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 Men’s Eagles Sevens
The Men’s Eagles have qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games. Their opening day at the London Sevens was sufficient for them to book their spot at Tokyo next year. A Bronze finish was a pass mark for the USA and most importantly keeps them just two points short of Fiji, who have taken the overall lead with just one tournament to play.

Canada Men’s Sevens
To be clear, it’s not their on-field performance that puts their stock up. While they slipped into the Cup Quarter Finals thanks to a narrow win over Argentina, the results on Day Two were disappointing. The up-side is that the USA’s victory all but guarantees Canada a spot in the Olympics as North American representatives. All they need to do is win July’s qualifier in George Town.

Argentina XV
Three massive wins sees the Argentina XV crowned South American champions for 2019. All three were bonus points wins and saw the opposition failing to score even a single try. This underlines Argentina’s dominance in South American rugby and also that there are plenty of players for other teams for the Liga Súper Americana de Rugby.

Uruguay XV
Also undefeated in the Sudamérica 6 Naciones A was the Uruguay XV. The competition was a tremendous success for the Uruguayans who were able to test many players to have a much better idea of the make-up of the roster for RWC 2019. On Saturday Uruguay’s next of XV were 38-24 winners over Colombia.

Colombia
Rarely does a losing team make the Up list but this week Colombia simply cannot be anywhere else. Sure, Los Tucanes lost by 14 points but they got themselves to within two points in the second half of the Uruguay XV. This was a remarkable feat as many of Uruguay’s players are in the frame for RWC selection.

Chile
A 53-10 win over Paraguay in Asunción on Saturday saw Los Cóndores claiming their first win of 2019. Chile dominated from star to finish to leave Paraguay with plenty to do to make up the gulf for 2020. Chile did not play against Colombia in the competition. That very fixture is one that Sudamérica Rugby simply must make a priority for the 2020 Sudamérica 6 Naciones A competition.

Jaguares
Gonzalo Quesada’s management of Los Jaguares was highly apparent on Saturday morning in the Americas. Having made a host of changes to not overwork specific players he still found the means of competing a victory over the Waratahs in Sydney, Australia. In doing so the Argentine side are top of the South African conference. They have won 6 of their past 7 matches in Super Rugby.

Houston SaberCats
The SaberCats finally got a monkey off their back on Saturday as they claimed back-to-back MLR wins for the first time in franchise history. It’s a feel-good story for interim coach Paul Emerick, whose changes – however subtle – seem to have perked up the sleeping giants. A wounded Raptors side are headed to Houston on Wednesday, followed by a trip to Utah on Saturday. It’s a tough ask but the opportunity is there for the Cats to end their season on a winning note.

Rugby United New York
Once again the Roosters handled their business on Sunday, this time scraping past the NOLA Gold at MCU Park. While they didn’t get the desired bonus point, the win puts them right in the playoff mix with one game to play. The bad news is they’ll have to face off against MLR’s hottest team – the Arrows – in their own backyard on Sunday.

Toronto Arrows
The Arrows have taken flight, recording their sixth successive win on Sunday. They did so in emphatic fashion, cruising past Glendale by 40-12 in front of more than 2,700 fans at Lamport Stadium. Uruguayan fullback Gastón Mieres was in exceptional form for Toronto, scoring two highlight reel first half tries to lead the way. Destiny is now in their hands. Can they make it seven against New York?

Rugby ATL
They still haven’t talked about it publicly yet, but Atlanta’s expansion side now has a number of promising young athletes signed up for their inaugural MLR campaign. Eagles props Chance Wenglewski and Alex Maughan headline their first wave, with former CFL player Frederick Henry-Ajudua putting pen to paper. As expected Life University’s assembly line will supply a big chunk of talent to what looks like an exciting if slightly mysterious new entry in 2020.

Carmen Farmer
Just a few weeks ago the 38-year-old was dusting off the boots to have a run for the Barbarians against her old team – the US Eagles. The Olympian’s performance was of so impressive that she will now be packing her bags for London to suit up for the famous invitational side once more, this time against England at Twickenham. Retirement can wait a little longer.

Martín Bustos Moyano
Former Argentine test fullback Martín Bustos Moyano achieved the remarkable feat of booting Bayonne into the Top 14 for the second time in his career. The veteran from Córdoba secured promotion from the Pro D2 for the Basque side in 2016 when he scored all points to win promotion. Fast forward to 2019 and the same plays would kick the same team to victory. Bayonne won the Pro D2 Final 21-19 against Brive with time up thanks to a penalty from Bustos Moyano.

 

UNDER

Mario Sagario
Less than four months from RWC 2019 Uruguay have lost one of their best players to retirement. The call came from Sagario on Sunday with him citing personal reasons for stepping down from the game. The Carrasco Polo prop had an illustrious career playing professional rugby in France, Ireland, and Spain. He is the second most capped Teros player with 76 caps.

Brazil
A scoreless home performance from Os Tupis saw the crowd in Belo Horizonte departing disappointed. A 62-0 defeat to the same team that Brazil defeated twelve months earlier signifies not only that the opposition did much better but also that Brazil plummeted in performance. Having been beaten badly by the Uruguay XV one week earlier there is no denying the mountain of work to do before facing Romania, and Spain in June.

The Phantom Punch
A strange incident occurred in the first half of the Brazil vs Argentina XV match. Assistant referee Vinicius Aleixo (Brazil) waved his flag to alert referee Francisco González (Uruguay) of foul play. Aleixo reported that a punch had been thrown by Argentine forward Santiago Portillo, and González followed protocol by issuing a red card. Unfortunately a TMO was not available and the images shown of the alleged incident failed to capture any evidence of foul play.

Paraguay
The month of May saw three tests in three weeks for Paraguay yet the return was three losses. Not only did Los Yákares fail to win but they also failed to be genuinely competitive. They were torn apart by both Brazil, and Chile and fell to a demoralizing defeat against Colombia. Americas Rugby Challenge opponents the Cayman Islands, and Mexico will be targeting Paraguay and not Colombia.

Santiago Cordero, Juan Imhoff
Shock absentees from Argentina’s 46-man preliminary roster for RWC 2019 were Cordero and Imhoff. The pair were the starting wingers at RWC 2015 and are legitimate world class players. They are both victims of politics as they are undeniably among the best available to Argentina. They are missing on account of their overseas status, with Pumas coach Mario Ledesma making it clear that he would only call on exiles if he felt the local talent was insufficient. The likes of Emiliano Boffelli, Bautista Delguy, and Ramiro Moyano are indeed quality but it is a shame that such high profile talent continues to miss out simply for choosing to pursue their profession abroad.

Austin Elite
Yet another loss, this time to Texas rivals Houston, sees the Elite on the brink of a winless campaign. Their last chance to erase the zero will be against Seattle, a team who are suddenly desperate for points to avoid an embarrassing ousting from the playoffs. Whatever the reasons, Austin simply haven’t been good enough this season and major changes are surely on the way in the coming weeks.

NOLA Gold
The Gold fell to a 24-22 defeat in New York on Sunday, their third loss in a row. It means that the team that had been at the top of the table for much of the season is now in a real pickle. They are in a four-way tie on points with Toronto, New York, and Seattle. Only three will pull through which means New Orleans have to recover their lost form in time for their difficult road match against league-leading San Diego on Sunday. Failure to earn points will mean an early start to golf season for the Gold.

Glendale Raptors
Last year’s finalists are officially out of the playoff hunt. It’s been a season of ups and downs for the Raptors, and the consistency of performance we saw from them last season just wasn’t there. On Sunday they were soundly beaten in the pack and their body language said it all when Andrew Ferguson slipped the knife in further in the second half. There’s just one more game left for the Raptors this season, a Wednesday-night dance with the SaberCats in Houston.

Seattle Seawolves
The defending champions have also put themselves in a precarious situation though they will be comforted with the fact that it’s the winless Austin who stand between them at a spot in the Semi Finals. Seattle looked disinterested for significant parts of their game against Utah, ultimately settling for a 27-all draw. For a team that put Glendale to the sword a week earlier it was a disappointing and unexpected return at home.

Sebastián Cancelliere
An injury at the wrong time saw Sebastián Cancelliere flying home to Buenos Aires after two matches of the four match Jaguares’ tour to Oceania. He had been impressive in New Zealand yet missed facing the Waratahs and will also not face the Reds this coming Saturday. With others being ahead in the fully-fit order it complicates his path to the test team.

Phil Kearns
RWC 1991 and 1999 winner Kearns was unhappy with his former team, the Waratahs, losing to Los Jaguares on Saturday. The ex-Wallaby and now TV pundit lashed out at the involvement of the Argentine side in the competition on the grounds that they are essentially the test team. His views are not popularly held by Australians and have been widely slammed, with other media outlets pointing out that the ‘Tahs in fact as a group had far more international experience than the Jaguares.