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

Uruguay
It is mission accomplished for Uruguay. Los Teros have advanced to the final round of Americas qualification for Rugby World Cup 2019. Los Teros’ 27-11 victory saw Chile eliminated and finishing second in the South American ‘A’ Championship. As winners, Uruguay now await the result of the June home-and-away series in North America. Uruguay had a strong opening half but eased off after the break. Ultimately it mattered not as Los Teros had established a commanding lead. Of their 27 points 20 came in the first half.

Brazil
Brazil claimed third place in the South American ‘A’ Championship. Their home win over Paraguay in São Paulo on Friday was by a record scoreline of 57-6. It eclipsed the previous mark of 51-14 in 2011. Seven different players crossed for eight tries in total with Moisés Duque contributing 17 points with the boot, landing eight of nine kicks for goal. The Brazilian defense was also highly productive as Los Yacarés were unable to score a try. Brazil have three tests coming up in June.

Mexico
Mexico toppled the USA South Panthers in a thriller on Saturday. Played at the Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Las Serpientes won the Rugby Americas North Championship fixture 36-29. Las Serpientes scored tries though Gonzalo Pons, Mizael Loredo, Andrés Rodríguez and Franco Guerrero. It was not entirely good news for Mexico though as flyhalf Agustín Sánchez was forced off hurt. Mexico’s next match will be away to the Cayman Islands on June 17. Before then the Cayman Islands will play away to Bermuda on June 3.

Canada Women’s Sevens
A capacity crowd at Westhills Stadium on Sunday took in the best of the HSBC Women’s Sevens Series and were treated to some of the most exciting matches of the season. In particular Canada’s Semi Final win over Australia and the Cup Final against New Zealand were thrilling spectacles played with fierce commitment by both teams. The 2nd-place finish by Canada put them in the same spot on the overall table, tied with Australia on points but ahead on differential.

DTH van der Merwe
This weekend saw DTH van der Merwe being crowned a double Pro 12 champion. Having won the 2015 Guinness Pro 12 with the Glasgow Warriors van der Merwe completed the rare feat of winning with two different teams from as many unions. The Canadian flier scored a second half try for the victorious Scarlets. The Llanelli-based side ran riot in Dublin, downing Munster 46-22. It sees van der Merwe ending his two years in West Wales in ideal fashion. Next season he will be playing his rugby in England for the Newcastle Falcons.

Argentine players in Italy
Argentina has new national champions of Italy. Two players to have been involved in the Argentina XV in 2016 featured for Calvisano in Saturday’s Grand Final. Calvisano were crowned Italian champions, defeating Rovigo 43-29 in the final. Rovigo were looking to retain their Eccellenza title but it was not to be. The side fell to Calvisano who had Juan León Novillo and Joaquín Paz starting the match at flyhalf and center respectively. Both players signed to play in Italy in search of greater game time after having limited opportunities at Los Jaguares. In addition the top point scorer in Italy in the 2016-17 season was Argentina’s Brian Ormson. Another Argentine, Juan Ignacio Brex, was the leading try scorer with 13.

UNDER

Jaguares
There is no need to brush over anything. The team right now is hopeless. Jaguares are now officially eliminated from Super Rugby playoff contention. An investigation is required into selection and tactics. The team did not show up in Buenos Aires and the fans responded with outrage on social media. The players had little to say for themselves aside from the now familiar “we have to keep working” phrase. With England having beaten the Barbarians and set to play in San Juan and Santa Fé Argentina is in for two extraordinarily difficult matches.

Raúl Pérez
While Los Jaguares as a whole have been a flop there have been selections which have not yet be explained. One such instance is that of Bautista Ezcurra on the wing. Ezcurra went through the junior system as an inside back and also played there for Los Pumas 7’s and the Argentina XV. It simply does not follow logic that Ezcurra has been used exclusively out of position this season. He has played more than players who will play wing in June such as Emiliano Boffelli and Manuel Montero. Against the Brumbies a basic handling error from Ezcurra saw the Brumbies scoring a try. The coach ought to know the demands of a winger under the high ball.

John Mitchell
From one leading coach to another this was not a good week at all for Americas rugby. John Mitchell’s days as Head Coach of the US Eagles are officially numbered. The 53-year-old New Zealander was on Thursday unveiled as the new Director of Rugby for the Bulls, South Africa’s regional side based out of Pretoria. Mitchell will replace Nollis Marais in the leading role for the Super Rugby franchise and will officially part ways with the Eagles following the second Rugby World Cup Qualifier in San Diego on July 1. Appointed by former USAR CEO Nigel Melville in January of 2016, Mitchell chose not to reside in the United States, instead flying in from his home in South Africa for camps and matches. New CEO Dan Payne did not hide his desire for Mitchell to move stateside on a permanent basis but his wishes will now not be granted, and Mitchell leaves the Eagles without an established Head Coach just two years out from Japan 2019.

Canada Men’s Ranking
As a result of Germany downing Kenya, Canada have fallen to 23rd in the World Rankings. It may be short or long-term depending on how Canada and others perform in June. Canada will play four internationals, three of which are at home. These will be once each against Georgia, Romania and the USA. The remaining match will be away to the Eagles in San Diego. All four are now comfortably above Canada in the World Rankings which translates into any win giving Canada a notable gain. The availability of Shane O’Leary and John Mitchell’s decision to leave the Eagles are positives for Canada.

Paraguay
A winless campaign in the South American ‘A’ Championship has silenced the critics of Paraguay not getting a spot in the Americas Rugby Championship. With it  being a Six Nations format Paraguay was questionably left out in favor of the much larger and commercially viable Brazil. Yet today Paraguay is comfortably behind Brazil in rankings. More importantly Friday’s showing in São Paulo was of a team very much outplayed by the opposition. It may be welcome news for Colombia who are next in line for a spot in the South American ‘A’ Championship. Paraguay will need to win the repechage fixture against this year’s South American ‘B’ Champion. A failure to do so will mean relegation.

Racing 92
This weekend marked the end of the season for Racing 92 and La Rochelle. Both clubs lost their respective Top 14 Semi Finals in Marseilles. La Rochelle were unlucky as it took a last-gasp drop goal to see Toulon into the final. Racing 92, on the other hand, were badly outplayed by Clermont. The 2016 champions were no match for the Central-French side on Saturday. Manuel Carizza was a second half replacement with the result already confirmed. Patricio Fernández had the opportunity to play in the final minutes for the winners. Not in action was Juan Imhoff. He was injured in the barrage win over Montpellier and will require a lengthily recovering ahead of the 2017-2018 season.

Damián Schneider
The young Argentine referee took charge of Brazil’s blowout win over Paraguay in São Paulo and looked well on the way to completing the match without incident. That all unfortunately ended in the 74th minute when he brandished a red card to Daniel Danielewicz, in his final game of a distinguished career for the Tupis. The act that Schneider deemed worthy of the send-off was an awkward attempt at a charge-down that resulted in the Paraguayan kicker running face-first into the back of the hooker’s high. While referees are told not to judge intent it was blindingly obvious that it was an accidental collision and no harm had come to the Paraguayan player. Schneider’s decision was completely at odds with the context of the game, and he now lives with the ignominy of being the man who sent off ‘Nativo’ in his final act. Had he simply awarded a penalty not a single person would have noticed.