Up and Under

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

 

UP

Major League Rugby
It’s here. The dreams of USA fans have been realised as professional rugby stretched its legs once again on the weekend, with three matches of exciting, error-filled, but utterly American rugby were played on the opening weekend of Major League Rugby. As ever there is much to iron out and it won’t all happen this season. The most positive aspect of this ‘rebirth’ is the quite simply the optimism surrounding it. Where are the naysayers who called it ‘smoke and mirrors’ a year ago? MLR is here, and it’s here to stay.

Uruguay
Uruguay is now professional. Some 15 Teros players are now training on a full-time basis at the High Performance Center in the Estadio Charrúa. In what is the first step in preparation for the 2019 World Cup, Uruguay’s players are to now be afforded comparable opportunities to their neighbors across the Río de la Plata. These same players are to form the basis of Uruguay’s professional rugby teams. Those involved are all but certainties for RWC 2019. They are also players to have been heavily involved in Uruguay’s successful RWC qualifying campaign earlier this year against Canada.

Jaguares
Los Jaguares defeated the Brumbies on Sunday to claim back-to-back victories in Australia. Their 25-20 win followed on from a 25-22 win over the Melbourne Rebels eight days earlier. The win was the fourth of 2018 for Los Jaguares, taking them to a 4-5 record for 2018 thus far. Defeating the Brumbies was a difficult assignment for Los Jaguares but Mario Ledesma’s team managed to deliver, doing so by scoring tries differently to that from prior matches. The win showed character and patience. All points came from the backs with the forwards playing well to help set-up try scoring opportunities. While the forwards set-up the platform it was Emiliano Boffelli, Jerónimo de la Fuente and Matías Orlando who were try scorers.

Henry Speight
Brumbies winger Henry Speight went to the airport to check on Pablo Matera and Ramiro Moyano. The Jaguares’ players were injured on Sunday. The actions of the RWC 2015 international were special, part of what makes rugby the great sport that it is. The match was Speight’s 100th appearance for the Brumbies, to which he had a special pre-match celebration in the changing rooms with his teammates and father. Against Los Jaguares Speight was challenged in the air by Emiliano Boffelli, an act which saw the Argentine yellow carded. It could easily have been a red card. Yet the great man that is Speight immediately shook Boffelli’s hand and would go on to visit the team at the airport. A true role model.

New Orleans Gold
The historic day for American rugby, the birth of Major League Rugby took place on Saturday. The inaugural contest saw the New Orleans Gold upsetting the hometown Houston SaberCats 35-26 to claim victory. Not only the USA had high interest but so too did Chile. Two from the country, Nikola Bursica and Sebastián Kalm, crossed for tries for New Orleans Gold. The victors have next weekend off. Their next match is on May 5 against the Austin Elite. The Houston SaberCats take on the Austin Elite this coming Saturday in an all-Texas derby at Dyer Stadium..

Glendale Raptors
Colorado’s Major League Rugby side, the Glendale Raptors opened their campaign with a 41-26 win over the Austin Elite side at Infinity Park on Saturday. Despite winning by a clear margin the Reaptors had huge disciplinary concerns, losing two players to red cards and having another yellow carded. This meant the team finished the match with only 12 men on the field. The Raptors are to now travel west to take-on the Seattle Seawolves this coming weekend at Starfire Stadium.

Seattle Seawolves
The Seawolves put on a scrumming masterclass at Starfire Stadium, dominating the San Diego Legion by 39-23 on Sunday. It was the final match in what was a thrilling opening weekend for Major League Rugby. San Diego’s Semi Final dreams have taken a major hit and their confidence shaken. They’ll have to regroup quickly as the Utah Warriors arrive at Torero Stadium on Sunday. The Seawolves have one less day of recovery before hosting the Glendale Raptors in an early-season clash of the titans.

Pumitas
Argentina’s u20’s, Los Pumitas took-on the Argentina XV in a mid-week friendly on Wednesday. They were expected to be outclassed and fall to a heavy defeat. Early on this appeared to be on the cards, yet a second half turn around saw Los Pumitas losing 38-31. This after the Argentina XV had been leading 38-7. The u20’s are now into their final preparations for the Junior World Championship. There are some noteworthy players to watch out for. They include No8 Bautista Pedemonte, scrumhalf Manuel Nogúes, flyhalf Juan Bautista Daireaux, and fullback Santiago Carreras.

Ontario Arrows
The Ontario Arrows secured their second straight win on US soil as they defeated Boston Mystics by 29-19 at Pine Banks Park on Saturday. The scoreline suggests a close encounter but in truth the Arrows were in control throughout, running up a 29-7 score before conceding two tries in the dying minutes of the match. The two sides will meet again on May 5 when the Arrows at last make their long-awaited home debut at York Lions Stadium. A scheduled match against Rugby United New York in Toronto on April 14 was called off due to an ice storm.

Tyler Ardron
The Canadian forward continues to make headlines in Super Rugby. On Friday he scored the opening try for the Chiefs in their 36-12 demolition of the Reds in Brisbane. His performance on both attack and defense was impressive, seeing him again proving to fit in well for one of rugby’s greatest teams. Ardron will not play this coming weekend as the Chiefs have a bye round. Their next match is to be against Los Jaguares in Rotorua on Friday May 4.

 

UNDER

Canada Women’s 7s
Neither Canada nor the USA had good campaigns at the Kitakyushu Sevens but in Canada’s case it was particularly bad. They slumped to 11th place at Kitakyushu, their worst-ever finish at an HSBC Women’s Sevens Series event. Injuries took away captain Ghislaine Landry before the tournament and Britt Benn and Caroline Crossley during it but it was a far cry from their 4th place finish at the Commonwealth Games the week before. A mystery illness perhaps? Only the team has the answers, and they’ll need solutions ahead of their own tournament with the Langford Sevens due to kick off on Saturday, May 12.

Super Rugby Referee Appointments
The referee appointments for this past weekend’s Super Rugby matches were dumbfounding. Los Jaguares played against the Brumbies in Canberra with an all-Australian referee panel. The Sunwolves played the Crusaders in Christchurch with an all-New Zealand referee panel. How can this be? Yet the situation is even more senseless when considering the refereeing appointed for the five other matches. They all had neutral referees. Surely the same conditions should be applied across the board. Given the uproar over the Rugby Europe situation perhaps it’s time that Super Rugby took it upon themselves to take a step forward and at the very least ensure the man in the middle is fully neutral.

Josh Whippy
The Utah Warriors got their first-ever franchise win they wanted at the grand opening of Zions Bank Stadium but have paid a heavy price in doing so. Star outside back Josh Whippy suffered a nasty leg break in the dying moments of the game that will see him miss the entirety of the regular season. The injury meant the friendly was ended in the 73rd minute with the Warriors leading the Prairie Wolf Pack 80-17. On top of that a red card to Fetu’u Vainikolo for a dangerous tip-tackle almost certainly rules him out of their MLR opener against San Diego next week.

Pablo Matera, Ramiro Moyano
Los Jaguares also have injury concerns. Pablo Matera and Ramiro Moyano both suffered injuries against the Brumbies. Both were starters but were unable to play the full match and are in in doubt to face the Blues this coming weekend in New Zealand. Matera is the more serious of the two and will not be fit for the match. Moyano is in doubt but, given the options, another player will likely start in his place. Head Coach Mario Ledesma has added Juan Manuel Leguizamón and Juan Cruz Mallía for the matches against the Blues and Chiefs. Should he play Mallía will make his Super Rugby debut.

Spain
Five of Spain’s players have suffered heavy suspensions. It was the result of the first round of sanctions in the fallout from the European World Cup Qualifying fiasco. All five were suspended bassed on their participation in an ugly sequence of referee abuse that followed the controversial match in Brussels. The suspensions range from 14 weeks for Pierre Barthere, Mathieu Bélie, and Lucas Guillaume to the heavier bans of 36 weeks and 43 weeks for brother Guillaume and Sébastien Rouet.  Should Spain be allowed to continue in the Qualifying process they would have none of the above players for a potential rematch with Belgium or play-off match with Portugal if required. Three would return in time for the Repechage series in November if Spain are involved.

World Rugby Delay
The Brussels controversy was due to be finalized by World Rugby this past week. Instead Americas Rugby News has learned from sources that it has been delayed until the end of this week at the earliest. No official release has come from World Rugby. Laying in the wait is not only Spain but also Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Samoa, and indeed Canada and even the USA with Russia’s tour to North American potentially in the balance. Depending on the outcome scheduled matches will need to be changed, leaving coaches and players will drastically reduced preparation time for not only the June Internationals but also RWC qualifiers.

World Rugby u20’s Eligibility 
Against the above mentioned backdrop in which Spain are threatened of being disqualified from RWC qualifying sits an extremely uncomfortable reality. World Rugby’s former laws on the ‘Next Senior’ side have seen Rugby World Cups featuring many players wearing the colors of a different team to that in which they played for at u20’s level. While Spain’s potential disqualification could cost the FER a staggering €800,000, England is busy preparing to select former New Zealand u20 players Brad Shields and Jason Woodward. World Rugby needs to have a policy which is universal in its application for all players and unions. If Mathieu Bélie is deemed to be bound to France based on a dated technicality then Shields and Woodward playing for England would be a slap in the face.