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

Seattle Seawolves
Coming off an impressive performance against the Utah Warriors, the Seawolves turned it up a notch against the New Orleans Gold on Sunday. But for a 10-minute stretch on either side of half when they were reduced to 14 men, Seattle were the better side in almost every department. The 55-26 win shoots them up to the top of the table – though Glendale have a game at hand – and has them on the brink of Semi Final qualification, if they have not achieved it already. For a team that was riddled with off-field difficulties heading into the season they have become the darlings of Major League Rugby with outstanding fan support and top notch on-field performance.

Canada Selects vs Ontario Arrows
A 58-28 win for the Canada Selects over the Ontario Arrows gives the Canadian men’s coaches and roster confidence ahead of the June Internationals. The match itself was a good one with the team’s separated by six points at the interval. An impressive second half saw the fringe test side pull away to win by 20 points. For the Arrows the match ends their spring campaign. Fingers are crossed for the team to join Major League Rugby next season.

Six Pumas Debutantes
Daniel Hourcade named six debutantes on his roster for the upcoming June tests. Argentina will host Wales in San Juan and Santa Fé and Scotland in Chaco. For the series Hourcade has named a 30-man roster. Agustín Creevy captains a side featuring uncapped center Bautista Ezcurra, fullback Juan Cruz Mallía, winger Bautista Delguy, and props Javier Díaz, Nicolás Leiva, and Santiago Medrano.

Jaguares
Los Jaguares have turned around their season in brilliant fashion. Having started poorly, Los Jaguares now have 6 wins in a row and are looking solid for an historic appearance in the Super Rugby play-offs. On Friday the Argentine side celebrated the national holiday by claiming a first win over the Sharks. The Durban based franchise won the prior four. Ramiro Moyano bagged a hat-trick and set up Bautista Delguy for Argentina’s remaining score.

Chris Wyles, Marcelo Bosch, Juan Figallo
The career of Chris Wyles came to an end in steel on Saturday. Playing left wing for Saracens the former USA Eagles captain scored two tries. He was joined in the match by Marcelo Bosch and Juan Figallo. Both RWC 2011 and 2015 Pumas were replacements. All three secured further titles with Saracens, adding to prior English Premiership and European Champions Cup titles.

Rodrigo Capó Ortega, Benjamín Urdapilleta
Castres are into the Top 14 Final. This coming Saturday the small-town southwest French club will face Montpellier at the Stade de France. Rodrigo Capó Ortega and Benjamín Urdapilleta will be chasing French glory. They both appeared in the Semi Final win over Racing 92 on Saturday in Lyon. Urdapilleta scored 14 of his team’s 19 points while Capó Ortega is back into the final looking to add to his 2013 title.

David Tameilau, Segundo Tuculet
New professional contracts in the UK were sealed this past week by two players. David Tameilau will join the Glasgow Warriors to play in the Pro 14. His former Narbonne teammate, Segundo Tuculet will continue his career in England with the Ealing Trailfinders. For both securing their playing future is of note. The former is on course to play in RWC 2019 for the USA while the latter goes from France to England and is well positioned to have many more years as a professional player.

Liga Americana de Rugby
South America’s upcoming professional rugby competition, the Liga Sul-Americana de Rugby has been expanded to become the Liga Americana de Rugby (LAR). This is to recognize that it will now be inclusive of Latin America and not confined solely to the South. Originally an Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay project, it has now grown to include Colombia and Paraguay while both Mexico and Peru are officially possibilities. LAR will begin in 2020.

 

UNDER

Argentina
No Europeans for the June Internationals? When will real lessons be learned and action taken? Daniel Hourcade has had ample opportunities to win matches with his Jaguares-only approach. It has been a failure. While Mario Ledesma has worked magic in 2018 this cannot divert attention from where it is needed most – wins. Argentina can take no chances. They have been appalling under Hourcade post RWC 2015, yet now with the UAR green-lighting the return of European-Based players it is still not happening.

Juan Imhoff
The lack of including Imhoff is madness. The Rosario flier scored one of the tries of the season on Saturday. From a lineout Imhoff made a clean break, splitting the defense and running around three cover defenders. Racing 92 ultimately lost against Castres, thereby ending their season. The World Rugby international window makes Imhoff readily available and Racing 92 have no power to stop him from playing – yet to call has come from Argentina.

Pumas Props
The controversy is so noteworthy that Daniel Hourcade’s roster appears three times in Under this week. Hourcade has not selected any player from Europe but he has named six uncapped players, three of whom are props. In Super Rugby this year Santiago García Botta and Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro have started throughout. Both have played well but with no depth it has been rookies covering them. Now Javier Díaz, Nicolás Leiva, and Santiago Medrano are in Hourcade’s roster. The scrum has had problems and Wales and Scotland will be licking their lips while the likes of Juan Figallo, Francisco Gómez Kodela, Ramiro Herrera, and Lucas Noguera Paz watch from Europe.

San Diego Legion
Badly outplayed by Austin Elite, the Legion fell to a comprehensive 31-5 defeat on Friday. It was a reversal of fortunes for both teams with San Diego having been impressive and Austin outplayed for much of the Major League Rugby season. The Elite will continue their home stand against the Utah Warriors next Friday. San Diego have a week off before reconvening against the NOLA Gold on June 9, their Semi Final hopes now severely diminished with their star players set to miss the remainder of the regular season on Eagles duty.

Houston Sabercats
The Sabercats fell to a 36-30 home defeat against the Utah Warriors on Saturday. It’s hard to say what exactly has gone wrong for a team who most expected to be at the very least Semi Finalists. The result is a major blow for the Sabercats’ prospects in the inaugural Major League Rugby season. Houston now need a win at Dyer Stadium on Saturday if they are to pull off a miracle return to playoff contention. The Utah Warriors take plenty of confidence with them to the Texas capital where they face the Austin Elite this coming weekend.

Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe
A player has to be very good to play in a Rugby World Cup. Playing in three, including two Semi Finals is the mark of being among the best in the business. Ignore the fact that he did not win a RWC. The reality is Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe did it all in his career. He captained an English Premiership club and won both the Top 14 and European Champions Cup with a French club. Aside from results with teams he represented he also achieved greatness as a leader and a player. One of rugby’s greatest players of all time has retired.