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

Tucumán
The capital city of the Tucumán province, San Miguel de Tucumán pulled off a spectacular coup in being allocated both of Argentina’s home internationals against France in June. The city is a rugby stronghold, it being the home of Head Coach Daniel Hourcade and a number of Pumas including Lucas Noguera Paz, Ramiro Moyano and Nicolás Sánchez. The home matches are to coincide with Argentina’s Bicentennial celebrations.

Canadian Player-Coaches
Two of Canada’s most influential names over the past decade or so have been Jamie Cudmore and James Pritchard. Both have been strong performers in Europe as players and they are not done yet. Despite both being well and truly into the twilight of their careers the pair are to both be player-coaches next season. Cudmore has joined Oyonnax on a four year deal, two being as a player, while Pritchard is trading the Bedford Blues for Coventry. Either or both could be Canadian coaches at some point down the road.

Rio de La Plata Delivers Win for Castres
This past Saturday former Puma Benjamín Urdapilleta showed again why he is a giant killer. The former Oyonnax flyhalf moved to Castres in the off-season and is proving to be as essential to his knew club as he was to his former one. On Saturday he kicked Castres to victory at home over Toulouse, his last second drop goal sealing the 15-9 result. His captain was Uruguayan Rodrigo Capó Ortega who continued to impress on a weekly basis. His performance in the engine room was top shelf.

Patricio Fernández
Sticking with French-based Argentine fly halves for the moment, 21-year-old Fernández also had a match to remember this past weekend. For the second week running he started at flyhalf for Clermont and the Central France club overcame Toulon 19-18. The match was moved to Marseilles and attracted 57,886 supporters. Fernández could well be back there before too long in Pumas colors facing France.

AJ MacGinty
The revelation of 2015 for the USA was arguably MacGinty. He made the flyhalf position his own , performing well on tour in South America and subsequently in both the Pacific Nations Cup and Rugby World Cup. Since then he has proven himself in the Guinness Pro 12 for Connacht and attracted interest elsewhere. He signed for Sale Sharks this past week, a move to see him playing in the Aviva Premiership.

Austin Huns
An exciting development unfolded this past week with French giants Racing 92 confirming an arrangement which will see them investing into Texan captial city club the Austin Huns. Austin was the setting for the USA’s recent home win over Canada in the Americas Rugby Championship and Todd Clever recently joined the club’s management team. The groundwork has seemingly been set for a team in PRO Rugby.

UNDER

No USA Home Test on June 11
Argentina will host Italy on June 11, Canada will host Japan, Uruguay and the Argentina XV will both be playing the Nations Cup in Romania but the USA will play… nobody. That’s right, the USA Eagles have been unable to secure a test match that weekend, the first of three weekends during World Rugby’s international window. Scotland is reported to have turned down an invitation. A solution can be found – why not have a PRO Rugby Selects vs Eagles match. Indeed Denver, Sacramento, and San Francisco have byes that weekend.

France’s June Tour
Another complication awaiting the Americas this coming June is to be seen in Tucumán. France will not have access to all players with those from the six clubs involved in the play-offs all being off-limites to Guy Noves. Under current standings that means a French side without players from Bordeaux, Clermont, Montpellier, Racing 92 , Toulon and Toulouse looms. Hard to fathom. Stade Français, Castres, Brive, La Rochelle and Grenoble are the likely providers.

Matías Moroni
Los Jaguares’ form in their inaugural Super Rugby campaign has not lived up to the hype. The team has one win and four losses to date but there is plenty of room to recover and make the play-offs. The team had an early opportunity to score in the 4th minute but Moroni knocked-on a gift try from a Santiago González Iglesias chip. An elementary error from the CUBA midfielder.

Cipriano Martínez
You may excuse yourself for not knowing the name Cipriano Martínez but you are likely to here about him soon. In a club match on Saturday in Argentina, Martínez assaulted an opponent, kicking him in the head. Martínez was red carded and his club made public apologies. The player is certain to face further punishment with a life ban not being out of the question. The UAR and URBA are yet to comment on the incident. It can be seen by clicking here.

Irish and Falcons
Wither London Irish or the Newcastle Falcons will be relegated to England’s second division at the completion of the ongoing season. Results in the Aviva Premiership this past weekend confirmed that the Worcester Warriors are safe, making it a two-horse race to stay afloat. It is certain to be desperate time for both clubs who have players from Argentina, Canada, and the USA.