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. This week saw an unusually high volume of stories which transpires into a larger selection than normal.

UP

Canada Women
Are they up? Are they under? The 98-0 win over Hong Kong was a terrific way to start the competition but one wonders if it was a little too easy. It seems strange to criticize a win of any kind at the World Cup but it’s clear the team were not at their best against Wales despite coming away 15-0 winners. Without the bonus point reaching the Semi-Finals has become a decent wedge more difficult though certainly not unattainable. The requirement is simple – play their very best against New Zealand. If they do that, they should be in the final four come Thursday evening.

USA Women
A somewhat stuttering start against Italy though it has to be said they did what Canada did not against Wales, achieving the four-try bonus point. As it turns out that was a crucial achievement and now gives the USA a very real chance of making the Semi-Finals after they punished Spain by 43-0 in their match on Sunday, a significant improvement over the Italian test. Next up is England, a very difficult challenge but they don’t necessarily have to win. A narrow defeat or simply scoring four tries might well be enough to see them through to the final four.

Venezuela
An historic High Performance arrangement sees Venezuelan players training and playing in Uruguay. The long-term desire is to expand to include coaching regimes to further boost Venezuelan rugby. The first players to be involved in the initiative are known. The first of them is Robert Torres (Maracaibo Rugby Club) who has joined Montevideo club Pucaru Stade Gaulois (PSG). The others are Luis Romero (Los Tigres de Cabimas), Luis Zabala (Club de Rugby UCV), and Wilkinson Arrieta (Alcatraz Rugby Club). They are to also join PSG. All of the players are capped internationals for the national Venezuelan men’s team. The players are free to play for Venezuela vs Colombia and Peru in October.

Colombia and Peru
Colombia and Peru are to host the 2017 South American B Championship in October. This year’s edition will see a decrease of participants from four to three. Not competing is Ecuador who opted to drop out of this year’s competition. Without Ecuador the competition will include Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. With one fewer team the format has also changed, giving all teams much friendlier scheduling. Unlike in previous years all matches are to be played on Saturdays. This change ends the tradition of playing three matches in seven days. Peru will have home advantage against both Colombia and Venezuela while Los Tucanes will host the Venezuelans. Colombia’s professional player, Andrés Zafra played for Lyon again this past Friday.

Nicaragua
History will be made in 2017 as Nicaragua joins the South American C Championship. The addition of the Central American Republic ensures that the competition will have four teams this year. Nicaragua joins Guatemala, Panama and, hosts, Costa Rica. Rugby in Nicaragua is at an all-time high. The country is preparing to host the 2017 Juegos Centroamericanos in Managua. The 2017 Central American Games are to be historic with rugby involved for the first time. Referee training has taken place in the country and now the country officially has a test side. Nicaragua acquired associate status of Sudamérica Rugby in mid-2016. The year concluded with Nicaragua overcoming Guatemala u23 in a historic match. This year will see further history made as Nicaragua enters the test arena on August 27.

Uruguay
The signing of Teros’ players Franco Lamanna and Agustín Ormaechea in France’s third division had some asking questions. Paraphrasing the doubt was why they could not get signed for Pro d2 or higher clubs. A key part of this answer is the Rugby World Cup 2019 qualifiers. Uruguay play Canada home-and-away in January and February 2018. The winner will be Americas 2, joining Australia, Fiji, Georgia and Wales in Pool D. Having both Lamanna and Ormaechea free is a masterstroke and will, no doubt, have Canadian officials, players and supporters taking note.

Chris Wyles
Former USA captain, Chris Wyles led Saracens to a huge win over the USA Islanders in Bermuda this past week. Saracens were in the island nation as part of their pre-season training. The team enjoyed a great match with Wyles running in three tries himself. In addition to the Wyles hat-trick there were also notable performances by other Eagles over the recent days. Taku Ngwenya scored for Brive who enjoyed a win while Samu Manoa returned to start for Toulon and played there full 80 minutes. AJ MacGinty contributed conversions for the Sale Sharks who defeated Castres in France.

Guido Petti
Recognized for his excellent season by SANZAAR, Jaguares lock Guido Petti has been named in the official SANZAAR Super Rugby Team of the Season. The 22-year-old is the only Argentine player in the team, selected based on Opta Statistics over the course of the 15-game regular season. Three players each have come from New Zealand’s Hurricanes and South Africa’s Lions. Curiously there are no players included from the champion Crusaders, who defeated the Lions on the weekend. Petti is not only excellent in the set-piece of his position but it also very fast as a runner.

Kelly Russell
The Canadian captain made history on Sunday, earning her 50th test cap in the match against Wales at the Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland. Her team didn’t quite get the bonus-point result she would have wanted but they at least came away with a win and their semi-final hopes are still alive though somewhat more complicated. For her part Russell had another excellent match and has been one of the best forwards in the competition through two rounds, something that will be of no surprise to keen followers.

Ontario Blues
A massive game from Kainoa Lloyd with Andrew Ferguson claiming ‘best supporting actor’ plaudits as the Blues cruised past the Prairie Wolf Pack in the Canadian Rugby Championship. While the pair combined for 35 of Ontario’s 45 points, it was a very solid team effort and one feels there’s still more to come from the best team in Canada, and possibly North America outside of the international arena. Of course the BC Bears might have something to say about this. We’ll find out on Wednesday.

UNDER

El Salvador
South American C Champions in 2014, rugby in El Salvador was looking very strong. Results since then have not been the same. As the host nation of the 2015 tournament, El Salvador finished third. In 2016 Los Torogoces finished last, including a historic defeat to Panama. This year the team will not compete. Instead the reigning 2015 and 2016 champions Guatemala are to be joined by Costa Rica, Panama and newcomers, Nicaragua. It is unfortunate that El Salvador are missing.

Ecuador
The South American B Championship will not include Ecuador this year. This is the case despite the country having qualified to compete. Instead Ecuador made the decision to not play. This means that this year’s edition will be a Tri Nations competition. Colombia, Peru and Venezuela are to be the competitors. Paraguay will not compete and either will a team fill the void from the South American C Championship. Like El Salvador, it is a disappointing development.

Hindú
Loss at home despite amazing backline. Hindú had a dream backline for an amateur match. Super Rugby players Joaquín Díaz Bonilla and Bautista Ezcurra were 15 and 14, former Top 14 players Santiago Fernández and Horacio Agulla were 10 and 12, the highly regarded Severiano Escobio played 13 and Sebastián Cancelliere was 9. The team also had a strong pack of forwards and home advantage. This is the team which recently won the Nacional de Clubes title. On Saturday, however, Newman won 35-26 in Don Torcuato.

São José
Brazil’s most powerful club in recent times is now in deep trouble. São José Rugby are bottom of the table in Brazil’s national competition, the Super 8. This weekend the São Paulo state side played at home to Curitiba, losing 18-7. The defeat sees the club sitting in 8th position after 5 rounds on 3 competition points. The 7th placed Poli has 10 points. São José has a 0-1-4 record from five matches thus far in the 2018 competition.

Santiago González Iglesias, Manuel Montero, Juan Manuel Leguizamón
Daniel Hourcade’s final roster for the Rugby Championship opening round saw regular players missing out. The most notable left out were Santiago González Iglesias, Manuel Montero and Juan Manuel Leguizamón. Of them the latter is certain to feature in subsequent matches though both González Iglesias and Montero may struggle to get game time. Neither had regularity in Super Rugby with others used instead. González Iglesias, in particular, looms as a strong chance of missing out altogether from match time.

2018 Junior World Championship
The 2017 World Rugby Junior World Championship was played in Georgia. The 2018 edition was to be in Argentina but it will, instead, be in the country in 2019. This leaves the 2018 competition in limbo. Where will it be played? With Europe having hosted the past two it is doubtful that 2018 would be there. Australia’s problems place doubt over the tournament being there which means either New Zealand or South Africa will likely be the host.

Canadian Rugby Championship
It’s not ideal, flying halfway across the country to play three games in a week, but that’s the hand that’s been dealt so all we can do is appreciate and comment on the rugby. It’s the rugby bit that left more to be desired from the first of the three games days in Calgary. At the end of it only the Ontario Blues looked like a team worth talking about. The Wolf Pack were outmatched with two late tries saving a more lopsided scoreline while the Bears vs Rock game, it was to be said, was entertaining only in short bursts. Fingers crossed standards are raised for Wednesday.