Up and Under

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

Chile
There were two significant breakthroughs for Chile in recent days. Firstly the sport in the country is set to be boosted in schools and secondly Los Cóndores have a new coach. The new Head Coach is none other than Bernard Charreyre. The Frenchman comes in with an extensive record of relevant experience. He is a former Technical Adviser to the FFR and brings with him an extensive background in training rugby coaches. In addition he coached Romania at Rugby World Cup 2003 in Australia.

Pacific Rugby Challenge
Great news for both North America and South America this past week was that Uruguay is to host the inaugural Pacific Rugby Challenge in October. Argentina, Canada, and the USA will all send their ‘A’ sides to compete in a competition modeled on the World Rugby Nations Cup. But, it doesn’t end there. Both Fiji and Samoa are to be involved too! Additional encouragement for Uruguay sees the South American republic set to bid to host the 2017 World Rugby Junior World Trophy.

USA South Panthers Women, Men’s U19s
In Miami, Florida the USA South Panthers women and men’s under 19s had a memorable time. Both came out on top to win their respective competitions against Americas Rugby North unions. Among the competitors were Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, St. Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago. The Rugby Americas North Super Week was a huge success. Played from July 9-16 it featured a total of 23 matches involving 14 teams in additional to administrative and educational events to develop rugby in the region.

Los Jaguares, Facundo Isa
It was not the season many expected from the Argentine Super Rugby franchise. In their debut season many lessons will be learned. Similar to Los Pampas XV in the Vodacom Cup plotting a path to a successful campaign takes time. Saturday’s home win showed spirit. Indeed, Los Jaguares, did not have a good opening half. But the forwards eventually took control with Facundo Isa, Guido Petti and Tomás Lavanini playing exceptionally well. Isa is, without question, the Jaguares Player of the Year.

Tomás Cubelli
There will be a Puma in the Super Rugby playoffs after all. The Brumbies will play in the Quarter Finals, doing so at home. It is not going to be easy though as the opponents are none other than the 2015 champions, the Highlanders. The Brumbies got there by outclassing the Western Force this past weekend. Cubelli again started and, importantly, was named by the Sydney Morning Herald as the best scrum half in Australia.

UNDER

Liam Middleton
The Canadian men’s Rugby Sevens team will have a new Head Coach. Liam Middleton has been let go following the team’s failure to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Indeed it comes as no surprise that Middleton will not be returning after a dismal season on the HSBC Sevens Series that saw Canada finishing in 13th place overall, ahead of only Russia and Portugal among core teams, and failing to appear in a single Cup quarter final.

San Diego Breakers
The San Diego Breakers have swiftly gone from title contenders to a mid-table side. Southern Californians are now well off the pace with Denver and Ohio being out of sight. Against the San Francisco Rush on Saturday the Breakers were beaten well before the half time whistle. The Rush have now completed back-to-back wins over the Breakers. This looked all but unthinkable earlier in the season.

Joaquín Paz, Juan Léon Novillo
With only one Super Rugby franchise in Argentina places are limited. There have been casualties and they continue to emerge. This past week it was the turn of backs Joaquín Paz and Juan Léon Novillo to announce their departure to Italy. Both started matches in the Americas Rugby Championship and Paz even got game time in Super Rugby. Aged just 22 and 24 respectively it is a case of wasted youth.

European Pumas
Paz and Novillo are Pumas. They started as the 10 and 12 together against Paraguay in 2015. Now they are European based and, as such, cannot be considered for international duty. Daniel Hourcade put his foot down this past week. His claim that European based players in the Pumas would be a backward step is self-explanatory. Argentina’s Rugby Championship roster is to be Tomás Cubelli and Los Jaguares.

Sacramento Express
There’s no question injuries to key players have disrupted Sacramento’s season but that doesn’t excuse them from some substandard efforts this season. Sunday’s brutal beating at the hands of Denver was their worst so far, and if one were to grade their defensive performance it could only rate an F. They have shown flashes of exciting rugby but consistency has eluded them in season one. Here’s hoping they get a chance to redeem themselves next season – with maybe a few reinforcements in the off-season.