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

Colombia
With three wins from as many matches Los Tucanes won the South American B Championship. Colombia now march on to face Mexico in repechage. The winner will advance to face Paraguay in the South America repechage final. The winner of that will play in the 2017 South American Rugby Cup. That tournament is the finals of Rugby World Cup Qualification for the region. Colombia will all but certainly enter as favorites against Mexico and, if successful, will have a realistic shot at upsetting Paraguay.

Sebastián Mejia
Colombia’s rapid progress under the captaincy of Mejia has been of note. Both the leadership and rugby played by the no8 from Caldas, Antioquia, have been an example for his teammates. Mejia is to Colombia what Todd Clever is to the USA. He has been involved in social programs at the Civil Society level. Through his actions children have a role model to which young players can aspire to. At just 27 years of age Mejia has time on his side to continue transforming rugby in Colombia.

Pablo Matera
Despite having only recently turned 23, Matera has already played 31 test matches. The fearsome flanker has been one of Argentina’s best players throughout the Rugby Championship, and his performance against Australia on Saturday was no exception. Together with arguably the best no8 of the competition, Facundo Isa, Argentina have a formidable duo. Both are PladAR products and they left Toulon and Leicester behind for Los Pumas.

Benjamín Macome
An amazing comeback took place in Montevideo on Saturday. Having been left out of Argentina’s Rugby World Cup 2015 roster the international career of Macome appeared over. Contracted to play for Bayonne in France the versatile forward had every reason to earn himself a handsome salary and play out the remainder of his career in a beautiful part of the world. Instead the 30-year-old is now back in Tucumán. In his first representative match since August 2015 he scored four tries. His performance for the Argentina XV vs Canada ‘A’ may well see him on the plane to Japan and the UK with Los Pumas next month.

Venezuela
A vastly improved Venezuela finished second in the South American B Championship. The Caribbean nation demonstrated a far superior level of rugby than in 2015. This brought with it victories over Ecuador and Peru. It also saw a far more competitive fixture against Colombia. The map that the Americas Rugby Championship has put into place is to give rise to a ‘B’ division. More progress from Venezuela and the country can see itself as a probable participant.

Rugby World Cup 2027 Likely to be in Argentina
Argentina’s recent hosting of World Rugby authorities may prove to have been a masterstroke. Senior officials Bill Beaumont and Brett Gosper both heavily praised the UAR as they did the country’s ambition to host Rugby World Cup 2017. Beaumont went on record to tell the local press that Argentina has a very good chance at securing the event. Gosper was also full of support for the idea. They met with Argentine President Mauricio Macri and senior UAR officials. This is unprecedented and shows Argentina’s candidacy is likely to succeed.

UNDER

Argentina
Nobody can gift Australia two tries and expect to beat them. Argentina did so with two intercepts giving Australia 14 free points. There was also the issue of a debatable try in which the TMO determined had not been a knock-on. Social media conversations were hot in slamming the decision. Argentina’s first-half goal-kicking woes also harmed their chances. All-in-all, Los Pumas were the better team. If they can prevent errors in possession they will win such games and move up from 9th in the world.

Santiago González Iglesias
No international goal kicker can miss kicks from in front. González Iglesias did so against Australia on Saturday. It was a repeat of his first kick against Namibia in Rugby World Cup 2015. In other words it was not an isolated incident. González Iglesias missed his first three kicks at goal against the Wallabies. Bernard Foley proved to be far more reliable for his team. In general play González Iglesias had a very good game, outplaying Quade Cooper. Indeed a country like France would happily have him at 10. France, unlike Argentina, has goal-kicking scrumhalves and fullbacks to choose from.

Ecuador
A winless South American B Championship sees Ecuador up for relegation. Ecuador’s place in this year’s competition was earned after winning repechage against Guatemala. A similar fate will now be required for 2017. Ecuador will carefully follow the 2016 South American C Championship in Central America. One of Costa Rica, El Salvador or Guatemala is to be the likely winner. The encouraging news for Ecuador is that the gulf between itself and the other South American B Championship competitors was lower than that of previous years.

Jeff Hassler
A serious injury saw Hassler stretchered off just before half time on Friday. Suspected Achilles damage will all but certainly deny Canada of one of their most potent attackers for the November Internationals. The setback comes just one week after he made his 50th appearance for the Ospreys in the Guinness Pro 12. Hassler has not had much luck in the injury department over the past couple years. His 2015/16 season was ended in April to have surgery on a shoulder problem.

Jordan Wilson-Ross
Complications for Canada’s upcoming international program are not limited to Hassler. Canada will play against Ireland, Romania, and Samoa in Europe next month. Set to miss out is 27-year-old Wilson-Ross. Having played against Russia earlier in the year he would have been a candidate to replace Hassler in the roster. Instead he has put his rugby career on hold, signing for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. The season ends soon, on November 5, but he will miss out on the end-of-year tests at a bare minimum.

Nick Phipps
The Australia halfback received an official warning from SANZAAR for shoving an Argentine medic to the ground in the second half of Saturday’s Rugby Championship match at Twickenham. The incident occurred when play had stopped. Having run on Christian Barrea was deliberately pushed over by Phipps. Barrea had, for an unknown reason, attempted to gather the ball. The Wallaby acted in response which resulted in mass confusion. He escaped punishment from SANZAAR, who issued him with a warning for contravening Law 10.4 (m) Acts contrary to good sportsmanship.

USA Selects
While Canada ‘A’ were outplayed by the Argentina XV, the USA Selects performance against the Fiji Warriors was far worse. With many players being PRO Rugby athletes the result underlines how many mistakes were made. A number of errors contributed to a blowout 62-12 loss. While the Selects were busy losing possession at key moments, the Fijians made them pay dearly for each mistake en route to 10 tries including six unanswered scores in a dismal second half for the North Americans.