Don’t cry for Argentina. Especially when it comes to rugby.
Argentina sends its national B team to the Americas Rugby Championship because its full national side, the world top-10 Pumas, would overwhelm the competition. But that didn’t stop Argentina XV from clinching the 2019 ARC title at 4-0 after beating Canada (1-3) by a 39-23 count at a packed Westhills Stadium on Friday night.
Second-half tries by Kyle Baillie and another field-length by Andrew Coe, both converted by 2015 World Cup veteran Gordon McRorie, helped bring Canada to within 25-23 at 60 minutes of the second half.
“We put some phases together and showed potential over 60 minutes. But you need 80 minutes, and Argentina showed how to finish,” said McRorie, who also kicked three penalty goals.
“We made some silly errors and Argentina takes those opportunities and turns them into points.”
Canadian captain Lucas Rumball agreed.
“Argentina makes you pay for your mistakes,” Rumball said.
“It’s a mixed bag of emotions we’re feeling. We’re still building, and the guys showed a lot of heart and effort, but we’re still disappointed about the result tonight.”
Canada overcame a horrendous start when a blocked kick allowed Argentina XV’s Tomas Cubilla to score a try at just 30 seconds. Canada regrouped with two penalty goals by Castaway Wanderers-product Ciaran Hearn, and was more than competitive with the score 8-6 before tries by Matias Osadczuk and Cubilla’s second suddenly made it 22-6 at the half as Argentina XV’s slippery backs bedevilled Canada.
Argentina XV took the ARC championship despite having a game remaining next week against Chile in Santiago.
Argentina XV, six-time consecutive ARC champions from 2009 to 2016 (there was no competition in 2015), have climbed back on top after the U.S. Eagles won the championship the last two years.
Westhills Stadium is undergoing an expansion to 6,000 seats to accommodate future rugby Tests and Pacific FC of the pro soccer Canadian Premier League. Because of the construction, only the old main grandstand was available for the ARC matches, which included Canada’s 56-0 home victory last weekend over Chile. The grandstand, seating just over 1,000, was full for both the Argentina XV and Chile fixtures, despite both games being shown live on TSN.
Argentina is 4-0, the U.S. and Uruguay both 2-1, Brazil 1-2, Canada 1-3 and Chile 0-3 in the ARC standings. Round four concludes today with the U.S. hosting Uruguay in Seattle and Chile visiting Brazil at Jundiai.
Canada closes out the ARC in round five against the U.S. Eagles next Friday in Seattle. That’s a grudge match in the wake of the Eagles’ drubbing of Canada in the direct North American qualifier for the 2019 World Cup in 2017 at San Diego.
