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.

 

UP

Uruguay
Officially at an all-time high are Uruguay. Los Teros are now ranked 16th in the world, a placing higher than that of Samoa. Their win over the USA on Saturday was both gutsy and classy. The score by Nicolás Freitas, which featured key involvements from Gastón Mieres and Joaquín Prada, looms as being a contender for try of the tournament. A win over Brazil in the final round will see Uruguay finishing the ARC in second position, a best ever placement for Los Teros in the Americas Rugby Championship.

Argentina XV
The Argentina XV were 39-23 winners over Canada on Friday. Despite it being the penultimate round the result secured them their second ARC title. The team looks a well-oiled machine this year, far more so than in previous years which is as much a credit to coach Ignacio Fernández Lobbe and his staff as it is to the players. Several youngsters look set to challenge for Pumas spots in the future.

USA Men’s Eagles 7s
After four frustrating second-place finishes, the Men’s Eagles finally got their rewards in Las Vegas. Carlin Isles stole the show in a pulsating Semi Final against rivals New Zealand and the team saved their best for last in a one-sided Cup Final win against Samoa. Four players on the team earned Dream Team selection, and the USA are now the sole occupants of first place on the HSBC Sevens Series table. The incredible season continues in Vancouver this coming weekend.

Jaguares
After three rounds of the Super Rugby season Los Jaguares are 2-1. Saturday’s win over the Blues was by three tries to one and saw a second consecutive defensive effort. The Blues were highly fortunate to score a try while the South Americans now depart for South Africa as a team high in confidence.

Joe Taufete’e
The outstanding Eagles hooker wrote his name in the record books on Saturday as Taufete’e overtook the long-standing try scoring record for a front rower held by Ireland and Lions legend Keith Wood. His hat trick against Los Teros took him to 18 in his test career which saw him surpassing Wood’s record of 15. Perhaps most impressive is that Wood played 63 tests while Taufete’e has only played 21 thus far in his young career.

Rugby United New York
Saturday saw a dominant win by RUNY over the Houston SaberCats. The road victory saw them outscore their hosts by five tries to one while being in complete control throughout. With all their home games still ahead and more players set to return after this weekend’s final ARC round, Mike Tolkin’s men look in good shape to press for the post-season. Next up for New York is a game against the Utah Warriors on Friday.

Taylor Paris
Scoring a first half try for Castres this weekend was the Canadian winger. It was his second for the club and first in the Top 14 after his first two campaigns were ruined by injury. Paris helped his side to a 23-15 away victory over Lyon. The result takes the defending French champions up to 5th position, now just three points below the third placed Lyon.

Juan Imhoff
Another week and another try for Imhoff. The Argentine speedster’s score came in Racing 92’s 50-14 hammering of La Rochelle in Paris. It lifts the club to 7th position in the Top 14 and suggests that the club will continue to rise during the run-in to the play-offs.

Conor Trainor
Nevers are in pole position for promotion to the Top 14 next season and their Canadian center delivered in a big way on Friday. Trainor scored two tries in the win over Colomiers including one long-range solo effort in the first half. It’s been a long road back for the 29-year-old since injuring his Achilles while playing for Canada, but he looks to be approaching his best form again at just the right time with the World Cup looming in the fall.

 

 

UNDER

World League
Leaks from New Zealand have reported that a World League is to begin in 2020. It will see Japan and the USA joining the Rugby Championship and will see 12 teams all playing each other on an annual basis. This will be without relegation making it a closed shop to all others. Such an arrangement breaches the core values of rugby and is a diabolical means of helping powerful unions ease their financial concerns.

USA Men’s Eagles XVs
It’s not so much the home loss against Uruguay, which was certainly a let-down in itself, but the Eagles XVs have now performed below expectations for three matches in a row. After their record-setting highs of 2018, the start to their 2019 has been severely underwhelming. Canada have not beaten the USA since August of 2013 but should feel better about their chances this weekend with the Eagles floundering and the Canadians showing improvement over the past two weeks.

Brazil
It was a nail-biting home win for Os Tupis over Los Cóndores on Saturday. The result sees Brazil continuing its dominance over Chile in recent years, and yet the performance left much to be desired. After defeating Canada and the USA expectations were high, especially on home soil, and it has to be said Brazil did not deliver, failing to score a single try. Their accuracy outside of the set piece must be addressed if they are to challenge Uruguay this coming weekend.

Chile Scrum
Chile lost by five points against Brazil and with a better scrum they would arguably have won the game. Brazil pulverized Los Cóndores in a display of how important a scrum can be. It regularly handed Brazil penalties and got them out of attacking positions. This in addition to directly giving them points.

Jaguares Injuries
After just three rounds of the Super Rugby season Los Jaguares are counting the cost of injury. Captain Jerónimo de la Fuente was injured against the Bulls and Agustín Creevy against the Blues. Both are out of the tour to South Africa while fellow starting player Gonzalo Bertranou is out for the season.

Houston SaberCats
It’s hard not to have some sympathy for the SaberCats who have now lost three straight after their one-point win over Austin to start the season. Against New York they offered little in the way of offense. Houston have been hit hard by both ARC call-ups and injuries, but one does wonder if their lack of depth is the real culprit. The Cats will welcome back their Uruguayan internationals after this weekend but first they’ll have to front up against the defending champion Seattle Seawolves on their home turf.

Snow Rugby
A few fans might have enjoyed the spectacle of two Major League Rugby matches played in winter conditions this past weekend, but in the long-term snow rugby is not good business for the league. Not only is it unhealthy for the participants but also for the bank accounts. Both Utah and Glendale saw their attendance figures hit hard as a result and when there’s only 8 home games a season, every one counts. If MLR isn’t prepared to have a contingency for postponements due to weather, they’ll have to consider either starting the schedule a couple weeks later in the year or moving more early-season games to the south. This will become a greater issue next season when Boston and DC join the party.