Up and Under

Up and Under is a weekly exclusive on Americas Rugby News. It covers the best and worst from games involving the Americas players and teams over the previous week.

 

UP

Francisco Gómez Kodela
In his 100th appearance for Lyon, Gómez Kodela celebrated victory. His club overcame Montpellier 21-16 in an away match on Saturday. The Pumas prop continued the strong form demonstrated in the 2020 Tri Nations. While Lyon continue to impress this season, Montpellier are not so fortunate. The team has already axed their head coach yet the last six matches have all been defeats.

Juan Imhoff
Imhoff was a try scorer on Saturday, touching down in the first half of a nail-biter against Bordeaux. His team ultimately fell short with Wallaby Kurtley Beale missing a penalty for victory. Imhoff’s Pumas teammates Bautista Delguy and Guido Petti both started for Bordeaux. The 33-32 away win sees Bordeaux maintaining a strong position in the are for the play-offs.

Jerónimo de la Fuente
Many eyebrows were raised when the Jaguares captain joined Perpignan. de la Fuente went from Super Rugby to the Pro D2. For those paying attention, however, Perpignan are very well placed to achieve promotion to the Top 14. Perpignan lead the Pro D2 with 62 points. Vannes are second with 59. Rodrigo Bruni debuted for Vannes in their 42-24 win over Béziers on Sunday.

Evan Olmstead and Taylor Paris
RWC 2019 Canadians Evan Olmstead and Taylor Paris started in Pro D2 victories this past week. Paris was on his usual left wing spot for Oyonnax in the impressive 30-6 win over Carcassonne. Olmstead was in the Biarritz second row in the 31-3 demolition of Montauban. Flyhalf Shane O’Leary was also a winner, albeit as a replacement for Rouen Normandie against Grenoble.

Juan Cruz Mallía
This week saw the rumor proven accurate – Juan Cruz Mallía has been recruited by Toulouse. The move was welcomed by all interested in Argentine rugby. Toulouse are the biggest name in French rugby past or present. It saw the UAR having one less player under contract. There were 46 before the 2020 player exodus began. 36 of those players now play abroad. Of the 12 who remain contract additional names are linked to moves abroad.

Lorenzo Massari
This weekend saw a rarity in European professional rugby. Two Brazilian internationals lined up on opposite teams. Lorenzo Massari has joined Top 10 club Colorno, making the jump from the second division Parabiago. The midfielder played against ValoRugby this weekend who featured Tupis lock Matteo Dell’Acqua in the Emilia region derby.

MLR Signings
Amidst the chaos in Texas where a handful of notable signings around the league. Austin grabbed loosehead prop Jake Turnbull from Old Glory, LA signed back row Pago Haini from New England, and ATL brought in flanker Connor Cook from Colorado. Seattle also confirmed the re-signings of captain Riekert Hattingh and ex-NFLer Joey Iosefa.

 

UNDER

Dallas Jackals
The shock news of the week came from Dallas, where the Jackals have opted out of the 2021 Major League Rugby season. It’s a decision that leaves their entire coaching staff and 30+ recruits suddenly without a team. While the reasoning has been left beyond closed doors, the timing is less than ideal for a city that just can’t seem to get professional rugby off the ground.

Ceibos
What does the future hold for Los Ceibos? The 2020 SLAR participant will not be involved in the 2021 season. Argentina will again have one team, but this time it will be the Jaguares XV. The change does not come without controversy. Ceibos had a contractual arrangement until 2026. There remains a chance that both Ceibos and Los Jaguares could both compete in the 2022 SLAR season.

Brazilian SLAR team
The identity of the Brazilian SLAR team remains unconfirmed. In 2020 the team played as Corinthians Rugby. This occurred despite the CBRu not being paid whatsoever from the giant soccer club. Confirmation of the team’s identity for 2021 is overdue. The other five teams are Cafeteros Pro (Colombia), Jaguares XV (Argentina), Olímpia Lions (Paraguay), Peñarol (Uruguay), and Selknam (Chile).

Nicolás Sánchez
Stade Français were beaten 35-13 by Toulon on Sunday. Nicolás Sánchez started at fly half. The Pumas playmaker was red carded on the stroke of half time. He was sent off for a dangerous tackle after making direct shoulder contact to the head during a clearout. Stade Français tried to restructure but were unable to do so. The Parisians sit in 8th position in the Top 14 standings.

2021 World Rugby u20 Championship
For the second year in a row World Rugby’s annual u20 World Cup has been cancelled. It is a major blow to all competing teams, none more so than the Tier 2 countries involved. In 2020 they were to be Fiji, Georgia, and Japan. The year for the next possible Junior World Championship is 2022. This will mark an unprecedented gap between tournaments. Argentina hosted the most recent edition in 2019.