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Americas players have long been forced to balance their professional club careers with international availability, with test rugby often coming second in terms of priority, at least outside of the World Cup. Things have been further complicated with the UAR’s new policy of excluding European-based professionals from Pumas selection. There …

Canada’s thirst for more high level fixtures was quenched in 2016 with the addition of the Americas Rugby Championship proving a major step in the development of top amateur talent. While not quite top flight competition, the games gave the best of Canada’s domestic players a chance to test themselves …

Our last weekend focused on domestic rugby until the end of March was an interesting one. With no Premiership or Pro 12 we were given the two French divisions and the Anglo-Welsh cup to pine over, with no players coming from the Championship. Thankfully there were plenty of decent performances …

Like Brazil, the Chileans have benefited greatly from the re-development of the Americas Rugby Championship. Their 2016 total of 11 tests is almost three times as many as the four they played in 2015, and the first time they’ve had more than seven in a calendar year since 2005. While …

The Breakthrough Player of the Year is somewhat of a loosely defined category. It doesn’t necessitate that a player has achieved international stardom, nor does it require a player to necessarily have achieved international recognition at all. Any player who has demonstrated a significant rise in their standards over the …

The introduction of the Americas Rugby Championship has given Brazil a major boost not just in terms of competition standards but perhaps more importantly in sheer volume of test matches. Previously they would go no higher than six tests in a calendar year – in 2016 they had a record …

Chile have announced a list of 27 players to travel to Sao Paulo for the opening match of the 2017 Americas Rugby Championship on Friday. In doing so they have also revealed their probable starting lineup for the game with a couple surprises. Veteran COBS flyhalf Francisco Cruz looks set …

A double for the Americas took place this weekend as a player from either team scored in Bayonne vs Brive. Martín Bustos Moyano and Taku Ngwenya both scored in the round 17 match of the French league. The former Puma scored in the 71st minute while the Eagle did so on …

Up and Under is a weekly feature on Americas Rugby News which reviews the best and worst from games involving the Americas teams over the previous week. UP Canada 7s An outstanding day one from Canada at the Wellington 7s saw them producing their best opening-day effort at an HSBC …

Argentina defeated New Zealand in the Wellington 7’s. The win over the All Blacks on their home turf gave Los Pumas 7’s fifth place in the tournament. The match was Argentina’s third of the day. Earlier on Argentina fell to a 17-12 defeat at the hands of Canada before recovering …