Up and Under

Up and Under is a weekly feature on Americas Rugby News which reviews the best and worst from games involving the Americas teams over the previous week.

UP

Colombia, Mexico u18s
Peru and Venezuela have been involved in the South American Championship for an awful lot longer than have Colombia. Mexico are also new comers, albeit in Rugby Americas North competitions. For the u18 South American Championship Mexico joins Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela in the annual tournament. This year’s edition got underway on Sunday and it was the veterans being hammered by the newcomers. Mexico dominated Venezuela 59-5 while Colombia did even better, downing Peru 74-0.

Uruguay’s November Internationals
Would you like a three test tour of Europe in November? Yes please. This has been the desire of Canada and the USA, as it has for others, for a number of years. Yet not all get it. The USA, for one, will not. Indeed the Eagles are to play Tonga and Romania, only two tests. Uruguay, in comparison, have a three-test tour. Los Teros are to play away matches against Germany, Spain, and Romania. It is a dream come true for the South Americans.

Agustín Creevy
Is it normal to convert from back row to hooker at the age of 24 and go on to be captain of a global power? Of course it is not, yet this is precisely what Creevy has achieved. The Argentine captain returned home from France to fight his way up the ladder and go on to become captain. Since doing so he has achieved greatness – wins against France and South Africa in Paris and Durban being cases in point. On Saturday he had the honor of leading out his team in his 50th cap. Clearly hard work pays off.

Bustos Moyano, Urdapilleta
Argentine goal kickers Martín Bustos Moyano and Benjamín Urdapilleta both kicked goals as their respective clubs won their opening round fixture in the Top 14. The duo were two of a noteworthy number of players from the Americas featuring in the Top 14 on Saturday and Sunday. Neither player has played for Argentina since Daniel Hourcade became Head Coach. They both, nonetheless, continue to perform at the top level in European club rugby.

Americas Test Rugby Structure
This coming Saturday will see Ecuador playing host to Guatemala in a Rugby World Cup 2019 qualifier. This is the case despite the countries being from different continents. The structure applied sees the Rugby Americas North and Sudamérica Rugby regions merging at certain times. In addition with English and Spanish being the dominant languages in different parts of the Americas the structure is adapted. Either Ecuador or Guatemala will play in the South American B Championship. The winner of that competition will face the winner of Mexico vs Guyana in a Rugby World Cup Qualifier.

Mitre 10 Cup
The New Zealand provincial competition will have a few more eyes trained on it from the Americas this season with Canadians Jake Ilnicki and Josh Larsen involved as well as USA internationals Chris Baumann and Tony Lamborn. Both of the Eagles started this past weekend for Wellington and Hawke’s Bay respectively while Larsen came on as a reserve, playing the last quarter for Northland. Ilnicki was due to make his debut but was a late scratch from the Manawatu lineup.

Djustice Sears-Duru
It took a bit longer than expected but the young Canadian prop finally made his first appearance in Glasgow Warriors colors on the weekend, subbing on in the pre-season match against Harlequins on Saturday. Sears-Duru also got good news that the match against his Canada ‘A’ mates will go ahead as planned next week, giving him a unique opportunity to line up on the other side of the maple leaf.

UNDER

Argentina
Leading by 10 points with as many minutes remaining, Los Pumas lost by seven against South Africa join Saturday. Having been two tries to one up the South Americans went down by three tries to two. Los Pumas blame themselves for not winning. Although the loss was hard on the players spare some thoughts for the Wallabies who were utterly put to the sword by New Zealand in Sydney on Saturday morning. The result well and truly was an embarrassment for Australian rugby.

Canada ‘A’
A disappointing start to the Canadian ‘A’ sides European tour saw the North Americans losing on Saturday.  The visitors fell 20-16 in what was a narrow defeat to the Doncaster Knights in the first match of their tour. Wet conditions made for a tight and physical affair, with late scores from both sides in driving rain leaving the result in doubt until the final whistle. Next stop on the tour is Northern Ireland, where Canada travel to Ravenhill for a match with Ulster Ravens on Friday, August 26.

PRO Rugby’s Missing
A number of PRO Rugby players were named before the season who in the end did not make a single appearance. Ben Landry missed out while attending NFL trials. Nick Civetta signed for Newcastle Falcons. We also didn’t see a good chunk of the USA’s best players, those based on the east coast. Nate Brakeley, James Bird, and Luke Hume from the ARC, and World Cup duo Al McFarland and Seamus Kelly for starters. With expansion on the immediate horizon, we will hopefully see all of those involved next season.

Rugby Championship Calendar
Another Rugby Championship is underway and yet again it is Argentina who opened on the road. Despite now playing in the competition for the fifth time the South Americans are yet to play an opening round fixture at home. Four times have seen matches in South Africa and one time in New Zealand. Can the organizers really not do a better job?