Up and Under

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

UP

Glendale Raptors and Legends Cup
The Glendale Raptors came out victorious over the Seattle Saracens on aggregate to win the Legends Cup. Regardless of who won on points rugby was the big winner with  both clubs benefitting tremendously. Hopefully the men and women involved can be involved in a similar initiative down the road.

Gonzalo Quesada and Sergio Parisse
The big winners at the Nuit du Rugby this past Monday were the Stade Français Head Coach and captain Gonzalo Quesada and Sergio Parisse. Both from Argentina, they took home the big awards in French rugby of coach and player of the year. On Sunday they backed it up with Quesada masterminding a bonus point 36-21 win over the Leicester Tigers to qualify for the Champions Cup Quarter Finals. Parisse played at the back of the scrum with Marcos Ayerza starting in the front-row for the opposition.

San Diego, California
When Americas Rugby News broke the story that San Diego was to have a PRO Rugby team it was not greeted overly warmly from the East. The reason being that it meant three of the six PRO Rugby teams would be in the state of California. This past week the city was officially confirmed as having a team for the new competition while authorities also announced a cut-back to five teams for the inaugural year. Quite the coup for both San Diego and the Golden State. Questions are now directed at who will be the two remaining inaugural teams?

Americas Rugby Cup Officials
Development is at the heart of the Americas Rugby Championship with rugby being given a unique opportunity to genuinely grow and do so sustainably. This past weekend’s announcement of the referees for the competition did not see the regional power, Argentina, being over-representative at all.  Instead Argentina has two referees while Canada, Uruguay and the USA each have one. All officials will referee three matches. Both Brazil and Chile have competent officials likely to be assistants and, over time, referee games in future tournaments.

UNDER

Chilean Rugby Union
A month after resigning as Chilean Head Coach, Paul Healy explained to Americas Rugby News why he stepped down. In a scathing commentary on the Chilean rugby union Healy made it clear that he was unable to perform his duties to the best of his ability, largely due to managerial and administrative shortcomings of the union. The insight will give Los Condores’ upcoming campaign in the Americas Rugby Championship a new-found focus.

Owen Farrell, George Ford, and Morgan Parra
England’s top two fly halves both made fundamental errors. Against Toulouse Farrell knocked-on over the try line while Ford was handed-off by Stefan Armitage who scored. For Saracens it mattered not as the team completed the win. Bath, though, lost enabling Toulon to sneak into the Champions Cup Quarter Finals. A number of Americas players – Patricio Albacete, Horacio Agulla, Marcelo Bosch, Juan Figallo, Samu Manoa, Hayden Smith, and Chris Wyles – played in the two matches in question. Morgan Parra, meanwhile, tapped and ran from in front of the posts when his team needed a penalty to secure a Quarter Final. As a result Jamie Cudmore’s quest for a Champions Cup title appears over.

Pro 12 in Europe
Clermont’s failure sees no appearance in nearby Lyon for the final. The French city nonetheless could host an all-french final. Racing 92 vs Toulon will be one Quarter Finals while Stade Français will face Leicester away in a re-match of Sunday’s game, won well by the Parisians. Leicester is joined by Saracens, Exeter, Wasps and Northampton giving England five Quarter Finalists. The Guinness Pro 12, meanwhile, has zero. Look past the Italians as crisis point has arrived for the Celts.

Argentina vs Australia in London
The UAR’s plan to relocate the home Rugby Championship match this year against Australia to London was not received warmly by fans. Social media was in an uproar following the announcement of the plan to have Los Pumas vs Wallabies at Twickenham Stadium. Through it Argentine supporters demonstrated they want their team playing on home soil. As it stands Córdoba will not host a test this year and is an ideal home venue to host the match in question.