Up and Under is a weekly exclusive on Americas Rugby News. It reviews the best and worst from games involving the Americas teams over the previous week.   UP Chile Chile’s preparations for the South American 4 Nations are innovative. On Saturday there was a special trial match with the …

Sebastián Piñeyrúa has been re-elected as Sudamérica Rugby President. The Uruguayan will thereby remain in charge of South America’s governing body for four further years. His new term will run from 2020-2024. Piñeyrúa will be joined by fellow Uruguayan Marcello Calandra as Vice President. Additional representation comes directly from Argentina, …

The COVID-19 pandemic ended the inaugural Súper Liga Americana (SLAR) season early. What had been scheduled to be a ten week regular season was ended before competing week two. Only one team was able to play two league matches. The suspended season was a five team league. It had teams …

Facundo Isa scored for Toulon on Saturday. The rampaging ball-carrier from Santiago del Estero continued his fine form ahead of the Rugby Championship. His try helped Toulon to a Semi Final victory. The French Top 14 club defeated the Leicester Tigers 34-19. Toulon will face the Bristol Bears in the Challenge …

Team Blanco were 34-10 winners over Team Rojo at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago on Saturday. The match was organized as a trial match for Chile coach Pablo Lemoine as the Cóndores prepare to compete in the upcoming South American Championship in Montevideo. Team Rojo had an early chance to …

Ma’a Nonu has officially departed the San Diego Legion. The All Blacks centurion has returned to France, signing on with Toulon until the end of the of the 2020-2021 Top 14 season. It’s his second stint at the club having played there from 2015-2018. At 38 years old Nonu should …

Austin have announced the signing of South African hooker Robbie Coetzee for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 31-year-old arrives at the AG’s with nearly a decade of experience as a professional in his home country, most notably with the Lions in Super Rugby. Originally from Pretoria, Coetzee made …

Juan Imhoff scored a match-wining try today for Racing 92. The Argentine winger scored the only try of the European Champions Cup Semi Final match against Saracens. His 75th minute try gave Racing 92 a 19-15 win. Racing 92 now await the result of the second Semi Final. It is …

USA Rugby has announced the approval of eight National Development Programs that will officially join the High Performance Pathways initiative. Among them are two Major League Rugby teams – the New England Free Jacks and San Diego Legion. Each program was required to submit a plan for verification with USAR …

The Western Force have re-signed Marcel Brache. The team’s website made the announcement, noting it as a new two-year-deal. Brache joins Kieran Longbottom, and Brynard Stander in committing to the Western Australian Super Rugby side. The 32-year-old Brache has over 50 appearances in Super Rugby. In addition to playing for …

The Utah Warriors have confirmed a four-match fall series for their Warriors Selects side. Composed of local development players and fringe senior squad members, the Selects group has unearthed the likes of Puna Vuli, Thomas Tu’avao, and Dom Toluono who made their MLR debuts in 2020. Kick-starting the series on …

Chile vs Chile will be played on Saturday. The match is both a trial and a warm-up match. It takes place before Chile’s roster is finalized for the South American 4 Nations. The two teams consist of players in consideration for the tournament in Uruguay. They are divided into Cóndores …

Spain has confirmed a two-match tour of Uruguay in November. Los Leones will play matches against Los Teros on November 01 and November 06. The two match tour was reported by ARN earlier this month. The tour will be Spain’s second second visit to Uruguay in as many years. Los …

The Argentina XV have suffered an injury set-back. Second-rower Lucas Bur has left the camp in Uruguay to return to Argentina. He is one of four second-rowers on the Argentina XV’s 30-man roster for the South American 4 Nations. Bur suffered a torn calf. His recuperation time is estimated at …

History was made on this day in 2019. Quite simply David downed Goliath. Uruguay put in their most memorable rugby performance of all-time to defeat Fiji. The match was Los Teros’ first game of RWC 2019. The September 25, 2019 match was the second of two between the countries in …

COVID-19 has brought about changes. These continue tomorrow in Santiago del Chile. In a special warm-up match Los Cóndores will play vs Los Cóndores. The Chile vs Chile match will take place at the Estadio Nacional. Kick-off is scheduled for 4pm. In addition to preparing for the South American 4 …

The Houston SaberCats have confirmed the returns of Zack Godfrey and Valdemar Lee-Lo for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. Both players carry over existing contracts announced in September and November of last year respectively. Godfrey arrived from England having previously been part of the Leicester and Ealing academy programs. …

Michael Cheika is to work with Argentina for the Rugby Championship. The former Head Coach of Australia will be the “External Consultant” to Los Pumas. The appointment marks a reunion for Cheika and Mario Ledesma. The current Head Coach of Argentina was an assistant to Cheika at the Wallabies for …

Old Glory DC have re-signed USA age-grade international Will Vakalahi for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 21-year-old prop has been with the team since their inception having been their second-ever addition ahead of their 2019 exhibition series. After playing both in the back row and age loosehead prop …

The Dallas Jackals have announced the signing of flyhalf Tuidraki Samusamuvodre for their inaugural Major League Rugby campaign in 2021. At 22 years old he has yet to make his test debut but is considered one of Fiji’s brightest young playmakers at No10. Samusamuvodre represented the national u20 side for …