After a commanding 35-10, bonus-point win against Uruguay, Argentina XV will head to Langford to play Canada next week knowing another five-point return could secure them their second Americas Rugby Championship title, following their win at the inaugural tournament in 2016.
Ignacio Fernández Lobbe’s team have a maximum 15 points after three rounds, putting them five points clear of the defending champions, the US Eagles, who were pushed all the way by Brazil in Austin, Texas, before winning a thrilling match 33-28. Canada kicked off the weekend by beating Chile for their first win of the year.
Argentina XV 35-10
Argentina XV took the momentum from two dominant displays in the first two rounds into the first half against Uruguay, scoring four tries to establish what proved to be an unassailable 28-10 lead at the break.
Intermittent rain showers did not make for the best of conditions but Argentina XV wasted no time in getting the scoring underway, Frankie Gorrisen powering over in the second minute. It was immediately followed by a try for fellow back-rower, Lautaro Bavaro, the first of two in the match for the home side's captain
Up against it, Uruguay hit back in the 25th minute when full-back Manuel Blengio appeared at the back of a rolling maul for his team’s only try. Wing Federico Favaro converted and also added a penalty for Los Teros’ 10 points.
Argentina XV did not panic, though, and controlled the remainder of the half – and the slippery ball, Bavaro dotting down again while the lively winger Julián Dominguez continued his strong campaign.
The second half was a different story with both sides struggling to string together phases but just when it seemed that the second half would finish pointless, replacement back-rower Nicolás Sbrocco scored from the back of a scrum in the 77th-minute.
“It was a good win although we have the sour aftertaste of a bad second half," said two-try hero, Bavaro. "We dropped too many balls and there are things we need to work on for the final two games."
Argentina XV take on Canada and then close out what they hope will be a Grand Slam campaign against Chile.
USA 33-28 Brazil
In their first home game of the season, the USA Eagles recovered from their loss to Argentina XV to beat Brazil and move into second place in the ARC table. However, they were given a mighty scare by a Brazil side full of confidence following their victory over Canada.
The Eagles' bonus-point win was built on the strength of Paul Lasike and Hanco Germishuys and the masterful control of playmaker Will Magie, in for AJ MacGinty at fly-half.
Two Magie penalties to one from Josh Reeves handed the Eagles an early 6-3 lead before they cut loose, scoring tries through Lasike and Germishuys while Brazil found themselves down to 14 men following a yellow card to Lucas Abud for repeated infringements.
Following another three-pointer from Reeves on 32 minutes, Brazil failed to deal with the restart, something both sides were guilty of throughout the match, and this allowed Mike Te'o to mark his test return after a year out with his side's third try.
Having failed to register a try in their first two games, Brazil finally found their way over the whitewash when veteran scrum-half Lucas Duque scored on his 50th cap from the back of an advancing scrum.
The USA's 25-13 half-time lead was cut to nine points by Reeves who slotted his third penalty shortly after the restart but he was unable to add the extras to Moisés Duque's try just past the hour mark. Moisés, the younger of the two brothers, was also appearing in his 50th test.
In between the brotherly double – surely a first at this level for siblings celebrating a half-century a caps – John Quill had given the Eagles their bonus point.
Another Magie penalty put the Eagles 33-21 up, and it appeared as though they had put the game to bed when Germishuys thought he'd scored again only for the South African-born back-rower to be called back for a double movement.
Using their powerful scrum as the platform, Brazil finished the game very strongly and, 10 minutes from time, replacement forward Matteo Dell'Acqua scored in the left corner. At this stage, the US were down to 14 players following Ben Landry's sin-binning.
Reeves added the difficult conversion to keep his side's chances of a second-ever win over the USA alive. Brazil applied the pressure in the closing stages but could not find a way through and had to settle for the consolation of a losing bonus point.
Canada 56-0 Chile
Canada managed an emphatic win against Chile in the opening game of the third round in the Americas Rugby Championship, on a cold night in Langford.
The Canucks secured the bonus point with 35 minutes gone and went on to add three more tries to give themselves a much-needed boost ahead of their participation at Rugby World Cup 2019 following defeats to Uruguay and Brazil.
It only took Canada two minutes to get the partisan crowd at the Westhills Stadium on their feet, Kyle Baillie crossing after the home side retained possession after an unbroken passage of play direct from the kick-off.
Kainoa Lloyd then became only the seventh Canadian to score a hat-trick of tries in a test as Canada dominated the rest of the half. Ciaran Hearn converted all four tries, two from a difficult angle, and also added a penalty to take Canada into a 31-0 half-time lead.
Canada's fifth try came after fly-half Pat Parfrey charged down a kick from his opposite number, Francisco González, seconds after the restart. Hearn again added the extras. Gordon McRorie put Andrew Coe in for another and it seemed the floodgates would open when Clemente Saavedra was yellow-carded for a swinging arm.
The expected avalanche of points never materialised, however, and Canada had to be content with two penalties from the boot of McRorie, in the 75th and 80th minute, for their remaining points.