Up and Under

Up and Under is a weekly exclusive on Americas Rugby News. It takes a dive into the best and worst involving Americas Rugby from the past week.

 

UP

The People and the Rugby in San Diego
A Major League Rugby record crowd of 11,423 took in the first rugby game at the new Snapdragon Stadium. It’s a milestone achievement for the league which regularly had attendances in the hundreds during the first two seasons. Local fans were treated to an entertaining spectacle that ended with the home town San Diego Legion defeating the Utah Warriors 33-17. Snapdragon Stadium will get another chance to shine on Sunday when the Legion host the New England Free Jacks.

Red Hot Free Jacks
The Free Jacks earned an emphatic 36-12 road victory over the NOLA Gold on Friday night. Despite several off-season roster moves, New England again look like Eastern Conference contenders – if not favorites. While the visitors were convincing winners on the evening, numerous unforced errors committed by the home side that contributed heavily to their downfall. New England face a long trip to the West Coast to play the Legion at Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday.

Houston Crush Texan Rivals
The Houston SaberCats had no trouble securing a bonus-point win over their Texan rivals Dallas on Sunday evening. There was at least some promise shown by the Jackals, with two late tries making the final score 33-12 to the visitors. The Jackals hit the road next Saturday when they take on the Utah Warriors at Zions Bank Stadium. Later that evening the SaberCats hold their home opener at AVEVA Stadium against the NOLA Gold.

Old Glory off to a winning start under Josh Syms
Old Glory DC dealt a harsh lesson to Major League Rugby’s newest team on Saturday afternoon. The home side scored 30 points in a dominant first half to emerge 42-27 winners over the Chicago Hounds, who were making their regular season debuts. DC weren’t perfect – 27 points conceded is still not great – but they look considerably more cohesive to start the season under new coach Josh Syms as compared to a year ago. Chicago meanwhile have reinforcements on the way, and will be hoping that Luke Carty is fit to play against Utah in their historic home opener at SeatGeek Stadium on March 5.

Dogos debut strongly
Córdoba played host to the opening match of Super Rugby Americas 2023. The home fans in attendance were treated to a quality rugby match. They also went home smiling as locals, Los Dogos were 30-24 winners over Yacare from Paraguay. The competitive match was won by the home side who were below their best. Yacare have the means to cause upsets this year.

Selknam shine and Chile’s players and approach looks professional
Selknam powered to a strong victory over the American Raptors in Santiago. Selknam were easily the better of the two teams and romped to a 45-10 victory. A good crowd was on hand to see what was some quality rugby. Selknam certainly gave those in attendance reason to return. It is positive news in the build up to Chile’s debut at the Rugby World Cup. Joaquín Miesi raised his hand with a hat-trick.

Professional Lifeline for Colombians
No Cafeteros Pro in Super Rugby Americas meant Colombia miss out. It was a hammer blow that speaks for itself. Thankfully, three Super Rugby Americas teams have recruited from Colombia. Tight head Aldair Marquez and winger Jhon Arley Urrutia are now Raptors, N8 Juan Pacheco, center Juan David Agudelo and fullback Santiago Gálvez are now Yacare players and Os Cobras have signed flanker Diver Ceballos and winger Alain Altahona.

Bilingual Officiating in Super Rugby Americas
Gonzalo de Achával refereed Selknam vs Raptors on Saturday. The Argentine officiated in Spanish for the home side and English for the visitors. This is a breakthrough given the poor record of World Rugby in developing and encouraging similarly bilingual referees. No Argentine has ever refereed a Rugby Championship match. Despite being two-time World Cup Semi Finalists, no Pumas match has had a Spanish-speaker at or outside World Cups. de Achával is an example of a neutral who could fairly officiate Uruguay opposite Namibia or New Zealand at RWC 2023.

Half-century of professional appearances for Captain Kate
Eagles captain Kate Zackary was recognized by her club Exeter Chiefs for her 50th professional game with the club. She has proven a world class player in the Premier 15s during the 2 1/2 years of the team’s existence. Though exclusively a loose forward for the USA, Zackary again lined up in the midfield this past weekend alongside Eagles teammate Gabby Cantorna. Her place in history as one of North America’s finest rugby ambassadors is secure.

Raining Pumas Tries in France
What a weekend for Pumas in France’s elite! Joel Sclavi powered over for a try for La Rochelle’s away win over Castres, Facundo Bosch scored at home in Bayonne’s win over Stade Français, Facundo Isa scored for Toulon who toppled Toulouse and Jerónimo de la Fuente scored for Perpignan against Pau. Perpignan are now safe from relegation, now and for now. Brive move to bottom despite a tremendous away performance against Racing 92. Nicolás Sánchez and Lucas Paulos scored tries.

🇦🇷🏉Facundo Isa siendo Facundo Isa.

Al tercera línea le dieron espacios y facturó en la victoria de Toulon sobre Toulouse.https://t.co/UsE0fLAO3A

— Periodismo Rugby (@Perrugby) February 19, 2023

World Class Argentines in the World’s Elite
It was not only in France where Argentines impressed over the weekend. In England Santiago Carreras put on a show for Gloucester. He was a try scorer and created two others for Gloucester who won at home. Julián Montoya captained the greatest team in English history, Leicester Tigers on Sunday. Meanwhile in New Zealand, Martín Bogado was a try scorer for the Highlanders.

 

UNDER

Eligibility madness favors two MLR teams
2022 Finalists New York and Seattle will have the benefit of an extra import player in 2023 thanks to a bizarre ruling on eligibility by Major League Rugby. Ironworkers forward Brad Tucker and Seawolves scrumhalf JP Smith have been granted ‘exemptions’ that will see them considered domestic players this season, despite neither being eligible for the Eagles. It’s a clear competitive advantage given when none was needed, and there are now suggestions that the decision will be challenged by other teams.

Communications Breakdown
While the highs experienced in San Diego are the biggest takeaway from MLR over the weekend, it’s impossible to ignore the league’s communication shortcomings. Indeed the Legion, SaberCats, and Ironworkers have shown improvement in that department from last season. Seattle on the other hand continue to needlessly delay their team announcements and Dallas’ release doesn’t even live up to amateur standards. MLR itself has no dedicated communications staff member. It’s time to start setting the bar higher. Essentials first, memes later.

Defending Champs drop their opening match in MLR 2023
The Seattle Seawolves took bragging rights over the Ironworkers on Saturday night in a rematch of the 2022 Championship Final. New York were second-best in a physical contest on this occasion, the defending champions coming up short to Seattle by a final score of 25-11 at a sold-out Starfire Stadium. Seattle will have a short turnaround for their home game against Rugby ATL next Friday. New York will break in their new turf at Memorial Field against the Toronto Arrows on Sunday.

Arrows miss their target in Atlanta
Rugby ATL took the spoils in the opening match of the 2023 Major League Rugby season. While the final score read 17-10 in the home side, the Arrows never really looked like winning and scored all of their points in the final moments as their hosts tightened their grip on the Fire & Ice Cup. Things will get better for Toronto, but they’ll have to do so quickly to keep pace in what looks like a hyper-competitive Eastern Conference this season.

Sevens Cards handed out in Cobras and Pampas match
Los Pampas started their Super Rugby Americas season with a 20 point away win over Os Cobras. The Sunday fixture saw three Pampas players yellow carded as well as two Cobras players being yellowed and two others receiving red cards. The match was impacted though the rugby played was nonetheless good overall. Los Pampas outscored the home side by six tries to three.

Benjamín Urdapilleta, Matías Moroni Pulled
Late changes impacted matches in France and England over the weekend. Puma Benjamín Urdapilleta was forced out of Castres’ Top 14 match while Matías Moroni missed playing for the Newcastle Falcons due to the birth of his child. In the case of the former player, any missed game time is crucial. Age is not on his side and others were given more opportunities in 2022.

Red Vision for Tomás Albornoz
The battle for places on Argentina’s World Cup roster is fierce at fly half. As noted above, Carreras and Sánchez had fine games for Gloucester and Brive, Mallía has started three matches straight in the position for the greatest team in European history and Urdapilleta is looking for one last dance. Tomás Albornoz holds down the 10 shirt for Benetton. He was red carded in the 73rd minute against Cardiff on Saturday.

American Raptors Struggle at the foot of the Andes
The American Raptors were outmatched by Selknam on Saturday. From what the Colorado team offered it is fair to speculate that the season will be a long and unpleasant one. The team was outmatched in structure and in quality per players. Addressing both of these areas in short time is the immediate challenge of the team.

Mateo Carreras takes a knock
The Newcastle Falcons had to make adjustments before and during their match against the Bristol Bears. In addition to Moroni being replaced before kick-off, former Puma Mateo Carreras was replaced in the 34th minute after a knock to the head. Carreras failed an HIA and may now face time on the sidelines to follow protocol.

Hopeful returning Puma suffers blow while in form of his life
Similar to the aforementioned example of fly half, competition for places on the wing are highly competitive for Los Pumas. The Glasgow Warriors named Sebastián Cancelliere as player of the month while he happens to be even more than that in the United Rugby Championship (URC) as a while. Thus far, Cancelliere has scored seven tries and assisted a further three in the URC this season. His 10 try involvements are the most of any player this season. Unfortunately, Cancelliere is now injured and facing a month out.