Argentina XV and USA will play off for the Americas Rugby Championship title at the Estadio Municipal de Comodoro Rivadavia in Patagonia this Saturday after both teams made it four wins from four with victory over the bottom two ranked sides in the penultimate round of matches.

While reigning champions Argentina XV and 2016 runners-up USA overpowered Brazil and Chile respectively, Uruguay sprang something of a surprise by beating their higher-ranked opponents Canada to move up to third place in the standings.

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From a World Rugby Rankings perspective, Uruguay’s narrow victory over Canada had the most impact, the Canucks hanging on to their top 20 status by the skin of their teeth.

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URUGUAY 17-13 CANADA

Uruguay are now just three-hundredths of a rating point and one place behind the Canucks in 21st place in the World Rugby Rankings after registering their second victory in this year's Americas Rugby Championship.

Los Teros scored all their points in the first half and had a healthy 17-3 lead at the interval. But a strong second-half showing from Canada, culminating in Conor Trainor’s late try, made for a nervy finish. Uruguay held on, though, to celebrate only their second win over Canada in 10 attempts.

Both teams showed their appetite for the match from the start, with referee Derek Summers needing to calm the players down twice within the first five minutes as minor scuffles broke out.

Although Canada captain Gordon McRorie kicked an early penalty, Los Teros dominated the first half after opting to keep the ball alive and using the full width of the field.

A Germán Albanell penalty levelled the scores in the 12th minute before winger Leandro Leivas chased his own kick ahead and beat Canada full-back Brock Staller in a foot race to score the first try.

Staller’s day worsened when he was sent to the sin-bin shortly after for taking out kicker Juan Manuel Cat while he was in the air. Uruguay opted to kick the resulting penalty to the corner and from the lineout a powerful maul was formed which Canada could only stop illegally. Referee Summers had no hesitation in going under the posts and awarding a penalty try worth a straight seven points under the global law trials.

McRorie atoned for a penalty miss just before half-time by slotting his next attempt to close the gap to 17-6 at the start of the second period.

By now coming under increased pressure, Uruguay gave away a string of penalties and they were left short-handed when Summers’ patience was tested once too often and Albanell was sent to the sin-bin.

All the momentum appeared to be with a resurgent Canada and the introduction of replacement scrum-half Phil Mack gave them extra zip around the fringes. Mack made an immediate impression with a darting run but Admir Cejvanovic was unable to take Gradyn Bowd’s offload cleanly with the line at his mercy and the chance went begging.

With McRorie replaced by Mack, the kicking duties fell to Staller but the full-back could only slice a straightforward effort wide of the posts after Franco Lamanna had been penalised for a no-arms tackle, an offence which saw him become the recipient of Uruguay’s second yellow card.

Trainor breathed new life into an increasingly error-strewn contest when he danced through the home side’s defence on 74 minutes for a fine individual try which Staller converted to narrow the gap to four.

Canada threw everything they had at Uruguay in the final few minutes but another handling error brought relief to the home side who managed to run down the clock through their hard-working forwards.

With victory Uruguay climb two places to 21st in the World Rugby Rankings, just a fraction behind Canada who cling on to 20th spot, on 61.27 points. As a result, Spain and Germany drop one place, to 22nd and 23rd respectively.

CHILE 9-57 USA

The USA produced a powerful second-half performance at the Club Universidad Católica in Santiago to overcome a sluggish start and rack up a half-century of points for the third time in this year’s competition.

Chile managed to frustrate the Eagles in the first 40 to keep the half-time scoreline down to 17-6 in the visitors’ favour. However, the Eagles were a side transformed after the break and had the try bonus-point in the bag with half an hour left to play.

Back-row Tony Lamborn collected his second try double of the competition and replacement hooker Peter Malcolm touched down twice in the final few minutes to complete an eight-try victory. Ben Cima was on the money with seven of his conversion attempts and he also kicked a penalty for a 17-point haul.

After a tight first quarter in which Cima and Francisco González traded penalties, the USA finally crossed the whitewash when Cam Dolan raced home from 40 metres out with 24 minutes on the clock.

Chile managed to avoid conceding any further points while scrum-half Sergio Bascuñan was in the sin-bin following a 22nd minute yellow card, and they actually reduced the arrears to four points when González slotted his second kick.

The only other points of a disjointed first half came five minutes before the interval when Lamborn dotted down from close range for his first try after a sustained period of pressure on the Chilean line. 

The second half started badly for the USA with Chile nearly scoring and Bryce Campbell sent to the bin after cynically slowing ball down at the breakdown near his own try line while in an offside position. Los Condores had to settle for a third penalty, though, and the remainder of the half was largely one-way traffic with six tries posted by the Eagles in the final half an hour.

Replacement David Tameilau scored one and set up another for second-row Matt Jensen after charging down González's attempted clearance kick as the USA added 12 points to their total while Campbell was off the pitch.

Shortly after he returned, Chile found themselves down to 14 men for the second time in the match when centre Simón Pardakhty was given a 10-minute breather.

Todd Clever scored try number five before Malcolm added his brace to Lamborn’s second as the USA ran riot in the dying stages.

ARGENTINA XV 79-7 BRAZIL

In the mountainous surrounds of the Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of South America, Brazil were always going to face an uphill struggle against a much-fancied Argentina XV outfit.

And while the Os Tupis ultimately ended up on the receiving end of a comprehensive defeat, they played their part in an entertaining match that was well received by a decent-sized crowd at the Estadio Agustin Pichot.

Moisés Duque briefly gave Brazil the lead when he scored and converted after a well-executed lineout move to cancel out an earlier effort from impressive home scrum-half Sebastián Cancelliere

Domingo Miotti edged Argentina XV ahead after taking three points from the tee before German Schulz’s strong run and offload led to a try for loose-head prop Franco Brarda.


Argentina XV turned around with a 22-7 advantage when their decision to kick a penalty to the corner was rewarded with a try for Tomás de la Vega.

Having had influential captain and number eight Nick Smith carded for a late tackle on Miotti, Brazil were always going to be up against it and further tries followed at regular intervals.

Hooker Marcelo Brandi scored from a rolling maul and De la Vega grabbed his second as Brazil visibly tired in the face of the onslaught.

Schulz rubbed further salt into the wounds when he read Felipe Sancery’s pass and ran in an intercept try from halfway. With Miotti having been substituted, Tomás Granella took over the kicking duties and added the extra two points.

Cancelliere scored again, three minutes later, following Emiliano Boffelli’s superb break and offload, with Granella converting.

Juan Cappiello added another and there was still time for fellow replacement, scrum-half Lautaro Bazán, to bag a brace. All three tries were converted, the 12th and final one by the multi-talented Boffelli.

The concluding round of the Americas Rugby Championship 2017 kicks off on Friday with a game between Brazil and Canada in Sao Paulo. Thoughts then turn to Saturday's action and Uruguay versus Chile in Montevideo. Fittingly, Argentina XV and the USA bring the curtain down on this year's competition with the title-deciding finale in Patagonia.