Up and Under

Up and Under is a weekly exclusive on Americas Rugby News which reviews the best and worst from games involving the Americas teams over the previous week. This week’s edition is the final for the year. Up and Under will return in January ahead of the 2019 Americas Rugby Championship.

UP

Pacific Nations Cup
For the first time since 2015 Canada and the USA will participate in the Pacific Nations Cup. The six-team tournament will feature regular Pacific Island nations Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga with Japan making it six teams in all to be separated into two pools. It’s a very welcome return to the competition for the North American sides. The tournament is popular with fans and gives the two teams higher level competition.

2019 Nations Cup
For the third straight year the Nations Cup will be played in Uruguay in 2019. Montevideo’s Estadio Charrúa will be the setting for the warm-up tournament featuring Namibia, Romania, Russia, and hosts Uruguay. Of the three countries set to travel to Uruguay two (Namibia and Russia) will compete at RWC 2019 while Romania was disqualified by World Rugby after the Rugby Europe eligibility fiasco. All matches in the 2019 Nations Cup will have full test status with World Rankings on the line.

Frank Méndez & Moe Chaudhry
The match officials for the 2019 Americas Rugby Championship bring new light to the growing importance of the tournament. For the fourth edition of the competition there will be referees from all six countries, something that has never happened before. Frank Méndez will become the first Chilean to take charge of a test match in five years. Also making his ARC debut is Canada’s Moe Chaudhry, who follows Chris Assmus as the only referees from the northern nation to referee matches in the tournament.

Toronto Arrows
On Tuesday the Arrows confirmed an additional 13 players to their roster and also unveiled their coaching staff for the 2019 Major League Rugby season. Among the names was former Canada Sevens captain John Moonlight, Uruguayan winger Leandro Leivas, England u20 back row Jack Nay, and Canada midfielder Guiseppe du Toit. With their roster all but complete, the Arrows can now put their full attention behind preparing for their fully professional debut.

Argentina Conquer Rio
Argentina secured both the men’s and women’s titles at the international Beach Rugby tournament on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro. Argentina’s men’s and women’s teams got the better of Brazil and Uruguay to secure both titles. First played in 2014 Brazil’s women were winners every year from 2014-2017. Argentina’s men won the title in 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018. Uruguay’s men were winners in 2016

Joaquín Díaz Luzzi
Díaz Luzzi was named by URBA as the Breakthrough Player of the Year for 2018. The Alumni fly half scored the final try of the season as his club ended a 17-year-wait to be crowned champions, defeating Hindú in the final. The 26-17 victory came twelve months after Hindú were 27-20 winners over Alumni in the 2017 URBA Top 12 Final. Alumni got to the final thanks to a 50-3 demolition of San Luis in the Semi Final. Díaz Luzzi was also the hero that afternoon. 

Pumas RWC 2019 Hopefuls in Europe
In the latest round of European club activity there were strong performances from Argentine players. Juan Imhoff ran in two tries for Racing 92 who won away to the Leicester Tigers in England,  Benjamín Urdapilleta kicked 8 points for Castres who won at home against Irish province Munster, and Nicolás Sánchez made his debut for Stade Français and scored all 12 points in the team’s win over Welsh region the Ospreys in Paris. All three and many others are very much in contention for places in the Pumas roster for RWC 2019.

MLR Atlanta
The new Major League Rugby franchise in Atlanta doesn’t have a name yet, but now they have a coach. US Eagles assistant Scott Lawrence has been appointed Head Coach of the team that will officially begin play in the 2020 MLR season. The former Eagles flanker will be joined by another test veteran on the staff with Nese Malifa hired as an Assistant Coach.

UNDER

No Solidarity Between Big Countries and Small
Pushing forward with his move to establish a ‘League of Nations’ World Rugby Vice Chairman Agustín Pichot has further criticized the existing set-up. The former Pumas captain told L’Equipe that the big countries benefit from the small ones and that there is no solidarity. The existing model sees the host union taking the profits. Japan’s players received $18 a day while the opposition, England were making $32,000 per match. If Pichot got his way the idea of the League of Nations would contain 36 countries. They would be divided into three divisions and have a system of promotion and relegation. 

Brazilians in Major League Rugby
Nine Uruguayan players have been signed by MLR clubs for the new season. Canada will be heavily represented and there are two Chileans. From Brazil, however, there is but one. New Zealand-born Josh Reeves is set to be the only representative of the country despite the Tupis sending several of their top players to the World Rugby combine in Glendale. Despite impressive results in the Americas Rugby Championship there has been surprisingly little interest from the MLR teams with the likes of Wilton Rebolo, Moisés Duque, and the Sancery twins now set to miss out.

Samu Manoa
On Saturday Manoa was forced off injured at half time. Having started at flanker for Cardiff Blues the Eagles enforcer went off for an HIA and did not return. The Welsh capital side were leading Saracens 14-13 when Manoa left. The final score saw the English Premiership side keeping the Cardiff Blues scoreless in the second half in winning 26-14.

Nicolas Chauvin
French rugby is in mourning. Teenager Nicolas Chavin died this past week of a heart attack. It came in hospital following surgery on a serious injury he suffered playing for the Espoirs against Bordeaux earlier this month. Chain suffered a broken neck in the match and ultimately lost his life as a result. FFR President Bernard Laporte has called on World Rugby to take action. Among other things Laporte is concerned with insufficient sanctioning of high tackles and a dangerous mix of full-time professionals with young academy players in the French Espoirs division.