On Sunday night at Westhills Stadium in Langford, British Columbia, the Argentina Jagaurs defeat Canada ‘A’ 39-9 to finish the 2014 IRB Americas Rugby Championship (ARC) undefeated and capture their fifth consecutive tournament title.
Canada went into its third and final game at the ARC knowing that they would be in tough against the four time defending tournament champions from Argentina.
To confront this challenge, Canadian Head Coach Kieran Crowley reached into Canada’s Sevens program and inserted speedsters Sean Duke and Jordan Wilson-Ross into his starting fifteen. Wilson-Ross in particular looked dangerous throughout the match and helped sharpen Canada’s attacking edge.
From the beginning Canada looked hungry and eager to match Argentinean physicality, with Evan Olmstead, Ray Barkwill, Nanyak Dala and Seb Pearson all making big hits to set an early tone. They were rewarded with an early penalty, as Gordon McRorie collected three points to open the scoring at the five-minute mark.
It wasn’t long, however, before Argentina would answer.
A sweeping Argentine attack saw the Jaguars collect their first try of the match, which temporarily made the score 7 – 3 in their favor.
Having added a Fernandez penalty to make the score 10 – 3, Canada responded with a pair of their own to close to within one point of Argentina with only moments left to go in the half.
Riding high and full of purpose, the Canadians fought hard to regain the lead before halftime, only to see a penalty awarded to Argentina as the final whistle blew. It was an unfortunate sign of things to come.
Encouraged by their strong first-half performance, Canada emerged from the dressing room eager to chip away at the 13 – 9 deficit; however, a rapid pair of Argentinean scores killed that momentum and began a period dominance for the Jaguars that would last most of the second-half.
Canada’s efforts to battle back here hampered by a pair of yellow cards and a series of controversial penalties at scrum-time that gave away valuable time, points, possession and filed position.
In the end it was a convincing win for the defending champions, who completed yet another ARC tournament with a perfect record.
For Canada, all eyes now turn to the upcoming November tour of Europe; an opportunity to which many of the players at this year’s ARC have been aspiring.
Canada will face an RFU Championship XV side in Worcester on November 2, Namibia in Colwyn Bay, Wales on November 7, Samoa in Vannes, France on the 14th and finally against Romania in Bucharest on the 22nd.
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