Not even a full week into the New Year and there’s a Talking Rugby segment? Seeing as the last one was almost six months ago, I’m not going to come right out and say that it was one of my New Year Resolutions to write more… buuuuuuuttttttttt. We’ll see what …

South Africa are champions of the 2018 Punta del Este 7s. The Blitzbokke redeemed their defeat on Day One to Chile by earning a convincing 21-5 victory over Los Cóndores in the Gold Final. It was their third impressive win of the day, breezing past Ireland in the Quarters and …

It was a dream debut for the Houston SaberCats at Constellation Field on Saturday evening. A 50-7 win over the Seattle Saracens was a fine result for the first official preseason match of the inaugural Major League Rugby season. Sam Windsor and Pago Haini each grabbed two tries with singles …

A new addition to our annual awards is the Emerging Nation Player of the Year. This category was created to acknowledge excellence from the best players from nations outside the Americas Rugby Championship. It hasn’t always been easy to find video at this level of competition but thankfully the ease …

US Eagles lock Nick Civetta has been handed a three week suspension by an RFU disciplinary panel after receiving a red card for an incident in the Doncaster Knights match against Yorkshire Carnegie last weekend. He is free to play again on January 29. It’s bad news for Doncaster, where …

Chile have claimed another famous victory as they defeated South Africa on Day One at the Sudamérica Sevens in Punta del Este. Los Cóndores earned an historic win over New Zealand at the Silicon Valley tournament in November, and while both teams were made up of development players they remain …

Adam Zaruba isn’t headed back to the HSBC Sevens Series, and he won’t be signing with a Major League Rugby franchise either. At least not for a while. The Canada Sevens star has signed a futures contract with the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL, a deal that will keep him …

Pat Blair will captain the USA Falcons on their two-week South American tour as they take part in the Sudamérica Sevens series. The 27-year-old Old Aztecs forward has represented the senior Eagles in both 7s and XVs, most recently during the North American leg of the 2016-17 HSBC Sevens Series. …

The Utah Warriors have announced the signing of Tongan World Cup winger Fetu’u Vainikolo for the 2018 Major League Rugby season. At 32 years of age Vainikolo arrives with an extensive resume at both club and international level with more than a decade of professional rugby under his belt. Vainikolo …

A little bit of history will be made at Constellation Field tomorrow when the Houston SaberCats play the Seattle Saracens in the first official match of the 2018 Major League Rugby preseason. The SaberCats have already played a few friendlies against local club sides prior to the holiday break but …

The French Top 14 roars into its 15th week with five matches on Saturday and two more on Sunday. From an Americas point of view it’s about average, perhaps slightly underwhelming with seven representatives suiting up, eight if you count Agen’s US-eligible prop Dave Ryan. Joining Ryan as a front …

It’s a decent week for Americas fans of the Aviva Premiership. As ever there are some compelling match-ups and a total of eight players from Argentina, Canada, and the USA will take part. Friday’s weekend kick-starter sees Bath travel to Worcester. Lucas Noguera Paz is on the bench this week …

It’s another dreadful week of the Guinness Pro 14 as far as Americas fans are concerned. A paltry three players from this side of the Atlantic will take part. It’s not without irony that the professional division eyeing expansion to the USA is the one with the least amount of …

After a week off it’s back to the grindstone for players in the French Pro D2. This season has flown by and we’re now just a couple weeks out from being two-thirds of the way. Nearly every team has rotated their squad by necessity but soon those chasing promotion or …

Utah Warriors winger Josh Whippy is one of 13 uncapped players included in Gary Gold’s 39-strong Eagles roster for the 2018 Americas Rugby Championship. The 27-year-old was forced to withdraw from the European tour in November for personal reasons but is now set to make his test debut next month. …

CFL defensive back Tevaughn Campbell will wear a Canadian jersey this weekend in Uruguay, and this time he’s bringing along a couple friends. The Maple Leafs development side will feature three Canadian football converts. Joining Campbell in the side is Toronto Argonauts draft pick Ryan Nieuwesteeg and former Hamilton Tiger-Cats …

It’s another first for Americas Rugby News, our first individual women’s rugby award of any kind. We’ve had several winners in the past but never before have they had an individual category. With an ever-increasing level of competition we felt it was best to judge the women against their peers. We’ve …

We’ve named our Men’s Super 7 for the year, which is effectively our shortlist for Player of the Year contenders. There were a few other players that caught our eye and deserved some recognition, however, and a couple that look like future contenders. Chile had their best ever season with …

Mike Te’o will play for the San Diego Legion in the inaugural Major League Rugby season. It will be a homecoming of sorts for the electric fullback, who starred for the San Diego Breakers in the 2016 PRO Rugby season. Originally from Long Beach, where he plays his club rugby …

Uruguay have confirmed their final list of 12 players to compete at the Punta del Este 7s this weekend. It’s the first of the two-leg Sudamérica Sevens series, the second coming next weekend at Viña del Mar. The home side are aiming to qualify for the Rugby World Cup Sevens, …