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The fourth round of the Americas Rugby Championship begins in Langford, British Columbia, where Canada host the Argentina XV on Friday evening. It’s been the USA who were victorious in each of the past two tournaments, but the Argentines can write their names on the trophy if they earn a bonus point win over their hosts.
Selection has been more consistent this year than in the past, and seven players named will have started all four matches for Argentina. Six is the number of changes to the starting roster from the team that defeated Uruguay in Buenos Aires.
Injury to Axel Zapata hands a start to Diego Fortuny with José Luis González called up to the bench. Martín Fernández Segurotti gets his first starting role after subbing against Brazil, and Jerónimo Ureta jumps back in at lock in place of Franco Molina. At the back of the scrum it’s Santiago Portillo’s turn to start with Nicolás Sbrocco on the bench.
There are two alterations in the backs. Agustín Segura misses his first game of the tournament with Tomás Cubilla running at outside center. There is no place for Martín Elías so Facundo Cordero starts at fullback with Martín Roger providing flyhalf cover and Teo Castiglioni a utility option.
Canada recovered some confidence with a one-sided win over Chile and have made just three changes to the starting side, two in the forwards. Benoît Pifféro replaces Eric Howard at hooker, the latter returning to his club the NOLA Gold, and Conor Keys starts at lock in place of Mike Sheppard.
Gordon McRorie is recalled at flyhalf at the expense of Patrick Parfrey, who moves to the bench. A pair of changes on the bench sees Northland hooker Jordan Olsen named for the first time while Josh Larsen, Olsen’s former Taniwha teammate, rejoins the team from Austin Elite.
The closest Canada has come to the Argentina XV in the ARC was the 20-6 loss in terrible conditions at Westhills Stadium in 2017. This time around it won’t be snowy but it will be cold. That may slow the visitors somewhat and the selection is perhaps not as strong as that which upset the Eagles in Cipolletti.
Facing a depleted Chilean side is a far cry from the title-seeking Argentina XV and as we saw with the USA a large score against the Cóndores is not an indicator of future success. Canada did earn the shut out, and the defense will need to stand taller still against a much more threatening attacking side.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local, 10pm Eastern, midnight Buenos Aires time. Canadians can watch live on TSN 5 while those in the USA have the option of ESPN or FloRugby. A live stream will be provided by World Rugby for the rest of the world.
CANADA
1 Hubert Buydens, 2 Benoît Pifféro, 3 Cole Keith, 4 Conor Keys, 5 Kyle Baillie, 6 Justin Blanchet, 7 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 8 Dustin Dobravsky, 9 Jamie Mackenzie, 10 Gordon McRorie, 11 Kainoa Lloyd, 12 Ciaran Hearn, 13 Nick Blevins, 14 Andrew Coe, 15 Theo Sauder
Replacements: 16 Jordan Olsen, 17 Noah Barker, 18 Ryan Kotlewski, 19 Josh Larsen, 20 Nakai Penny, 21 Will Percillier, 22 Patrick Parfrey, 23 Doug Fraser
ARGENTINA XV
1 Nicolás Solveyra, 2 Diego Fortuny, 3 Martín Fernández Segurotti, 4 Carlos Repetto, 5 Jerónimo Ureta, 6 Francisco Gorrissen, 7 Lautaro Bavaro (capt.), 8 Santiago Portillo, 9 Felipe Ezcurra, 10 Domingo Miotti, 11 Julián Domínguez, 12 Lucas Mensa, 13 Tomás Cubilla, 14 Matías Osadczuk, 15 Facundo Cordero
Replacements: 16 José Luis González, 17 Javier Corvalán, 18 Joaquín Lerche, 19 Lucas Santa Cruz, 20 Nicolás Sbrocco, 21 Gregorio del Prete, 22 Martín Roger, 23 Teo Castiglioni
Date: Friday, March 1
Venue: Westhills Stadium, Langford
Kickoff: 19:00 local (22:00 Eastern, 00:00 Buenos Aires)
Referee: Derek Summers (USAR)
Broadcasts: ESPN 3 (South America), ESPN+ (USA), FloRugby (USA), TSN 5 (Canada), World Rugby
