Up and Under

The 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

Guatemala
Never is it clearer that progress has been made when a team defeats a side considered to be better. Not only is Costa Rica a World Rugby member, unlike Guatemala, but Los Guarias won by 43 points just two years ago. With the 19-17 win Los Jaguares can now target an unlikely South American C Championship title.

El Salvador
Also winning on Sunday was Los Torogoces, the national men’s team of El Salvador. The hosts of this year’s South American C Championship were too strong for Panama, winning 32-0. The result was expected but in keeping Panama scoreless and putting a healthy score on the board Los Torogoces join Guatemala and Costa Rica in a three-way battle to win the tournament.

Record Crowd in Brazil
History was made in São Paulo on Friday evening when the biggest crowd to date was recorded in Brazil. Some 10,460 spectators were on hand to for a friendly international between the two countries who competed to a record-setting scoreline in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The 7-1 scoreline continues to haunt Brazilians and the CBRu were smart in being able to stage the match at a genuine stadium and attract never before seen interest.

USA Sevens
No longer can critics suggest that it was a fluke when the Eagles won the London leg of the World Sevens series earlier this year. The U.S. side made history again this weekend, but in a different manner. The Eagles completed a first ever win over New Zealand and did so twice. By beating the strongest team in tournament history to finish third overall and also defeating South Africa the U.S. underlined themselves as true medal contenders for Rio 2016.

Karen Paquin and Perry Baker
Canadian women’s player Karen Paquin and Eagles men’s player Perry Baker were named in the official Dream Team’s for the Dubai tournament this past weekend. Both players are targeting places in their respective countries Olympic Games rosters and their recognition as being the best in their respective positions this weekend bodes very well for their chances.

Patricio Fernández
A first-ever start at professional level for the young Patricio Fernández resulted in him seeing Clermont to victory over Brive in an away fixture on Sunday afternoon. Pulling the strings at 10, the Puma came through the test with flying colors, playing the full 80minutes. Canadian Jamie Cudmore also started. Brive entered the match in fine form to be in the top four but with Fernández at fly half the visitors return home with four competition points. Fernández has been marked by many as a certain fly half in the squad for the next Rugby World Cup.

Jeff Hassler and DTH van der Merwe
Canadian wingers Jeff Hassler and DTH van der Merwe both crossed for tries for their respective Welsh regions this weekend in the Guinness Pro 12. Hassler scored in the Ospreys’ win over Zebre while van der Merwe did so for the Scarlets. Both matches were played away against Italian sides nd, for the Scarlets, it sees the Llanelli based side going top of the standings.

Sánchez, Creevy, and Imhoff
The trio of Nicolás Sánchez, Agustín Creevy, and Juan Imhoff have been nominated for the prestigious Olimpia de Plata award. Selected annually, the Olimpia de Plata recognizes excellence in Argentine sport. In being nominated the trio are, in effect, the three best performers for Los Pumas in 2015. A rugby player winning the award is no easy task. The most recent winner was Gonzalo Quesada who did so in 1999, the year he was the World Cup’s top point scorer. Signs are good as Sánchez achieved the same honor at this year’s World Cup. Hugo Porta also won the award fourteen years earlier while Bernardo Otaño did so in 1965.

The New Dawn of Uruguayan Rugby
2016 is going to be a record-breaking year for Los Teros. The national men’s rugby team of Uruguay will play more matches than ever-before and the ‘A’ team is also to have a solid program. The changes being implemented by the URU with the backing of Argentina are highly likely to be conducive to long term progress. The union is on target to move from being a Tier 3 to a Tier 2 union before Japan hosts the World Cup.

UNDER

Brazil
The crowd was of record size but the performance of the Tupis was concerning. Brazil is not expected to be able to compete with any of the four Rugby World Cup 2015 teams in the 2016 Americas Rugby Cup but the team has been expected to put up a good fight against Chile on the opening weekend. In order to do so Brazil must fix the flaws displayed against Germany or the team will have a hard time coming within 20 points of Los Condores.

Canada
Americas Rugby News has received comments from concerned Canadians and with good reason. Canada will not have a team in PRO Rugby in 2016 and the union was far slower than others in announcing plans for the Americas Rugby Cup. Added to this is the dreadful manner in which Canada managed to lose against Romania in the World Cup. Coach Kieran Crowley retains the job as head coach while Samoa’s Stephen Betham, who won a game, does not. Mike Tolkin has been forced to reapply for his job. Considering Uruguay’s advanced plans is an eye-opening comparison. The troubles need to be addressed.

London Irish and Newcastle
Neither Aviva Premiership has won a match all season in the English competition. With six rounds now having been played the outlook is not good for either with them potentially to be battling with the Worcester Warriors to avoid relegation. Worcester, though, has competed much better. This weekend London Irish were demolished 38-7 by the Harlequins while Newcastle did worse, losing 38-3 at home against Saracens.

Glasgow Warriors vs Leinster Postponed
A professional game in a leading competition was forced to be cancelled because of surface rain on the field. Incredible. This is 2015, not 1980. In this day and age there are vast requirements and Glasgow’s home ground of Scotstoun well and truly failed to deliver on Satuday. The postponement of a Guinness Pro 12 match ought tohave sent alarm bells to tournament organizers as well as authorities both at the Glasgow Warriors and in Scottish rugby.

Jules Plisson Blunder
Frédéric Michalak has retired and François Trinh-Duc has a broken leg leaving France potentially short of fly half options for the 2016 Six Nations which begins in two months time. Rémi Tales, like Michalak, was largely unsuccessful at the World Cup and his place in the Guy Noves coached side looks 50-50 at best. The place of another, Jules Plisson, may have taken a hit this weekend as the Stade Français fly half was fooled by Bordeaux-Begles hooker Ole Avei. The blunder led to a try which saw the Parisians losing at home. The Gonzalo Quesada coached side now faces an uphill battle to improve in the standings while balancing European commitments.