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

Canada, USA Women’s Sevens
Canada finished second and the USA third at the Dubai Sevens. The Canadians recovered from a rocky opening day to make the Cup Final, with a last-minute try giving New Zealand the win. The Women’s Eagles had a strong tournament overall that included a big win over Canada on Day One.

Britt Benn, Ghislaine Landry, Kristi Kirshe
The North American trio earned Dream Team selection in Dubai. Benn and Landry played a major role in raising Canada’s standards on Day Two such that they very nearly came away with a Cup Final win. Kirshe has started the new season on fire and now has back-to-back Dream Team honors having also made the grade in Glendale.

Americas Global Season
As of 2020 there is to be a Global Season in the Americas. This was made official this past week with changes to Rugby Americas competitions moving the Americas Rugby Championship to August and September. Both Major League Rugby, and the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby all begin in February before being followed by international competition – the July Internationals, ARC, and November Internationals.

Peñarol
Uruguay’s first professional rugby team, Peñarol is looking like having an impressive team for the 2020 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby. Both Santiago Arata, and Mateo Sanguinetti are joining the team from the Houston SaberCats and there are ongoing negotiations with most players who went to RWC 2019 for Los Teros.

NOLA GOLD
NOLA Gold are putting together an excellent player roster. Their latest recruit is Argentina’s Julián Domínguez. The Argentina XV flier is well-known to USA players and supporters for his impressive tries scored in the Americas Rugby Championship. His move to Major League Rugby is also a win for Argentina as the player is expected to play regularly and fans will follow him as a possible future Pumas winger.

Argentina u18s
Argentina went undefeated in the Sudamérica u18s. Hosted in Asunción, Argentina were too strong for all opponents. Comfortable wins over Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay secured a title for the juniors from the strongest rugby power from the Americas.

Los Teros Sevens
It wasn’t quite a win, but a spot in the final opposite Argentine powerhouse Tucumán was a best-ever finish for Uruguay at the Seven de la República. The team brought many young players and new coach Ivo Dugonjic will be pleased by what he saw as Los Teros gear up for the Sudamérica Sevens in the new year.

Ramiro Moyano
Just days after his arrival at Toulon, Ramiro Moyano made a dream debut. His first match was against London Irish in the European Challenge Cup. He started on the right wing and crossed for two tries for Toulon who completed a comfortable win. His move sees his Super Rugby career over though he remains eligible to play further test matches for Los Pumas.

 

UNDER

Brazil u18s
Brazil’s u18s did not compete in Asunción this past week. The 2019 Sudamérica u18 competition was contested between Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay with Brazil’s non-involvement being the latest disappointment following governance complications motivated by an economic shortfall.

Argentina vs Lions
Despite the possibility having been discussed there will be no Argentina vs British & Irish Lions match in 2021. It was hoped that a fixture could be arranged with the Lions appearing in Buenos Aires before their tour to South Africa. Instead the touring British and Irish will play a reduced tour in South Africa. In 2005 Argentina compete to a draw against the combined England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales team in Cardiff.

Martín Landajo
In the Champions Cup, Landajo was a 67th minute replacement for the Harlequins. He came on immediately following an Ulster try which made it a 24-22 scoreline in favor of the Harlequins. In what can only be described as a horror show from the former Puma, Landajo had dreadful decision making and delivered very slow ball. He played the entirety of his 13 minutes as if it were the game’s final 20 seconds. Ultimately Ulster won with a penalty on full-time.

Adam Zaruba
The giant winger was set to fly in Dubai but an injury suffered in training ruled him out of the entire first leg of the Sevens Series. Canada were able to call up Theo Sauder to the squad but it is not a like-for-like change and Zaruba’s loss will be keenly felt.

Lautaro Bazán Vélez
In a blow for Argentina Lautaro Bazán Vélez has been ruled out of playing in the Cape Town Sevens. The scrum-half suffered a sprained left knee while competing in the Dubai Sevens tournament. Bazán Vélez held down a starting position throughout the Dubai Sevens.

World Sevens Tournament Finals Format
A new format for Finals Day was present in Dubai. Only teams that won their Cup Quarter Finals played more than four matches, where in the past all teams were guaranteed at last five games. Tournaments featuring both the men and women have taken place before under the old format, so it’s not clear why this decision was made but reactions have been negative towards the change. Under these changes teams are unable to compete for valuable rankings points and young players get less game time. We would prefer to see the tournaments starting earlier with each team playing six games – two per day.