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

Argentina Crowned Champions in Cape Town
Argentina are on top of the sevens world after a dominant Cup Final victory in Cape Town over Australia. One slip-up against Fiji in pool play was the only mark against Los Pumas in an otherwise impressive tournament that puts them at first overall on the standings. Marcos Moneta continued his outstanding form with tries in five of Argentina’s six games.

USA Women Improve in Cape Town
Australia are off to a perfect start on the new sevens season as they followed up their Dubai title with another in Cape Town. The USA were the best of the Americas sides on display this week, finishing in 4th to make up for their disappointing result in Dubai. A win over North American rivals Canada in the pool stage saw them making up ground in the overall standings and the Eagles now sit 6th overall.

Canadian Men Finish on a High
The Canadians were vastly improved from their horror start in Dubai, recording their first victories of the season over New Zealand and Samoa on Day One in Cape Town. After the one-sided drubbing against Argentina, the Maple Leafs pulled up their socks to finish on a high against France to finish in 7th place.

MLR recruitment of World Cup players from Chile and Uruguay
NOLA Gold have signed Domingo Saavedra from Chile. Saavedra joins the major League Rugby (MLR) franchise from his native Chile. It will mark his first experience in professional rugby abroad. Meanwhile, the Chicago Hounds signed Guillermo Pujadas and Ignacio Péculo, from Peñarol for Major League Rugby (MLR) 2024.

Rugby World Cup 2027 and the Americas
Expansion from 20 to 24 teams and the USA hosting 2031 are key to how the Americas could be handled for 2027. Will World Rugby retain the Americas as one? Make no mistake, having the USA at RWC 2027 is World Rugby priority when drawing up Rugby World Cup Qualifiers. Expect to see a record number of Americas teams at Rugby World Cup 2027.

New Rugby World Cup Destination Bidder on the Horizon
Spain has confirmed interest in hosting the Men’s Rugby World Cup in 2035 and the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2037. World Rugby Chairman, Bill Beaumont warmed to the idea of Spain hosting Rugby World Cups. World Rugby has struggled to allocate Rugby World Cups to new hosts. Rugby World Cup 2023 was in France as was 2007. Rugby World Cup 2027 will be in Australia just like 2003 was.

Dublin Date Set for Argentina to face 2025 British & Irish Lions
Los Pumas will be a part of the 2025 British & Lions Tour. Argentina will take-on the combined team of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales in a match in Dublin, Ireland on Friday, June 20. The fixture will fall outside of the player release window which will mean restrictions on player availability, particularly for players involved in the 2025 Top 14 play-off’s. The match is to be historic for both the British & Irish Lions and for Ireland. It marks the first ever British & Irish match to take place in Ireland.

 

UNDER

New York out of MLR 2024
New York joined the Toronto Arrows in folding suddenly before the 2024 Major League Rugby season. Since joining the league in 2019 as Rugby United New York, the team has gone through multiple name changes and five different home venues. None succeeded in capturing a strong home audience. New York is the second former champion to depart the league, following the expulsion of the LA Giltinis in 2022.

USA Flop in Cape Town
It was a dismal showing for the USA Men’s Eagles in Cape Town. The Eagles managed just one win from five games to finish second-from-last. The Eagles were embarrassed by Ireland to start the tournament and never recovered, and were forced to play without captain Ben Pinkelman on Day Two.

Bring Them in if you Can
Slowly but surely the confirmations of the 2024 July Internationals are coming in. Uruguay and Chile are both looking to secure matches. France will play two tests in Argentina but none are confirmed against either Los Teros or Los Cóndores. Argentina are set to host a Tier 2 opponent with Georgia expected to be the team. Hopefully, Georgia also face Chile and Uruguay for a mouth-watering true South American tours.

Tier 1 Power Opts for Two not Three Tests in July 2024
Last week saw the confirmation of dates and venues for Ireland’s July 2024 tour of South Africa. The tour will be for two rather than three matches. South Africa will play three with an unprecedented match against Portugal. On the one hand, Os Lobos proved that performing on the biggest stage begins benefits. On the other hand, Ireland will not be playing a third match. A game vs Namibia in Africa? No. Away vs Georgia? No. Just two matches.

World Cup South Americans Finding it Hard for Tier 1 Tests
Advanced discussions pin-point to Canada and the USA as being the destination for Scotland’s July tour. Of note is that Scotland were originally down to tour the Pacific Islands and Italy was penciled in to tour North America. Be that as it may, why are Uruguay and Chile not hosting Scotland? Will the World Cup teams really miss out after the chorus of complaints of struggles to secure Tier 1 matches?