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

RWC 2023 Rest Days
RWC 2023 will have a minimum of five rest days between matches. The change comes are repeated RWCs saw teams playing twice with three rest days. RWC 2019 saw a range of competitors playing with limited rest between matches. Russia played their first and second matches before Uruguay had played their first match. Organizers handed Uruguay had three rest days between facing Fiji and Georgia. The USA had the same low rest days between facing Argentina and Tonga. For RWC 2023 no team will have a rest period of less than five days.

Los Pumas
Laureus shortlisted Argentina for the 2021 World Team of the Year. The nomination marks the first time ever that Los Pumas have been nominated for the award. The nomination follows Los Pumas’ historic victory over New Zealand in 2020. The 25-15 triumph was Argentina’s first win over the All Blacks.

Argentina Men’s Sevens
Argentina were crowned champions Sunday in Madrid. In doing so they claimed back-to-back Madrid tournaments. On day two Los Pumas recorded a 38-0 win over the USA and a 36-19 win over Kenya. The two matches were followed by a rematch with Kenya in the Final, which Argentina won in dominant fashion 45-7.

Jaguares XV
Santiago Chocobares will play SLAR for Los Jaguares XV. He was a Super Rugby rookie this past year. He went through the PladAR system, rising from u20s to Los Jaguares. He made five appearances for the Argentine franchise before the season was suspended. He made his test debut for Argentina in the 2020 Tri Nations. He made a lasting impression on debut in the win over the All Blacks in Sydney.

Cobras Brazil XV
Brazil Rugby finally unveiled their Cobras roster for the 2021 SLAR campaign. It is an experienced roster of 39 players that contains most of the Tupis regulars plus a handful of Argentine imports. Cobras replaced Corinthians as Brazil’s entry into the South American competition.

LA Giltinis
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will be the home venue of the Giltinis for the foreseeable future after the Major League Rugby expansion side confirmed a long-term agreement with the iconic venue. It hosted both the 1932 and 1984 Olympics, and will celebrate its centennial in 2023. The stadium features a Bermuda grass surface and has a capacity of 77,500. That makes it by far the largest venue in MLR.

MLR Recruitment
In addition to the venue announcement, LA also confirmed the recruitment of Wallabies star Adam Ashley-Cooper after months of speculation. NOLA welcomed Keanu Andrade and re-signed Giovanni Lapp, Osaiasi Tonga’uiha, and Ross Depperschmidt. The Seawolves added even more strength to the midfield in Kieran Joyce and returning veteran Shalom Suniula, with four players joining the extended roster – MLR veteran Scott Dean and newcomers Freddy Tafuna, Henry Hall, and Conor McGill.

Rugby ATL
We are rapidly approaching Friday’s MLR preseason opener. Early kudos goes to Rugby ATL who provided fans with an early opportunity to get a look at their squad for the upcoming season. Saturday’s intra-squad match was a scrappy affair but featured strong performances from the likes of newcomers Bautista Ezcurra and Robbie Petzer. ATL will be hoping injuries to Conor Keys and Kurt Coleman are not serious.

Exeter’s Women’s Eagles
It was a good day at the office for Exeter’s four Women’s Eagles on display against Durham Sharks on Saturday. Rachel Johnson scored two tries in her first Premier 15s start, with Kate Zackary and Gabby Cantorna each notching singles. The latter contributed eight successful conversions to make her one-day contribution an impressive 21 points. Joanna Kitlinski featured as a second half replacement.

Abby Duguid
Canada’s internationals also continue to impress in the Premier 15s. Duguid is in particularly strong form at the moment as she picked up her second Player of the Match accolade for Loughborough in three outings. DaLeaka Menin remains a staple in the Lightning front row.

Pumas Impress in Europe
Four Argentine players scored tries this weekend in Europe. In England, Facundo Cordero sliced through for a superb solo try for the Exeter Chiefs vs Sale Sharks. Matías Alemanno scored for Gloucester in what was their first win of 2021. In France, José Luis González and Lucas Mensa both scored tries in the Pro D2. Both players scored their first tries for their respective French clubs.

Nafi Ma’afu
It’s been a long time coming but the former USA u20 standout has finally made his professional debut. Ma’afu was a replacement in the Perpignan second row during their win over Valence Romans on Friday night. The first senior USAP cap comes four years after signing with the French Pro D2 club.

 

UNDER

USA Women’s Sevens
The Women’s Eagles did not play on the final day of the Madrid Sevens. A decision was made to withdraw after members of the French team tested positive for COVID-19. France were due to play the USA on Saturday but the match was cancelled, with the French team dropping out. A statement from the FER indicated that tests conducted on the four other teams all returned negative results.

Santiago Carreras, Matías Moroni
Santiago Carreras and Matías Moroni were both yellow carded on Saturday. Both Pumas had ten minutes on the sidelines for in beyond he penalty threshold. The incidents were similar; both Carreras and Moroni received their marching orders for actions deemed to have been deliberate knock-ons.

Juan Cruz Mallía
Mallía’s Toulouse debut was bittersweet. The Argentine center suffered a hand injury. It now sees him out of action for two months. The timing of the injury could not be worse for Toulouse. It comes in the middle of the Six Nations. Mallía also happens to be a medical joker. As such, February and March were to be central for not only game time but also for the potential of remaining next season.

Americas 2 Schedule
The Americas 1 qualifier will have a friendlier match schedule than Americas 2 at RWC 2023 for several reasons. Americas 1 will play its four matches in one day less, enjoy a more favorable match order, less difficult opposition, and less travel. They will also have the honor of playing against the host country. The USA remain favorites to win the region’s top qualifying spot.

Namibia
Namibia is very likely to be the country that qualifies for RWC 2023 as Africa 1. The qualifying spot has not been given a good match list for RWC 2023. Africa 1 will finish a week and a half before the remaining Pool A participants, playing every six days. Once again organizers have gone against what they were supposed to be promoting.