LANGFORD, BC: Final round of action of the Americas Rugby Championship is here. In case you forgot or were uninformed, the ARC is a tournament for the non-first choice/foreign-based players but playing at the highest domestic level in the national team pool players from Argentina, Canada, United States and Uruguay. Hence the slight name changes like USA Eagle Select XV.
We did team previews last week and briefly delved into the match-ups in the Weekend Preview and Wrap-Up, now let’s dive a little deeper this time and review Round 2 and preview Round 3, which kickoffs tonight at 6pm PST.
Here are the results from the past 2 rounds:
FRI – 11TH OCT 13
USA Select XV 9 – 27 Argentina Jaguars
Canada A 17 – 10 Uruguay
TUE – 15 OCT 2013
Uruguay 0 – 34 Jaguars
Canada A 10 – 30 USA Select XV
Argentina were able to play a fast-paced game against the Uruguay, who tried to keep up in defense but the ball movement and speed of play was too much for them. The scoreline showed a much better effort than last year but there a few players on this Jaguar side with potential to go pro and higher honors. In the USA-Canada game, which we reviewed, the attempted penalty kick with no kicking tee provided, symbolized the disjointed and unfocused effort of Canada. The opportunistic play and try following the kicking tee incident by the USA epitomized their hunger and focus on victory in that game.
Argentina has already won this tournament by virtue of being 2-0 and holding all the tiebreakers, as I mentioned in the Weekend Preview. The developmental tournament aspect of this competition will make the standings meaningless to the coaches. The coaches for these sides are the full men’s national team head coaches and not assistants. This means players that wants to go from the USA Selects to the Eagles, now is the time to impress with coach Mike Tolkin looking on. Expect each team to fight hard to have a winning record, stay undefeated or avoid going winless. Let’s look at the match-ups.
Here is tonight’s schedule:
SAT – 19TH OCT 13
Uruguay – USA Select XV 6pm PST
Argentina Jaguars – Canada A 8pm PST
Here are the line-ups for each match:
Uruguay
Yet to release their line-up
USA
1 Nick Wallace (Olympic Club)
2 Phil Thiel (Life University)
3 Chris Sullivan (Life University)
4. Tai Tuisamoa (OMBAC)
5. John Cullen (Seattle-OPSB)
6 Danny Barrett (SFGG)
7 Derek Asbun (University of Cape Town)
8 Cam Dolan – Captain (Life University)
9 Shaun Davies (Glendale)
10. Toby L’Estrange(NYAC) (C)
11. Joe Cowley (Life University)
12. Adam Siddal (Old Blue of NY)
13. Chris Chapman (NYAC)
14. Tim Maupin (Olympic Club)
15. Maximo de Achaval (Denver Barbarians)
Reserves16 Cameron Falcon (LSU)
17 Shawn Pittman (Seattle-OPSB)
18 Titi Lamositele (Chuckanut U19s/ Saracens trialist)
19 John Cullen (Seattle-OPSB)
20 Trevor Cassidy (Old Blue of NY)
21 Will Haydock (Seattle-OPSB)
22 Chris Saint (HARC)
23 Mile Pulu (SF-GG)
Turning point or flash in the pan? That will the question USA Coach Tolkin and his troops will be expected to answer tonight. After an impressive display against Canada, where they for once looked like the more composed and focused side throughout the match, fans want more. A win won’t stop his naysayers but from 0-3 last year to 2-1 means that there have been improvements in player performance, game plan execution and coaching. Uruguay was never deep to start with they have struggled as a result. However, they have blooded a fair few young players, which bods well for the future. USA to win… but more than they beat Canada by.
Meanwhile here are the line-ups for Argentina vs Canada is:
Argentina
1 Ignacio Saenz
2 Martin Garcia Veiga (capt.)
3 Matias Diaz
4 Matias Alemanno
5 Guido Petti
6 Lucas Paschini
7 Martin Chiappesoni
8 Francisco Panessi
9 Pedro Imhoff
10 Sebastien Poet
11 Juan Cappiello
12 Javier Rojas
13 Juan Ignacio Brex
14 Facundo Barrea
15 Ramiro Moyano
Reserves
16 Julian Montoya
17 Roberto Tejerizo
18 Esteban Viale
19 Juan Martin Guerineau
20 Fidel Lamy
21 Gonzalo Bertranou
22 Patricio Fernandez
23 Matias Orlando
Canada
1- Doug Wooldridge, (Lindsay RFC/Ontario Blues) Lindsay, ON
2- Ray Barkwill, (Niagara Wasps RFC/Ontario Blues) Niagara Falls, ON
3- Jake Illnicki, (Williams Lake Rustlers/Auckland Colts) Williams Lake, BC
4- Callum Morrison, (UBCOC Ravens/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
5- Aaron Flagg, (Abbotsford RFC/BC Bears) Abbotsford, BC
6- Kyle Gilmour, (St. Albert Rugby Club/Prairie Wolf Pack) Edmonton, AB
7- Adam Kleeberger, (Castaway Wanderers/BC Bears) White Rock, BC
8- Zac Coughlan, (Swilers RFC/The Rock) St. John’s, NL
9- Jamie Mackenzie, (UVIC Vikes/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON
10- Pat Parfrey, (Swilers RFC/The Rock) St. John’s, NL
11- Jordan Wilson-Ross, (James Bay AA/Ontario Blues) Alliston, ON
12- Mike Scholz, (Castaway Wanderers/Ontario Blues) London, ON
13- Conor Trainor, (UBCOB Ravens/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
14- Joe Dolesau, (Burnaby Lake RC/BC Bears) Burnaby, BC
15- Jack Fitzpatrick, (Dublin University Football Club) Dublin, Ireland
Reserves
16- Micha Gorvorchin, (Burnaby Lake RC/BC Bears) New Westminster, BC
17- Djustice Sears-Duru, (Castaway Wanderers/Ontario Blues) Oakville, ON
18- Ryan March, (Abbotsford RFC/BC Bears) Abbotsford, BC
19- Henry (Hank) McQueen, (Balmy Beach/Ontario Blues) West Vancouver, BC
20- Matt Heaton, (SABRFC/The Rock) Godmanchester, QC
21- Sean White, (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
22- Guiseppe Du Toit, (Uvic Vikes) Maple Ridge, BC
23- Adam McQueen, (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack) Canmore, AB
This group of Jaguars are muddying up the competition for on-lookers. Has the gap closed between Argentina and the rest of the nations or is this group of players not as good as last years. It may be a little from column A and some from column B. With a good display against Uruguay, fans want to see them dismantle Canada to show they have the ability and killer instinct to one day be Pumas. For Canada fans are upset and they want to see a classic Canada performance full of fire, intensity and not coming second in the contact area. More is expected from Adam Kleeberger and Ray Barkwell as the veterans to steady the ship and move things forward. Same goes for Scrum-half Sean White as one of the senior backs. Head coach Kieran Crowley is expected to show that he can still motivate a side and didn’t select a team meant to serve as cannon fodder.
Congrats to Argentina on winning the tournament. We will review the results and final standings on the weekend wrap.
That’s it for now… feel free to comment below, look for and “Like” our Facebook Rugby Wrap Up Page and follow us on Twitter @: RugbyWrapUp, Junoir Blaber, DJ Eberle, Nick Hall, James Harrington, Cody Kuxmann and Declan Yeats, respectively.
And until the next time… stay low and keep pumping those legs.
