Team of the Week

There wasn’t a whole lot of quality to choose from in Europe and the Jaguares put up a bit of a stinker which made things a little tricky. Thankfully New York got off to a flyer against the Arrows and an unusual selection from a foreign Club XV international helped us out too. The good news is there are three quality matches on US soil this weekend as we inch closer to the start of the first Major League Rugby season.

1 – Anthony Parry (New York) Given a chance in the run-on side and he took it with both hands. Scored the first try of the match and played with complete commitment throughout. One game into his (pseudo-) MLR career and he’s off to a great start.

2 – Paddy Finlay (Ireland Club XV) This reads a little odd but the 22-year-old remains eligible for Canada and should be near the top of the recruitment priorities list for the national selectors. Finlay came off the bench and made a big impact against the Scottish Club XV, scoring two tries

3 – Gastón Cortes (Bristol) The veteran scrum anchor deserves an award just for taking the field against Rotherham in conditions that could only be described as intolerable. To survive more than an hour in the blizzard with almost all the rugby played in tight makes him an automatic selection.

4 – Matías Alemanno (Jaguares) Didn’t carry as much as he has in other matches but was very strong defensively. Also showed well in the lineout. At the very least he didn’t miss any tackles or commit any howling errors. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to help the team win this week.

5 – Josh van Horne (Ontario Arrows) It took a couple takes to figure out which one it was, but thankfully Josh and twin brother Tom had different colored scrum caps to help identify the try-scorer. The two Brantford Clydesdales have stepped up to rep rugby with the Arrows and Josh made his first start against New York. Not the result the team wanted but he caught the eye with some physical play and deceiving agility for a big fella.

6 – Pablo Matera (Jaguares) Having seen two wildly different performances from the Jaguares in back-to-back weeks it’s clear the team’s problems are psychological. Matera did not suffer the same dip in quality. The captain was a one-man army with ball in hand and if anything put in extra effort that also saw him named to the official Super Rugby weekly selection.

7 – Dylan Fawsitt (New York) You didn’t think we were going to omit him, did you? The triumphant captain at Mazzella Field didn’t actually score a try (RUNY work-ons: live tweeting) nor did he play in the back row. He did play like one, however, and the Eagles hooker has often been used there for Old Blue. His man-of-the-match performance in New Rochelle made him a shoe-in for our team this week.

8 – Martín Freytes (Lazio) Scored what turned out to be a vital try in the two-point win over Reggio, peeling off the back of the scrum and just having enough gas to make the corner. Freytes has been a bright spot in a struggling outfit this season.

9 – Nicolás Vergallo (Tarbes) Still chugging along just a month shy of his 35th birthday. The 2011 World Cup starter for Los Pumas remains a key player for his club side and he directed them to an impressive win over division-leaders Provence on the weekend.

10 – Benjamín Urdapilleta (Castres) Honorable mention to Patricio Fernández who had a good performance in Clermont’s demolition of Pau. The record-setting Urdapilleta gets the nod for his 17-point game against Brive that saw him become the all-time leading Argentine scorer in Top 14 history.

11 – Matt Evans (Cornish Pirates) Back after another month-long injury-enforced break, it was great to see him get on the score sheet against Hartpury. Canadian fans are united in hoping his fitness holds up in the long-term now with crucial World Cup qualifying still on the horizon.

12 – Juan Cappiello (Carcassonne) Not bad for his first day at the office in French rugby. Scored a try just three minutes into the match and helped his side send opponents Narbonne packing, not just for the evening but also sealing their relegation to Fédérale 1 next season.

13 – Seamus Kelly (New York) Welcome back to the big time! Well, almost anyway. Kelly hasn’t been seen in an Eagles shirt since the 2015 World Cup and seemed to have all but retired from representative rugby at the age of 24. A couple years later he’s back courtesy of RUNY and scored a try against the Arrows on Saturday. It’s not clear if he’ll ever return to international competition, or if he’s even interested, but it’s great to see him playing at a competitive level once again.

14 – Connor Wallace-Sims (New York) Something of a forgotten man after breaking into the HSBC Sevens Series with the Eagles last season. He had a big game on the weekend causing problems and getting over the tryline once. We’re expecting more of the same this weekend at Gaelic Park.

15 – Joaquín Tuculet (Jaguares) Like his skipper Matera, the vice-captain Tuculet did not let his standards drop against the Reds. His counter-attacking was a rare source of go-forward for the team that was otherwise stifled by their Australian opponents.