World Rugby is not taking any chances with the World Cup Repechage after the Rugby Europe fiasco in Brussels. Assigned to the last-chance qualification tournament are World Rugby’s most experienced test referees, all of whom officiated at the 2015 World Cup. Canada has drawn Wayne Barnes for their opening round …

Newly-appointed Manu Samoa coach Steve Jackson has named a 31-man squad for their three-match November international tour. Samoa will play against the USA at the neutral venue of San Sebastián, Georgia in Tbilisi, and then Spain in Madrid. Three uncapped players have been included in the squad. Tasman hooker Ray …

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 Peru Two wins in a week have seen Peru win the 2018 Sudamérica 4 Naciones B competition. A 36-14 win over …

Argentina set a Rugby Championship record against Australia in Salta, but not the kind they were hoping for. Los Pumas somehow blew a 31-7 halftime lead, conceding 38 second half points to watch their third-place dreams go up in smoke. It was a massively disappointing way to finish what was …

Australia weren’t the only team to earn a come-from-behind win in the Rugby Championship on the weekend. New Zealand wrapped up the competition with a 32-30 win over South Africa in Pretoria and did so in dramatic fashion. The Springboks were keen to follow up their shock win at Wellington …

On Saturday in Salta Agustín Creevy wrote his name down in history. The flanker who converted to hooker became the most capped Argentine captain of all time. In leading his country against Australia he surpassed Lisandro Arbizu’s mark of 48 tests as skipper. The 33-year-old has captained Argentina since 2014. …

Argentine forwards Matías Alemanno and Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro have reached 50 test caps. The duo reached the mark yesterday playing in the final round Rugby Championship fixture against Australia in Salta. Both players are not tied on 50 test caps together with Mauricio Reggiardo and Leonardo Senatore. They became the 32nd …

Peru defeated their hosts Guatemala 34-0 in Antigua on Saturday to clinch the 2018 Sudamérica 4 Naciones B competition. They had earlier in the week defeated Costa Rica 36-14. The competition was marred by the absence of Venezuela who were forced to drop out after their visas were denied, leaving …

A record-setting second half collapse saw Argentina blow a 31-7 lead and crash to an embarrassing 45-34 defeat at Salta on Saturday. The 24-point deficit overcome by the Wallabies is a Rugby Championship record, with Australia scoring 38 points after the break including five tries. In doing so the Pumas …

For the third time in 2018 Canada have been defeated by Uruguay. This time it was the ‘A’ sides of each team, with the hosts earning a 35-21 victory at the Americas Pacific Challenge. A dominant scrum powered the South Americans with Federico Favaro landing five successful kicks at goal. …