USA take over from Argentina XV at the top of the Americas Rugby Championship standings after they score 10 tries for only the fourth time in a test to beat Chile 64-0. The other matches in round three saw the Argentina XV run close by Uruguay and Canada take maximum points against Brazil to stay in contention for the inaugural title.

USA 64-0 CHILE

The USA racked up their biggest score in test rugby for nearly a decade as they brushed aside Chile 64-0 to move to the top of the Americas Rugby Championship standings.

Fly-half JP Eloff kicked seven conversions and scored his first international try, one of six Eagles to achieve that feat in the one-sided encounter in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Half-back partner Mike Te’o was another to open his test account, dotting down twice in the second half as the young Eagles cut loose against Los Condores.

The Eagles had their third consecutive try-scoring bonus point in the bag before half-time, with Chris Baumann, Eloff, Nic Edwards and Joseph Taufete'e all crossing the whitewash for a 24-0 half-time lead.

The only blot on USA’s copybook was Olive Kilifi’s sin-binning on 38 minutes for dangerous play. However, the Eagles kept Chile scoreless throughout the man-advantage – and the entire match – and continued to rack up tries after the break.

Debutant Lorenzo Thomas –a try-scorer last weekend against Canada as the USA qualified for the World Rugby U20 Trophy 2016 –and replacement Jake Anderson both went over before Te’o scored the first of his two tries. The youthful Eagles showed no signs of letting up and Chad London scored his second try in as many games after collecting a neat grubber from Luke Hume, who then scored himself with 73 minutes on the clock, It was left to Te’o to round off proceedings with his second try three minutes from time.

Throughout the team's history, only three Eagles' sides have ever scored more than 64 points, with the most recent in a 91-0 defeat of Barbados in 2006. 

"The performance is more important [than the number of tries scored]," USA coach John Mitchell said. "I think we're still naïve in terms of game management, but these are problems that have solutions and we're dealing with a very youthful team. The team's getting younger by the week.

"For me, it was a good performance but maybe too much individualism. Sometimes that can happen in a game like this. At times the execution wasn't on, but if you keep going to space there's always going to be a high probability of scoring."

Following three home games, USA head to South America for their remaining matches in Brazil and Uruguay.

Canada 52-25 Brazil

Canada ran in seven tries as Lucas Rumball (2), Clay Panga (2), Michael Hamson, Paul Ciulini and captain Ray Barkwill all touched down while Andrew Ferguson kicked 13 points in front of 1,865 fans at Westhills Stadium in Langford.

Both of Rumball’s tries came before the break either side of scores from Panga and Barkwill (pictured right), who celebrated his second try in 29 tests with a spectacular swan dive over the line. Johannes Beukes Cremer scored Brazil’s only try in a first half that saw both sides lose a man to the sin-bin.

After building a 31-13 lead at the break, it took Canada 25 minutes to puncture the Brazilian defence in the second half as Panga went over for his second try of the night after Daniel Sancery had touched down for Brazil in the 47th minute.

Joao Luiz da Ros got Brazil a late consolation try before Ciulini and Hamson each grabbed their first test tries in the final five minutes with Brock Staller, who made his test debut at outside centre, adding both conversions.

“To get one try was amazing but to get two was just a bonus,” Panga said. “It was an unreal feeling. It’s a great testament to how hard the boys worked.”

Canada travel south to play Argentina XV in round four before finishing the inaugural Championship against Chile on 5 March. 

Uruguay 21-24 Argentina XV

Uruguay fell just short of repeating their historic win over Argentina XV back in August in an exciting game at the Campus de Maldonado.

After conceding a sixth minute try, scored by Marcos Bollini and converted by Juan Novillo, Uruguay stormed back to lead 18-7 at the break thanks to tries from Juan Diego Ormaechea and Federico Favaro, plus two penalties and a conversion from Martin Secco.

Franco Cuaranta pulled five points back with Argentine side's second try shortly after the restart but a third Secco penalty following sustained scrum pressure edged Uruguay 21-14 in front.

The scoreline remained that way until the 70th minute when Juan Cappiello’s converted try pulled the Argentines level. The 6,000-strong crowd left home disappointed when Pedro Mercerat kept his nerve to kick the match-winning penalty for Argentina XV three minutes from time.

Americas Rugby Championship 2016 standings

1. USA –13 points (+72)
2. Argentina XV –12 points (+40)
3. Canada –10 points (+35)
4. Uruguay –6 points (-15)
5. Chile –4 points (-96)
6. Brazil –2 points (-34)

Americas Rugby Championship 2016 results and fixtures

Round 1: Chile 25-22 Brazil, Canada 33-17 Uruguay, USA 35-35 Argentina XV
Round 2: Brazil 29-33 Uruguay, Argentina XV 52-15 Chile, USA 30-22 Canada
Round 3: Canada 52-25 Brazil, USA 64-0 Chile, Uruguay 21-24 Argentina XV
Round 4 – 27-28 Feb - Argentina v Canada ; Brazil v USA ; Chile v Uruguay
Round 5 – 5-6 March - Chile v Canada ; Uruguay v USA ; Brazil v Argentina

Photo credit (Canada): Lorne Collicutt