Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
There were some impressive team and individual tries scored in 2021. The top pick from the Americas is an easier task than in most years. Rodrigo Fernández’ score for Chile against Canada is the Americas Try of the Year.
ARN made the decision based on more than just the try itself. The score was a piece of brilliance from the Chilean fly half. Fernández took Ross Braude’s box kick cleanly and did so well that he sliced cleanly through the Canadian defense to score a superb individual effort.
The try showed vision and know-how; yet, but was so much more. Fernández had the presence of mind to look for support and fool the defenders with a dummy-pass. He also had the speed to accelerate to leave two Canadian backs beaten.
Later on in the same match, Fernández had a sensational try-assist. He again pulled out a trick or two to set-up something out of nothing. The outcome was historic: Canada were out of the RWC qualifiers and Chile were through to the Americas 2 final.
With attention now turning to 2022, the USA will need to study Fernández smartly. The USA face Chile in a home-and-away series in July 2022. The winner will qualify for RWC 2023 and face Argentina, England, Japan and Samoa in the pool stage.
