Up and Under

Up and Under is a weekly exclusive on Americas Rugby News. It takes a dive into the best and worst involving Americas Rugby from the past week.

UP

Argentina Narrowly Beaten in Final in Singapore
Argentina finished second at the Singapore Sevens. Los Pumas 7’s were narrowly beaten 19-17 by champions New Zealand in the Final. The final was a match that both teams had the opportunity to win. Ultimately, New Zealand’s defense meant Argentina did not come away with as many tries as may have otherwise been the case.

San Diego top of the pops after ending Seattle streak
San Diego are now the top team in Major League Rugby after putting a stop to Seattle’s perfect run on Saturday. At the end of a bruising 80 minutes in damp conditions the scoreboard read 23-20 in favor of the Legion, who leap over the Seawolves in the standings on bonus points.

Three in-a-row for Utah Warriors
The Utah Warriors made it three wins in a row as they defeated the SaberCats 30-24 in Houston on Saturday. A late surge from the home side made things interesting, but it was the visitors who took control of the game just before halftime as the Cats came up short on energy.

ATL return to Winning Ways
Rugby ATL snapped their three-game losing streak with a 35-27 win over Old Glory DC at Silverbacks Park on Saturday. The home side’s larger physically superior forward pack dominated the set piece and wore down their opponents in cold and wet conditions.

New York Edge Arrows in Toronto
The New York Ironworkers did just enough to come away from Toronto with a 29-27 victory at York Lions Stadium on Saturday. While the result ultimately didn’t go their way, the Arrows showed great commitment to earn two bonus points in defeat and watched a new star emerge.

New England Free Jacks Fire Past Chicago Hounds
The New England Free Jacks bounced back from their tough loss to the Warriors with a 31-19 bonus-point victory over the Chicago Hounds at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday. After a poor start for the visitors they made a game of it and took a lead early in the second half before the home side’s replacements secured the result.

Americas Players Secure European Champions Cup Semi Finals
Americas players were involved in winning efforts in the European elite this past weekend. USA prop David Ainu’u was a replacement for Toulouse who romped past the Sharks to secure a Semi Final. Juan Cruz Mallía scored two tries for Toulouse in that match. Fellow Joel Sclavi helped La Rochelle into the Final Four.

Argentines also impress in European Challenge Cup Quarter Finals
Mallía and Sclavi won in what were Champions Cup Quarter Finals. Meanwhile, other Pumas were involved in winning efforts in the European Challenge Cup. Domingo Miotti continued his fine form for the Glasgow Warriors at fly half. N8 Facundo Isa is in the form of his life for Toulon. Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Thomas Gallo and Tomás Albornoz all featured in Benetton’s historic win. Italian capped Argentine Juan Ignacio Brex started in the mid-field.

UNDER

Uruguay Remain on the outside of Tier 1 Schedules
France will tour Argentina in July 2024. Two test matches are to take place with dates set for July 06 and July 13. One factor that stood out about the reveal is that yet again Uruguay is not involved. France face Uruguay at the World Cup this year. A stop in Montevideo is evidently needed. The match could be on July 20; but, and hopefully this is what transpires. For now, the tour is to Argentina only.

Dogos eaten alive by Black Lion
Black Lion romped to a big win over Los Dogos on Saturday Played at the Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo, Uruguay the Georgian team were dominant throughout the opening half but the teams each scored 19 points after the interval. The Georgians won the contest 75-19.

USA Hawks Lose Home Opener
Os Cobras completed a 43-14 win over the USA Hawks on Thursday. Played at Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Brazilian team made it two-from-two in North America. Os Cobras backed-up their victory over the American Raptors with a second strong performance in the USA. Unlike the former match, the second was not a part of Super Rugby Americas. The USA Hawks are a development team.

Triple Trouble for New England Free Jacks
The New England Free Jacks were been hit with a triple-dose of bad news this past week. Club captain Josh Larsen has had his season ended, while fellow Canadian lock Conor Keys and Namibian N8 Wian Conradie received one-game suspensions.

Heyneke Meyer in the MLR Doghouse 
The SaberCats Director of Rugby was slapped with a one-week suspension for a “league policy violation”. As usual MLR does not disclose exactly what that means, but ARN has learned that Meyer was sanctioned for discussing a potential move to Houston with a player on another team. Any such conversations involving contracted players during the season must go through the proper channels.

No Joy for Julián Montoya
The Leicester Tigers were eliminated by Leinster in their European Champions Cup Quarter Final. Pumas captain Julián Montoya was off early after a knock to the head. Elimination sees the English Premiership champions not focusing on the domestic game for the remainder of the season.