Defending champions Argentina XV overcame difficult conditions and stubborn resistance from Canada to begin their Americas Rugby Championship 2017 campaign on a winning note in snowy British Columbia, while Brazil and USA both recorded home wins against Chile (17-3) and Uruguay (29-23) respectively in games which carried World Rugby Rankings points.

Under the points exchange system, the USA are set to gain three-tenths of a rating point while Uruguay will lose the same once the rankings are updated at 12:00 GMT on Monday. However, the result did not affect either of their positions, with the Eagles staying 17th and Uruguay 21st.

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Indeed, Brazil were the only team to climb the rankings thanks to their own on-field exploits across an action-packed weekend. Os Tupis move up to 34th in the world after gaining 1.14 points, taking them above Moldova and Ukraine. Chile drop a place to 30th with the Netherlands the beneficiaries.

TWO-TRY SALVO SINKS CHILE

A five-minute, two-try salvo gave Brazil a deserved 17-3 win against Chile on a rainy Friday night in Sao Paulo.

Replacement scrum-half Matheus Silva and Felipe Sancery set the game alight after a lacklustre first half in which only three points were scored through the boot of last year’s top scorer, Matías Nordenflycht.

The heavens opened just as the teams prepared to run out for the second half and it was Brazil, ably led by captain and number eight Nick Smith, who dealt with the tricky conditions better,

The opening try of ARC 2017 came in the 54th minute when Smith opted to kick a penalty to touch rather than go for goal. From the resulting lineout, quality ball was secured and Silva broke through three tackles to score.

The next try came about when Chile’s defence conceded a five-metre scrum after Moisés Duque’s penalty attempt cannoned back off the upright and the visitors were forced into kicking the ball dead in the ensuing scramble.

After the initial shove, Smith drove for another couple of metres before the ball spilled out the back and Sancery, who'd been yellow-carded in the first half alongside Chile’s captain Claudio Zamorano, scored in the corner.

Duque atoned for his earlier penalty miss with Brazil’s first three-pointer of the night after 73 minutes.

Now two scores ahead, Brazil’s defence comfortably held firm for the remainder of the game as Os Tupis gained revenge for their narrow round one loss to Los Condores in Santiago in last year’s Championship.

EAGLES EDGE TIGHT ENCOUNTER

A superbly worked try from captain Blaine Scully ensured the USA of victory against a Uruguayan side that pushed the Eagles all the way in San Antonio, Texas.

The Cardiff Blues winger’s score on the hour mark came after a first-half try from Bryce Campbell. Both tries were converted, with Ben Cima and AJ MacGinty landing one apiece, and the pair also kicked five penalties between them in a contest where the whistle of referee Chris Assmus was never far from his lips.

Uruguay also managed to touch down once in each half, through Facundo Gattas and Alejandro Nieto, with Germán Albanell kicking five of his six attempts at goal for a 13-point haul.

After Albanell and Cima traded penalties, Uruguay were first to cross the whitewash when hooker Gattas finished off a well-worked lineout move.

By this stage, the hosts were down to 14 men after openside Todd Clever was dispatched to the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle. However, the Eagles rode out the remainder of the 10-minute period and there was still only seven points in it once their former captain returned to the field.

Cima kicked two more penalties, having missed with his second attempt at goal, as the USA closed to within a point.

The Eagles then took the lead through a set move lineout, MacGinty breaking the line before putting in Campbell for a try that was converted. Albanell kicked a penalty in first-half added time to make the half-time score 16-13 in the home side’s favour.

The see-saw nature of the match continued after the break as Uruguay regained the lead five minutes in when Nieto rumbled over from a rolling maul and Albanell added the extras, to make it 20-16 to Los Teros.

The visitors then survived the loss of centre Juan Manuel Cat to the sin-bin, with Albanell and MacGinty exchanging penalties in his absence.

USA landed the killer blow, however, when, barely 10 minutes after coming onto the field of play, debutant Will Magie found Scully with a pin-point crossfield kick and the Wales-based winger did the rest.

CHAMPIONS SEE OFF CANADA AND THE COLD

Argentina XV battled their way to a 20-6 victory over Canada in a match blighted by awful conditions and ultimately settled by two second-half tries.

After a first half in which the scores were locked at 3-3 following penalties from Argentina’s Domingo Miotti and Canada captain and scrum-half Gordon McRorie, Argentina XV managed to find another gear after the break to score through Santiago Medrano and Segundo Tuculet. Miotti turned the five points into seven on each occasion with the resulting conversions and kicked a late penalty, while Canada could only muster three more points via McRorie’s boot.

Having trained in 30 degree temperatures in balmy Buenos Aires, the arctic conditions that greeted Argentina XV on their arrival in Canada were something of a shock.

Thick snow lay all around Langford and it took a marvellous effort from the ground staff at the Westhills Stadium for the match to go ahead.

Following a delayed start while snow was shovelled clear, Argentina XV took the lead inside the second minute when Miotti slotted his first attempt at goal.

Worse was to follow for the home side when openside flanker Lucas Rumball was sent to the sin-bin. However, Canada held firm and they even managed to draw level through McRorie’s boot shortly before they were restored to their full complement of players.

Given the conditions, it was very hard to play a passing game and both teams chose to kick away possession rather than run the risk of losing it in contact and the scoreline remained at 3-3 until replacement hooker Medrano broke the deadlock in the 49th minute when he latched onto a chip-kick behind the flat defensive line from fly-half Miotti.

While much of the action that had gone before was error-strewn, the match-clinching score was well worth the wait, replacement winger Tuculet showing the class that lit up the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship by beating five defenders on a 55-metre, weaving run to the line.

Photo credits: Joao Neto /Foto Jump (main); Lorne Collicutt (Canada) and Nick Prior (USA)