tucumán
Super Rugby Americas is expanding to include Tucumán in 2025. With it, Argentina will have three professional teams in the South American professional league. Tucumán will be the northern most team. The new team joins Los Pampas based in Buenos Aires and the 2025 champions, Los Dogos based in Córdoba.

Pedro Delgado from Super Rugby Americas to defeating World Champions
Pedro Delgado has gone from Super Rugby Americas 2024 to defeating the World Champions. He did so in his home town of Santiago del Estero. Delgado played the final quarter for Argentina. He was a 60th minute replacement for Joel Sclavi who scored in the first half. The 27-year-old Delgado is a product of the Old Lions club.

Chilean Hooker Makes Top 14 Debut
Chilean hooker Diego Escobar made his Top 14 debut for Racing 92. The 24-year-old electric hooker played 27 minutes for Racing 92 against Bordeaux on Saturday. The product of the COBS club in Santiago entered the match in the 53rd minute. His team were beaten 52-34 in the road match. Escobar is one of two Cóndores in the Top 14. The other is World Cup teammate Iñaki Ayarza.

Vannes Notch Up First Top 14 Triumph
Former Pumas Francisco Gorrissen and Santiago Medrano started for Vannes on Saturday. The newly promoted Top 14 defeated Lyon 30-20. In other news, Vannes re-signed rookie Puma Juan Bautista Pedemonte on a new deal. Pedemonte is now under contract with Vannes until 2028. Pedemonte debuted for Argentina in July. The trio will all be possibilities for Puma selection in November.

Peru to host South American Men’s and Women’s 7’s
Villa María del Triunfo, Peru will play host the the South American Men’s and Women’s 7’s in October. The two day event will take place on October 26-27 and feature teams from the South American continent as well as from Central America.

Puerto Rico take-on the British Virgin Islands
Upcoming test match rugby sees Puerto Rico taking-on the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in a Caribbean battle. Puerto Rico all play host to the match on Saturday, September 28 at the Polideportivo Rebekah Colberg in the capital city of San Juan. The same venue played  host to Puerto Rico vs Burlington Rugby Football Club in April.

 

UNDER

USA Beaten Late by Samoa
A late try gave Manu Samoa an 18-13 win over the USA Eagles in Saturday’s Pacific Nations Cup third-place play-off in Osaka. Played in hot and humid conditions, there were numerous errors committed by both sides though they also shared opportunities to score. Toby Fricker was the Eagles’ try scorer.

Why Host Double Header in Chambéry not USA?
Chambéry Savoie Stadium will play host to two test matches in November. The venue has been allocated a double-header on November 16. Both matches feature countries from the Americas. The fixtures will be Uruguay vs Japan and USA vs Tonga. Chambéry has never hosted test rugby previously. With the USA hosting Rugby World Cup 2031 why not take these matches in the USA instead?

The Dallas Jackals are out of Major League Rugby
The Dallas Jackals are out of Major League Rugby. A league announcement on Thursday confirmed that the team will not take part in the 2025 season. It comes after months of rumors and three tumultuous campaigns for the organization, who never seemed to find solid ground. Sources indicate a key investor pulled out earlier this year, and a replacement could not be found in time to meet financial deadlines.

Argentina Lose Enforcer for Rugby Championship Final in Nelspruit
Argentina will be without their enforcer, Marcos Kremer, for the Rugby Championship Final in Nelspruit. Kremer was injured in the second half against South Africa in Santiago del Estero on Saturday. The injury blow forced replacement hooker Ignacio Ruiz to play flanker. Felipe Contepomi has Juan Martín González, Pablo Matera, Santiago Grondona, and Joaquín Oviedo in Nelspruit. All are established names on the roster. In addition, Guido Petti can cover flanker if required.

Emiliano Boffelli’s Return Hit
2023 was big for Emiliano Boffelli but 2024 has been troubled. The Rosario winger had his United Rugby Championship (URC) season cut short for Edinburgh and missed out on the July Internationals and Rugby Championship for Argentina. He was set to run this past weekend but was forced out before kick-off for Edinburgh.

Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro Injured in Comeback
Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro missed Rugby World Cup 2023. The most capped Pumas prop of all-time suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon and underwent surgery. His comeback match was for Benetton vs Scarlets on Saturday. He started at tight head prop for the Treviso side but was forced off injured and replaced in the 39th minute. Tetaz Chaparro will be out for a long period now and may require knee surgery. He will not be in contention for Argentina’s November tour of Europe.