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

Argentina write History in Rugby Championship
Los Pumas were big winners over the Wallabies no Saturday in San Juan. Argentina came to life with a record 48-17 win over Australia. A strong start, solid chasing of high balls and good use of replacements contributed to Argentina’s biggest ever win over the Wallabies. Argentina’s previous record winning margin against Australia was 15 points. Hugo Porta captained Los Pumas to a 18-3 in 1983.

Uruguay reach Milestone in Sevens
Uruguay won the Men’s competition at the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2022 in Chile. In doing so, Los Teros 7’s secured core status on the World Rugby Sevens Series 2023. Uruguay overcame Georgia 19-5 in the tournament final. Los Teros 7’s reached the final with a tight 19-15 win over Germany. Chile finished third by downing Germany in the Bronze Final. Uruguay now have core status in the World Sevens Series for the first time.

Nationwide Pumas Tries
Argentina scored seven tries against Australia in San Juan. None of the tries were scored by players from Buenos Aires. This is remarkable considering the dominance of Buenos Aires historically; indeed, 27 of the 30 players on the roster at RWC 2007 were from Buenos Aires, including every starter against Ireland. Rosario’s Jerónimo de la Fuente, Juan Imhoff and Emiliano Boffelli scored on Saturday as did Tucumán’s Thomas Gallo and Tomás Albornoz and Mendoza’s Juan Martín González.

Uruguay dominate Chile in U20 series opener
Uruguay proved too strong for Chile in the opening match of the u20 series at Guelph University on Saturday afternoon. The final score read 27-3 in favor of Los Teritos, whose cohesion was vastly superior to their opponents. Hard-running No8 Pablo Marsico impressed with two tries. The series continues on Thursday when Uruguay take on Zimbabwe and Chile play hosts Canada.

Opportunities for Americas Players in Europe
Players from North America and South America signed for European clubs this past week. USA hooker Joe Taufete’e will return to Europe to play for the Leicester Tigers. It is a solid move ahead of RWC qualifiers. Uruguayan captain Andrés Vilaseca will join Nicolás Freitas at Vannes. Vilaseca’s ball-carrying would appear to be an ideal fit for the Pro D2.

Arrows recruit may boost Canada 
The Toronto Arrows have unveiled their first new signing for the 2023 Major League Rugby season. Nic Benn arrives from the Manly Marlins in Sydney, Australia. The 21-year-old outside center is Canadian-qualified through his mother, and lived in British Columbia for six years in his youth. Benn comes highly rated after a standout season in the Shute Shield. He played for Australia’s under-18 Sevens side but has declared his desire to represent Canada at senior level.

UNDER

Zimbabwe speed too much for Canada u20s
Canada’s return to international competition at the under-20 level ended in disappointment as they fell to Zimbabwe by a score of 32-24 at Guelph University on Saturday. The speed of the Junior Sables backline proved a difference, with flying winger Tavonga Ablant leading the way with a hat trick. Canada will look for improvement and redemption against Chile on Thursday.

Flying back to clubs without caps
Michael Cheika has made changes to Argentina’s roster. Los Pumas will tour New Zealand playing their round three and four Rugby Championship matches against the All Blacks in Christchurch and Hamilton. Six alterations have been made from the squad that took-on the Wallabies in Mendoza and San Juan. Lucas Paulos and Nicolás Sánchez are missing. Neither featured against the Wallabies.

Eagle Riekert Hattingh handed six-month suspension
Riekert Hattingh has been handed a six-month suspension by the US Anti-Doping Agency. The Seattle Seawolves captain tested positive for tamoxifen in an out-of-competition test on March 27 of this year. His suspension is effective from August 4, 2022, to February 4, 2023. Hattingh’s positive test was determined to be a result of medication prescribed by a physician. The timing of the suspension means it’s unlikely he will miss much if any of the 2023 MLR season.

World Rugby and player eligibility crisis
It appears that Italy and World Rugby repeated the same error many times – players represented Italy who were not eligible at Rugby World Cups 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2015. Martín Castrogiovanni, Lucio Orquera, Carlo del Fava, Santiago Dellapè, Gonzalo Canale, Gonzalo García, and Ramiro Pez are all on record as having their ties to Italy via a great-grandparent rather than a grandparent or parent. Belgium were sanctioned for the very same transgression, while Spain and Romania were prevented from playing in World Cups for eligibility breaches. The absence of any meaningful response from World Rugby is both unsurprising and alarming.