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

USA
The USA Eagles were the best performers from the Americas in week one of the June Internationals. A comprehensive 62-13 victory over Russia set a new record score for the Eagles against the Bears. The result comes at a time in which there is significant controversy surrounding RWC 2019, yet for the USA it places the Eagles in a  stronger position than in prior campaigns. The USA are well placed to go into their match against Tonga in Japan in search of a victory.

Cayman Islands
Winning in the Caribbean on Saturday was the Cayman Islands. Playing at home in George Town, the Caymans defeated Bermuda 20-19. The thrilling contest brought to an end the 218 RAN Championship campaign for Bermuda. With a 0-3 record the team would be expected of being relegated to the 2019 RAN Cup. However due to other factors it now appears that this will not eventuate. The Cayman Islands still have rugby yet to play.

Guadeloupe
In the eastern Caribbean Guadeloupe defied odds to defeat the Dominican Republic in Santo Domingo. Their impressive 39-17 victory on the road saw them crowned champions of the inaugural RAN Trophy, the third division of Rugby Americas North. It was an unlikely result given how the prior matches had played out with the Dominican Republic being far too strong for Curaçao and Curaçao defeating Guadeloupe in an away match.

Uruguay
For the second time in as many years Uruguay are Nations Cup Champions. Like in 2017, their 2018 title was against the odds. Uruguay won all three matches against the Fiji Warriors, Emerging Italy, and the Argentina XV. The three are all the ‘A’ sides from their respective countries. Uruguay’s title places them very well for next year’s Rugby World Cup. The declared goal of winning a pool match remains a tough ask but Los Teros are notably developed with comparison to the side that went to RWC 2015 in England and Wales.

Canada Women’s Sevens
Canada’s Women’s Sevens claimed Bronze in Paris. They did so by downing France 17-10 in the Bronze Final. The winners of the tournament were New Zealand who defeated Australia comprehensively, 33-7. Against France Ghislaine Landry, Charity Williams, and Bianca Farella each touched down in the win, as the Canadians finished their season in 4th overall.

Seattle Seawolves
The Seattle Seawolves impressed this weekend with a come-from-behind 20-19 win over the Austin Elite at Round Rock. Seattle downed Austin by three tries to one, an indication of the superior goal-kicking from the home side. The result of the match may come back to haunt the Austin Elite with only one game left in their regular season campaign and three teams who could leapfrog them into a Semi Final.

Facundo Bosch
Upon departing Los Jaguares for Agen Facundo Bosch was officially Argentina’s third choice hooker. With no opportunities at test level and opportunities also close to nil in Super Rugby Bosch made the move to France to play this past season in the Top 14. The result was nothing short of extraordinary with Bosch having been named in the Dream Team of the Season. L’equips deemed Bosch to be the best hooker in France. With Agustín Creevy in 2018 not being the player of past seasons perhaps there will be a path for Bosch to play in Japan 2019?

Gastón Revol
Los Pumas 7’s captain Gastón Revol made history in Paris on the weekend. The Córdoban reached the milestone of 300 matches in the 7’s World Series. During his time in Argentina’s 7’s team Revol has scored 857 points including 52 tries, 291 conversions and 5 penalties. He has captained Los Pumas 7’s including at the 2016 Olympic Games where he sensationally led Argentina to a win over Australia after having been down 21-0.

 

UNDER

Argentina
Shocking, appalling and unacceptable. So bad were Los Pumas that social media was in an uproar with Argentine supporters saying the same thing – Daniel Hourcade must resign. Saturday’s abysmal showing against Wales saw the South Americans outplayed badly by a team who was missing half of their regular starters. Hourcade had seven months to prepare for the match yet produced a strategy which Wales exposed quickly and methodically. Do not expect to see a Puma named in Team of the Week on Wednesday.

Daniel Hourcade’s Reality
As above, Los Pumas were poor. But this is a reflection of their preparation not their abilities. The calls for Daniel Hourcade to resign come with great justification. Under him Argentina have 3 wins from their past 21 matches. The teams that Los Pumas have beaten during this run are Japan, Georgia, and Italy. Zero wins have come against Tier 1 opposition. Clearly Hourcade is not the right man for the job. He is not helping himself by agreeing to not select players from Europe. Benjamín Urdapilleta, for example, is a player who should be in the roster.

Canada
A comprehensive home defeat for Canada sees the North Americans needing to quickly improve. If they are unable to play dramatically better they are far from being assured of a place in RWC 2019. Indeed Canada awaits three others in the Repechage and are expected to advance, but doing so will require Canada playing good rugby and this is not what unfolded in Edmonton on Saturday. Realistically the Canadians are two years behind where they need to be in a RWC cycle.

Trinidad & Tobago
Unfortunately for all involved Trinidad & Tobago has officially withdrawn from the remainder of the RAN Championship. With the USA South Panthers ineligible for the new Americas Rugby Challenge (aka Americas Rugby Championship ‘B’) it means that what would have been a regular round-robin contest will now effectively become a straight knock-out with the winner taking on the winner of Mexico vs Guyana for a spot in the inaugural ARC ‘B’ later this year.

Argentina XV
Hot one match, cold the next. This has been the performance of Felipe Contepomi’s team throughout 2016-2018 and it continued in the Nations Cup. Following a dreadful opening showing against Emerging Italy, which the Argentina XV were lucky to have won, Contepomi’s team hammered the Fiji Warriors. Yet from there they were beaten by Uruguay in the final match. It was a return to their form from the Americas Rugby Championship and the Suramérica 6 Naciones A. Contepomi was in the top category of players but was he thrust into being a coach too soon?

Mike Adamson
Who had the bright idea of allocating Mike Adamson as referee for the Nations Cup Final? A Scot who does not speak Spanish took control of Uruguay vs Argentina XV. It was an appointment motivated by World Rugby seeking to prepare more referees for top match duty. That is to say World Rugby did not prioritize the needs of the match in question at all. It is not an isolated appointment. Indeed the official in charge of Argentina vs Wales in San Juan was Andrew Brace, a Welshman. While being listed as Irish he is indeed born and raised in Cardiff, Wales. Clearly World Rugby is not doing a good enough job at appointing referees. Amazingly this comes not long after the Belgium vs Spain scandal.

Luke Pearce
In charge of New Zealand vs France was Pearce. After a good start to the game he faltered in the second half. The yellow carding of a French player for a marginal high tackle was followed by no action taken against two New Zealand players for a clearly dangerous and high hit which saw Rémy Grosso hospitalized with a double fracture of his face. To make matters worse it appears that no citing has occurred from the incident, despite World Rugby’s insistence that a reduction of head injuries is a priority. Not a good look for the game.

Argentina u20
The frailties of Argentina’s development were massive this past week. In addition to Los Pumas and the Argentina XV failing to impress there was also an underwhelming match for Argentina at the Junior World Championship this past Friday. Having beaten Scotland but fallen to England Los Pumitas needed a bonus point win over Italy to advance to the Semi Finals. Instead they fell to a 30-26 defeat and were badly outplayed in both the opening half and the third quarter of the match.

Juan Cruz González
An unfortunate series of events has seen Argentina XV fly half Juan Cruz González forced into retirement at the age of 25. He has been unable to fully recover from a back injury and has been advised to not play rugby again. The result is a hammer blow to Argentina who have lost a player to have helped the Argentina XV to a win over Toulon and also victories over test sides.