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

Canada Women complete series win over USA
Canada secured a Pacific Four series win over the USA with a 26-13 victory in an all-action contest at Infinity Park on Friday evening. It was the second test of the week in Colorado following Monday’s 15-9 result for the visitors. Particularly outstanding for the Canucks were back row stars Karen Paquin and Sophie de Goede. Both teams now play two matches overseas to close out the year.

Jackals muscle up for MLR 2022
The Dallas Jackals confirmed three new arrivals ahead of their inaugural MLR campaign, all in the forwards. Back row Ayemere Oiyemhonlan will finally get his chance after running out for Old Glory in exhibition play, while props Ryan Bower and Rory O’Connor boast Premiership and Super Rugby experience. Meanwhile Holden Yungert‘s move to the Free Jacks was confirmed, and there were key re-signings made by San Diego, Old Glory and the Toronto Arrows. Major League Rugby will unveil its schedule for the new season tomorrow.

Patience pays off for Ignacio Calles
Ignacio Calles has been added to Argentina’s roster for the matches against Italy and Ireland. He was expected to make his test debut against Romania in July only to be unable to play due to injury. He was then an unused player during the 2020 Tri Nations in Australia. The same weekend in which Calles made his 50th appearance for Top 14 side Pau he was added to the Pumas roster and he is now set to earn his first test cap this month.

UNDER

Further history of the wrong kind for Canada
Canada’s Men’s team will not be heading to the World Cup for the first time, and on Saturday the team suffered their first ever defeat to Portugal. A late try from Manuel Cardoso Pinto gave Os Lobos a 20-17 win. The score was fair with the body language of the Canadian players telling you all that was needed to confirm it. The game itself did not shine great light on either side with numerous handling errors contributing to a largely stop-start affair.

Argentina still cannot find the formula in loss to France
Mario Ledesma’s team were 29-20 losers against Les Bleus in Paris on Saturday. It was the seventh consecutive defeat for Los Pumas. Like the six before it, Saturday’s match saw Argentina’s attack easily defended. The two tries were moments of fortune rather than creations. It’s not clear the experiment of Santiago Carreras at flyhalf will continue after an ineffectual performance and much more spark is needed from a stagnant midfield.

Flat Uruguay humbled in second half
Los Teros opened their November tour will a loss against Romania on Sunday. The defeat was by a notable margin; Romania were 29-14 winners. Uruguay’s points all came in the first half and the South Americans had held the lead at half-time. The loss saw Uruguay beaten in the set-piece with the Eastern Europeans were better in both the scrum and lineout. That much was expected given that Uruguay were without several frontline forwards and fielded a pack far smaller than their opposites.

Eagles nowhere to be seen
The USA’s decision not to tour in November and the unfortunate cancellation of the Ireland test in Las Vegas may come back to haunt them. There is now no time to blood new players or build on lessons learned against Uruguay ahead of the next round of World Cup Qualifiers in July. Every other major rugby playing nation are now playing tests with the Eagles conspicuously absent.

‘Tier 2’ tests continue to be lessened by player absences
Juan Manuel Alonso and Mateo Sanguinetti were late arrivals in Italy to join Los Teros ahead of the test match against Romania. Among the numerous players missing were leading lights Germán Kessler, Manuel Leindekar, Santiago Arata, and Felipe Berchesi. Canada fielded no European-based professionals against Portugal after Peter Nelson pulled out with injury, and Os Lobos themselves will only now have their full compliment for the game against Japan. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même.

Pumas No1 Prop Crisis
Thomas Gallo earned his first test start, and second cap, against France on Saturday. Rodrigo Martínez earned his third cap to replace Gallo in the second half. Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro is out of the November internationals, as are Mayco Vivas and Facundo Gigena. Gallo and Martínez are to be joined by Ignacio Calles today in Italy, the latter uncapped. Meanwhile former Pumitas prop Iván Nemer debuted for Italy, Argentina’s next opponent, this past Saturday.