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

Uruguay 7’s Qualify for Paris 2024 Olympics
History was made in Montevideo on Sunday. Los Teros won the South American Men’s 7’s to book their place at the 2024 Paris Olympics. It will be Los Teros 7’s first appearance at the Olympic Games.  Uruguay join neighbors Argentina who qualified by finishing second on the World Sevens circuit. Uruguay defeated Chile in the final.

Brazil Remain the Queens of South American Women’s 7’s
Brazil will compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. As Yaras secured their place by winning the South American qualifying competition. Played on Saturday and Sunday in Montevideo, the Brazilians underlined why they are the Queens of Rugby Sevens in the region. The unbeaten campaign saw Brazil sealing their place in Paris on a high.

Old Glory DC into playoffs on a high with win over ATL
Old Glory DC will head into the playoffs on a high after defeating Rugby ATL 36-28 on Saturday. A strong crowd, the largest of the season at Segra Field, were treated to an exhibition of running rugby that featured 10 tries between the two sides. ATL end a frustrating campaign in second-to-last spot in the Eastern Conference.

Free Jacks power ahead in front of packed house
New England celebrated another franchise attendance record on Sunday as over 4,700 watched them glide past the Houston SaberCats by a final score of 47-24. The victory is the 14th of the campaign for the Free Jacks which sets a new club mark, eclipsing their 13 wins of last season. New England will host the Eastern Conference Final against the either New York or DC on July 1.

Argentines become Two-Time Top 14 Champions
Toulouse are the French Top 14 champions for 2022-2023. Toulouse defeated European Champions Cup Champions La Rochelle 29-26. It was a final for the ages. The final featured two Argentine players: Santiago Chocobares, Juan Cruz Mallía and Joel Sclavi. Chocobares and Mallía were on the winning team. Chocobares ran in the opening try.

Argentina 7’s Stars on Cheika’s Radar
Argentina’s roster for 2023 international activity will be announced on Monday next week. There are more players of note than ever before. Possible inclusions include Los Pumas 7’s players Luciano González Rizzoni and Rodrigo Isgró. Both are being considered. It will be tough as Argentina’s wing and center options run deep.

New Blood for Canadian Camp
A number of uncapped players have been included for Canada’s Women’s training camp. Among them are sevens series stars Caroline Crossley and Olivia Apps. Crossley recently returned from a stint in Spain while Apps was a late call-up to the World Cup squad in New Zealand but is yet to make her test debut.

Gonzalo Quesada Lands the Italian Job
Former Puma Gonzalo Quesada will take charge of Italy in 2024. Quesada will be in charge of the European team on a four-year deal. He makes the move from Paris. Quesada leaves the Top 14 behind to now coach at the highest level of them all. It will mark the first time in which a Tier 1 foreign team has been coached by an Argentine. Felipe Contepomi is expected to be Argentina’s new head coach in 2024.

 

UNDER

Uruguay made to wear Yellow 
Uruguay’s playing strip for Rugby World Cup 2023 is ready. Los Teros have two jerseys, one of which will introduce viewers to Uruguay playing in a new color. Los Teros’ main strip for Rugby World Cup 2023 will be yellow. The color yellow will represent the sun on the Uruguayan flag. The biggest surprise of all, however, is that Uruguay will play in their traditional light sky blue shirt in only one match. Uruguay will play in yellow against France, Italy and Namibia.

Argentina Scrum-half Eliseo Morales out of the World Cup
Eliseo Morales has undergone surgery and is out of the Rugby World Cup. He had suffered a torn cruciate ligament in his left knee. The injury occurred while playing for Los Pampas against Los Dogos in the derby Semi Final of Super Rugby Americas (SRA). Gonzalo García is now expected to be back in the mix. His name ought to be on Michael Cheika’s upcoming roster.

Toronto’s painful season concludes
A forgettable 2023 campaign came to a disappointing close for the Toronto Arrows as they lost 26-24 to the NOLA Gold at York Lions Stadium on Saturday night. Both teams have been hit by injuries this season but the Gold salvaged seven victories while the Arrows end with just one.

Ugly brawl taints Chicago win over Dallas
The Chicago Hounds closed out their season with a 29-28 win over the Dallas Jackals, but it was the ugly scene just after halftime that will be remembered. Five players were sent off following a mass punch-up with four yellow cards. The Hounds finish their inaugural campaign with three wins and jump ahead of the Jackals in the Western Conference standings. Dallas are resigned to being last in the conference but can avoid the overall basement if Toronto loses to NOLA on Sunday.

Pumitas Fall Short in Warm-Up
Argentina have completed their preparations for the 2023 Junior World Championship. Los Pumitas faced New Zealand in South Africa. The match was the final hit-out before Argentina face Italy on Saturday, June 24. While the team was rotating and giving everyone an opportunity, the 59-21 loss is a clear indication of the extent of work to be done.

Samoa and Eligibility Circus shows disregard of respectful sport
Samoa face Argentina and Chile at RWC 2023. The South American teams produce all of their own players. The proud men will be up against a Samoa team packed with foreigners. Samoa’s roster features players who represented other countries: Charlie Faumuina, Titi Lamositele, Jeffery To’omaga-Allen, Steven Luatu, Christian Leali’ifano, Lima Sopoaga. None were born or raised in Samoa. Samoa did not lose them but poached them all under the eligibility circus. Chile suffer greatly as a result; the homegrown Los Cóndores will face a team packed with players made eligible from these changes.

USA Star Titi Lamositele poached by Samoa
The USA are now without star Titi Lamositele. Born and raised in Washington state, Lamositele will change allegiance to play for a higher ranked Tier 2 team. The damages of the eligibility changes are vivid. Notwithstanding, past World Cups saw Samoa gaining many foreign players. With the changes Samoa is exploiting more via eligibility. Appalling eligibility laws reward teams who do not produce their own players and punish teams that do. World Rugby welcomed legal piracy.

Atrocious Eligibility Laws Enable Tonga to Happily Poach All Blacks and Wallabies
Unhappy with not being a Tier 1 side, Tonga, like Samoa, were big winners from World Rugby’s eligibility law changes. RWC 2025 finalist Adam Coleman is one newcomer. Toulouse’s New Zealander Pita Ahki is another. The roster contains Israel Folau, Augustine Pulu, George Moala and Charles Piutau and Tau Koloamatangi. These men were never lost to Tonga; they were neither born nor raised in Tonga. Romania will feel the might of former Wallabies and All Blacks at the RWC while Canada will do so in August. Neither Tier 2 team will benefit in a remotely comparable way from the changes.

World Rugby finalizing shambolic World League
An announcement that nobody interested in rugby’s growth wants is on its way. Before World Rugby make the announcement of the World League, reports from Georgians come with utter dismay. The World League will start in 2026. It will involve the Six Nations teams, the Rugby Championship teams and Fiji and Japan. All others are excluded. Georgia defeated Italy and Wales in 2022 but have been shut out. World Rugby will add a “Challenger” league no earlier than 2030.

Retirement Call from Eagle Will Hooley
San Diego Legion flyhalf Will Hooley has announced that he will retire at the end of the Major League Rugby season. He makes the call at the age of 29 having represented the Eagles on 18 occasions since debuting against Canada in February of 2018. Known for his exceptional kicking and passing skills, Hooley was part of the 2019 World Cup squad and played against England, Argentina, and Tonga in Japan.