John McKee has named an impressive 30-man Fiji squad for the November tests against Scotland, Uruguay, and France. Included are some of the biggest names in European rugby such as Racing lock Leone Nakarawa, Bordeaux midfielder Semi Radradra, and Toulon winger Josua Tuisova. Eight players have been selected from the …

The Houston SaberCats have signed loose forward Mathew Faoagali for the 2019 Major League Rugby season. A powerful ball carrier who can play across the back row, Faoagali arrives via Australia where he has been playing for the Penrith Emus in Sydney’s Shute Shield competition. Penrith were recently a subject …

Uruguay’s neutral-venue test match against Fiji on November 17 will take place at the Gillman’s Ground, on Hartpury University campus. Kickoff is set for 1pm local, 10am Montevideo time. The match will be streamed live by the University. It’s an unusual choice for the fixture as the capacity of the …

The clock is ticking loudly now. In less than one month’s time Canada will be fighting for their World Cup life in the Repechage against Kenya, Germany, and Hong Kong. Selection for the three-match competition will be almost as important as the flagship event itself. Much of the squad, likely …

Axel Müller has signed a contract extension with Brive that will see him stay at the French club at least until the end of the 2020-21 season. It comes as somewhat of a surprise given that the former Pumas Sevens star has yet to play a regular season game for …

The New England Free Jacks have their first Major League Rugby players. NOLA Gold flanker Matt Hughston has joined the Boston franchise ahead of their historic match against the Ontario Arrows in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Saturday, as has Houston SaberCats hooker Diego Maquieira. Hughston was a key figure for …

Akira Ioane has been named in the New Zealand Māori squad for their historic tour of the Americas next month. The Auckland powerhouse was a surprise omission from the All Blacks squad for the November tests and has been snapped up by Māori coach Clayton McMillan for the matches against …

Canada ‘A’ wrapped up their Americas Pacific Challenge campaign against Tonga ‘A’ in Montevideo on Sunday. The entertaining match turned into a nail-biter with only one point separating the two teams at full-time. For Canada this represented a final opportunity for domestic players to claim a spot on the roster …

The USA Women’s Eagles Sevens have named their first squad of the 2018-19 HSBC Sevens Series and also their new coach. Chris Brown has been appointed full-time Head Coach of the team having taken over in an interim capacity from departed Richie Walker in August. Brown has been an omnipresent …

Two Americas teams have earned Rugby Sevens medals at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. Argentina have won Gold in the Men’s division while Canada take home Bronze in the Women’s division. Each division contained six teams at the under-18 level. Argentina claimed the title by defeating France 24-14 …

Kyle Baillie is the latest Canadian to head south for Major League Rugby. The blindside flanker has signed on for the 2019 season with the New Orleans Gold, joining international teammates Hubert Buydens and Eric Howard at the club. A versatile and athletic forward, the 6’5″ (1.97m) PEI native can …

AJ MacGinty will play no part in the USA’s November international series. The Eagles flyhalf has been ruled out of the next 12 weeks of action after undergoing shoulder surgery. According to Sale Sharks the injury was originally suffered while playing for Eagles in June. It’s a blow for the Eagles, …

Felipe Ezcurra’s move to Leicester means that there are now again Argentine players across all positions at the elite level in Europe. This was the case in all years between RWCs 2003 and 2015 but this ended with the creation of Los Jaguares. With Ezcurra at Leicester there are legitimate …

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 Americas presence in Europe An impressive 39 Americas players have been registered for the premier European club competitions kicking off this …

Samoa ‘A’ have been crowned champions of the 2018 Americas Pacific Challenge. The Pacific Islanders earned a handsome 38-26 victory over hosts Uruguay ‘A’ in Montevideo on Sunday. It was an exciting match to end the tournament with nine tries split between the two sides. Uruguay got bad news early …

The Argentina XV put their disappointing opening round loss well and truly behind them as they closed out their Americas Pacific Challenge campaign with a dominant victory over the USA Select XV on Sunday. At the final whistle the scoreboard read 55-15 with the Argentines outscoring the USA eight tries …

Canada ‘A’ overcame an 15-point deficit in the second half to defeat Tonga ‘A’ 32-31 in the final round of the Americas Pacific Challenge in Montevideo on Sunday. Three tries from Kainoa Lloyd and a dominant scrum sparked the win, the Tongans again undone by poor discipline late in the …

The Brazilian Rugby Union (CBRu) has reached an agreement with Twitter that will see their November 10 match against the New Zealand Māori broadcast live across the social media platform. Commentary in both English and Portuguese will be accessible. Also broadcasting the match will be South American cable channel SporTV …

The 2018 Americas Pacific Challenge comes to a close on Sunday with three matches on the table in Montevideo. Four teams will be playing for pride with the winner to be determined, appropriately, in the final contest of the day between hosts Uruguay and the powerful Samoans. All matches will …

The Champions Cup is the big show, the pinnacle of European club rugby. Most professional coaches will concede that it is the closest comparison to test rugby due to its intensity and unparalleled atmosphere. The tribal nature of the traveling fans elevates the top matches to almost mythical proportions. Friday’s …