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

Chile top 2022 Americas Rugby Top 10
Los Cóndores handed a shock to the USA, to the rugby public and to World Rugby. The South Americans followed Uruguay’s model with High Performance investments and SLAR being pivotal. The 31-29 win in Denver meant Chile qualified for the Rugby World Cup for the first time and did so as Americas 2. Los Cóndores will compete in Pool D against England, Japan, Argentina, and Samoa.

Uruguay Progression from World Cup Return until 2023
Uruguay has been a success story of the past decade. Los Teros returned from missing out on Rugby World Cups 2007 and 2011 to now be a consolidated participant. For Uruguay, the focus changed from qualifying for World Cups to a sustainable long-term structure. How this happened may offer a pathway to others.

Aiming High in 2023
The New Years starts with Argentina predicted by ARN to reach the Quarter Finals and face one of Australia, Fiji, Georgia, Portugal or Wales from Pool C. It is a favorable draw compared to facing a team from Pool A or B. The prediction is that Montoya’s team will go beyond the final eight. Uruguay are predicted to add an African scalp to their existing RWC wins over teams from Europe and Oceania.

Dogos represent Córdoba
The first Dogos roster members are all from Córdoba rugby clubs. They include former Los Jaguares XV, Los Ceibos, Los Cafeteros Pro and Selknam players in addition to Argentina XV players, Los Pumas 7’s players, Pumitas, a player back in Argentina from the United Rugby Championship (URC) and players who have family members in Los Pumas past or present. Córdoba Athletic, Jockey Club Córdoba, Jockey Club de Villa Maria, La Tablada, Palermo Bajo and Tala are all represented.

Best players per Country
With 2022 over this past week was the time to identify the finest performers from the Americas per country. From Argentina the best forward was Juan Martín González and the best back was Emiliano Boffelli. From Brazil the honors went to Cleber Dias and Daniel Sancery. Tyler Ardron and Cooper Coats were Canada’s best and Tit Lamositele and AJ MacGinty the best from the USA. Colombia’s names were Diver Ceballos and Alain Altahona while Paraguay’s were Luis Enrique Quinteros and Sebastián Urbieta. The best Chile were Martín Sigren and Rodrigo Fernández while Uruguay’s finest forward was Manuel Ardao and back Santiago Arata.

Emiliano Boffelli wins 2022 Americas MVP
Rosario ace goal-kicker Emiliano Boffelli is the Americas Rugby MVP for the year 2022. The 27-year-old had a tremendous year for his club Edinburgh and more than converted it into the test match arena for Los Pumas. Boffelli scored 20 points in Argentina’s first-ever win over the All Blacks in New Zealand and 25 points against England in the South Americans’ first win in London since 2006. Edinburgh re-signed their jewel South American for a further two years this past week.

Dallas Jackals look the part for MLR 2023
Dallas fans can expect a very different Jackals side to take the field in 2023. The elusive first-ever win could come very quickly indeed given the class of incoming talent, not to mention the dramatic changes to team leadership. ¿Hablas español? Tomás Baravalle and Juan Pablo Zeiss add huge experience to the front row, while Jerónimo Gómez Vara is one of the most exciting loose forward prospects in his home country. Pedro Imhoff and Martín Elías will be the new halfback combination with the talented Tomás Malanos an option at center or wing.

All Pampas Cards on the Table
An extended Pampas roster has been named by the UAR. The 39-man roster consists of 21 forwards and 18 backs. There are some exciting names to look out for. Props Javier Corvalán, Javier Coronel and Martín Villar are all prospects. Second-rower Rodrigo Fernández Criado is back from France while Jerónimo Ureta returns in general. Flankers Eliseo Chiavassa and Nicolás D’Amorim progressed in 2022 while scrum-half Eliseo Morales made his test debut for Los Pumas. Joaquín de la Vega Mendía is back from the MLR. Also confirmed is that the team will play home matches at La Catedral in Buenos Aires. Los Dogos will play at Tala.

Santiago Carreras the match winner for Gloucester
Gloucester held firm to complete an 8-6 home win over London Irish to end 2022 on a high. Pumas second-rower Matías Alemanno was the try-scorer for Gloucester. Fellow Córdoba player, Santiago Carreras was the hero as he kicked the winning points. With him laying less at fullback and wing and now putting together starts at fly half, it is good news for Michael Cheika and his staff.

🥶Santiago Carreras clutch!

🎯En la última pelota del partido, el cordobés le dio la victoria a Gloucester sobre London Irish 8-6. Qué patadón. pic.twitter.com/dOCkiptDR5

— Periodismo Rugby (@Perrugby) December 31, 2022

Facundo Bosch sends Michael Cheika a reminder
Unlucky to miss out on a cap in 2022, Facundo Bosch is firmly on the radar for 2023. The hooker was a try scorer for Bayonne on Saturday. Bayonne remain unbeaten at home this season with a 7-0 record. Martín Bogado joined Bosch in his final match for the team before joining the Highlanders. Meanwhile, Santiago Cordero scored for Bordeaux against Montpellier and Juan Cruz Mallía and Tomás Lavanini did so on rivals teams for Toulouse against Clermont. Nicolás Sánchez, Benjamín Urdapilleta, Emiliano Boffelli, and Tomás Albornoz all kicked goals while Colombian Andrés Zafra was a hero for Brive who moved off bottom spot with a

 

 

 

UNDER

Changes or not to hierarchy for July 2024?
The July 2024 Internationals have begun to be confirmed. England are to tour New Zealand, Wales are to tour Australia and France are to tour Argentina. Meanwhile, Italy are penciled in to tour North America. This has critics responding as should it not be Uruguay and Chile hosting this tour? Will the RWC 2023 competitors will miss out on hosting a Tier One team? Fellow Six Nations member, France, is down to only face Los Pumas.

Uruguay at home against Argentina – Again Not Happening
The UAR confirmed Argentina’s fixtures for 2023 this past week. The list contains eight matches – the four pool matches at the World Cup, three matches in the Rugby Championship and a RWC warm-up against South Africa. There is no match against fellow South America RWC 2023 competitors Uruguay and Chile. Both are likely to face the Argentina XV; but, what would be far, far better is for Uruguay to host Los Pumas in Montevideo. Argentina are adding one more Pumas test match before the World Cup, a capped match against Spain.

AJ and Bristol at the bottom
2022 concluded with the Bristol Bears in bottom spot of the English Premiership. While the season has been a competitive one, the reality is that the club has underperformed and ought to be placed much higher. AJ MacGinty’s team has a 3-6 season record in the English Premiership thus far. With the Wasps and Worcester Warriors out of the campaign there are many twists and turns yet to come this season.

Hard-times for Jerónimo de la Fuente 
Perpignan fell to a 29-10 home defeat against La Rochelle on Saturday. The Catalans played half the match with a man down. The result of the match, combined with outcomes elsewhere in the Top 14, see USAP now bottom of the Top 14. Brive are three points ahead and now targeting Pau in 12th spot. Puma Joaquín Oviedo has been targeted by Stade Français. A lot of the weight now falls on de la Fuente as Perpignan’s mission is to avoid relegation.

Two more months of inactivity for Guido Petti
Further bad news came for Bordeaux this past week. Their Pumas second-rower is yet to ay all season and will not return for another two months. Guido Petti was injured in an off-the-ball incident in the Rugby Championship against South Africa. Los Pumas were without Petti in November and Bordeaux are continuing the recovery process.

Where are the North American All-Stars
The Americas Rugby 2022 All-Stars could have been a South American line-up. The one exception was Washington state’s Titi Lamositele. The tight head had a strong 2022 for Montpellier. Unfortunately, he was missing in action for the USA. However, this is only half of the story. On the other hand, there were exceptional performances from South Americas. Two Chileans and Uruguayans made the side which contains ten Argentines.