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

USA RWC 2031 bid
The USA is in an exclusive bid position for Rugby World Cup 2031. World Rugby is in exclusive talks with USA Rugby to have the Men’s RWC tournament played in the Americas for the first time. In an interview with Martin Pengelly for the Guardian USA Rugby chief executive Ross Young said that the USA is in “exclusive targeted dialogue” to host the tournament.

Pablo Lemoine 2021 Coach of the Year
No Americas coach had a 100% winning record in 2021. Some had good win-loss rations but many did not. ARN named Pablo Lemoine as the Americas Coach of the Year for three reasons. First, defeating the Argentina XV meant that Chile’s High Performance players defeated Argentina’s High Performance players for the first time. Second, Chile beating Canada was truly historic and extremely significant. Third, Chile won away against Russia in November.

Marcos Moneta wins Olimpia de Plata
Olympian Marcos Moneta won the top Argentine rugby award for 2021. He was named as the best rugby player of the year by being awarded the Olimpia de Plata for 2021. Moneta was one of three finalists. The others were Pumas hooker and captain Julián Montoya and his teammate Marcos Kremer. The Olimpia de Plata is the second major award won by Moneta in as many weeks. The man from San Andrés was named as 2021’s best Rugby Sevens player in the world by World Rugby. Never before had an Argentine won such an award.

Matías Alemanno powers over for Gloucester
Matías Alemanno touched down for Gloucester against Benetton on Friday. The Argentine second-rower’s try was part of a 54-25 victory for the English Premiership side against the United Rugby Championship team from north-eastern Italy. Alemanno has been a superb signing for Gloucester. The hard-working second-rower is on the right side rather than the wrong of referee decisions. The same was not the case for certain other Argentine second-rowers in 2021.

Major League Rugby Signings
There were notable MLR signings this past week. Spanish capped fly half Andrew Norton is on his way to the Toronto Arrows as is winger Dennon Robinson-Bartlett who is from New Zealand. Countryman William Talataina signed for Old Glory DC. The Seattle Seawolves have recruited Mzamo Majola from the Sharks and fellow South African Kian Meadon will join the Houston SaberCats. Houston also re-signed Nicolás Solveyra and Valdemar Lee-Lo, and hooker Diego Fortuny and signed Maka Unufe. USA u20’s representative Maciu Koroi signed for NOLA Gold.

Argentines help keep Spain’s RWC 2023 ambitions alive
Spain were impressive 52-7 winners over Holland on Saturday. The match was a RWC 2023 qualifier. The result is that Spain’s RWC ambitions are back on track. Spain are back to being in a realistic position to qualify for France 2023. The team that faced Holland had many players from abroad. Six of them were from Argentina. Fernando López captained the team while Facundo Domínguez and Bautista Güemes also both started. Santiago Ovejero, Federico Casteglioni and Joaquín Domínguez were replacements.

 

UNDER

No Global Season
Titi Lamositele did not play a test match in 2021. He was busy for Montpellier in the Top 14 and Champions Cup but did not play a test match. Despite being the top Eagles tight head he missed out on the RWC qualifiers. Joe Taufete’e moved from hooker to prop. Lamositele could have played but it meant compromise with the dates seeing the qualifiers scheduled outside traditional release windows. It is a reminder of World Rugby’s governance still not finding a way for the professional and test match periods to operate together smoothly.

No test matches for Colombia
Lamositele was one of a number of notable names that did not play a test match in 2021. Another is Colombia’s Andrés Zafra. He had a very busy first half of the year and this continued in the second following his move from Agen to Brive. He did not play a test match in 2021 and neither did his country. Travel rules meant Colombia’s one test match was called off.

Pumas rookie Carlos Muzzio to retire
Carlos Muzzio is to retire from professional rugby at the end of the season. The 37-year-old made history earlier this year; he became the oldest debutant for Argentina when he faced South Africa at the age of 36. Muzzio and Mont de Marsan were 27-9 winners against Colomiers this past week. In his final season, he is looking to go out on a high by helping the club back to the Top 14.

Argentine pair and Narbonne fall from grace
Narbonne are bottom of the Pro D2. The club has 16 competition points after fifteen rounds. Bressane is second from bottom on 20 points. The extent of the concerns were clear in the latest round; Narbonne lost 70-0 against Oyonnax. Uruguayan Manuel Leindekar started opposite Argentine Manuel Plaza while Martín Vaca also featured.

New England Free Jacks lose Vili Toluta’u for 2022
New England Free Jacks forward Vili Toluta’u will not be playing in the 2022 Major League Rugby season. The 27-year-old has made the decision to sit out the year to focus on his family. Toluta’u appeared in all 16 games for the Free Jacks this past season, splitting his time between hooker and the back row. The former Seattle Seawolves star and fan favorite, capped once by the Eagles, says he intends to return to MLR in the future.

European Challenge Cup and Champions Cup Cancelations 
The French government’s decision to close borders with the UK impacted the Challenge Cup and Champions Cup this past weekend. Matches were postponed or cancelled and additional matches were also called-off due to players testing positive. Finding room for the matches later in the season will not be an easy task. In all likelihood the matches will not be rescheduled.