ARC Team of the Week

The final round of the Americas Rugby Championship saw a one-sided win for Grand Slam champions Argentina, a heroic near-miss from Canada in Seattle, and an equally engrossing derby in Montevideo. This week was more about team efforts than individuals but we saw enough to put a team together, albeit a bit late. On Monday we will publish our best XV of the tournament.

1 – Mateo Sanguinetti (Uruguay) Not the most enjoyable day at the scrum but he made his best contributions elsewhere. It was his opportunistic try in the second half that started the comeback for Los Teros. Hubert Buydens was a pillar of strength for Canada but probably could have used a rest in the final 10 minutes when the scrum was under pressure.

2 – Germán Kessler (Uruguay) Went toe-to-toe with Joe Taufete’e throughout the tournament and this week just gets the nod as he equaled Big Joe’s double against Canada. The Uruguayan scrum, as above, was in trouble but the lineout worked to perfection with Kessler’s throwing pinpoint. It was a good week for hookers with Argentina’s Diego Fortuny also scoring twice and Canada’s Benoît Pifféro putting himself in good position for World Cup selection.

3 – Wilton Rebolo (Brazil) The first time in the tournament this pick wasn’t Jardel Vettorato. That’s because he was playing loosehead this week. Rebolo moved back to his normal position this week and showed his power once again, putting the Uruguayan scrum in all sorts of bother. There aren’t too many players who can move between spots in the front row with his level of proficiency.

4 – Kyle Baillie (Canada) An impressive ARC came to a close against the Eagles and it was pleasing to see his standards did not dip in the slightest. Has become a talisman for this Canadian side with his lung-busting efforts and bloody-mindedness, something that has been in short supply for the men in red in recent years. His yellow card may have been untimely but it was a team penalty and one can hardly disregard the previous 76 minutes which were outstanding.

5 – Lucas Santa Cruz (Argentina XV) The powerful ball carrier got his first ARC start and muscled his way over for a try in the first half. Anchored the scrum and was a useful target at the front of the lineout. Of course most of his job was simply clearing out rucks as his team ran up the score. Ignacio Dotti also went well for Uruguay.

6 – Lucas Rumball (Canada) His referee management style could use a little work but he leads by example when it comes to putting his body on the line in the collisions. We lost count of the number of tackles he made and as usual he disrupted the breakdown as best he could. Played openside during the match but in a perfect world he’s really a blindside, so that’s where we’re picking him this week.

7 – Hanco Germishuys (USA) Ben LeSage will be having nightmares of the Eagles destroyer as Germishuys terrorised the Canadian center – and his teammates – with his thunderous ball carrying. On one occasion he lifted LeSage clean off his feet and slammed him to the ground with one arm, the other still holding the ball.

8 – Luke Campbell (Canada) Always a hard worker but he showed a little bit extra against the USA in what was easily his finest match for his country. His first try was routine at the back of a maul, but the second caught the eye as he blasted clean through a stunned Cam Dolan. Campbell also put in a couple crunching tackles. All this after a rapid recovery from what looked like a nasty knee injury against Brazil.

9 – Lucas Duque (Brazil) The old campaigner was playing in his last ARC match and though it didn’t come with victory, it was at least memorable. Duque sniped in for a try that shocked Uruguay and kept the pace high throughout. His opposite, Santiago Arata, also looked sharp in his return after suspension.

10 – Felipe Berchesi (Uruguay) His arrival meant that Los Teros could move Juan Manuel Cat back to the midfield and Berchesi showed why he is the first choice at No10. A classy footballer, he directed play calmly and landed seven from nine kicks at goal for a personal haul of 17 points.

11 – Julián Domínguez (Argentina XV) The backs got a bit of an armchair ride against Chile and in some respects this was his least impressive showing in the tournament, but only because he didn’t have the opposition in front of him to show his class. He still did well enough, scoring one try and breaking tackles at will down the left side of the field.

12 – Lucas Mensa (Argentina XV) Just another day at the office for Mensa, who has been in blistering form for the Argentines during the competition. He scored three tries in a span of 10 minutes showing all the skills while doing so.

13 – Lorenzo Massari (Brazil) A new star is born! In just his second start for Os Tupis the Italo-Brazilian showed why the management is so excited about him. He nailed Joaquín Prada with a bone-crunching tackle and had two searing line breaks. Brazil have longed to find a third center behind incumbents Moisés Duque and Felipe Sancery, and in Massari they look to have found one.

14 – Blaine Scully (USA) It wasn’t a typical winger’s game. Scully didn’t score any tries and wasn’t sidestepping around defenders. Instead the Eagles captain was doing everything else, racing back to cover kicks, hitting rucks, making tackles, and keeping his side mentally in the game when it looked like they would lose their third match of the competition.

15 – Gastón Mieres (Uruguay) Another classy footballer in the Teros arsenal. Mieres is not guaranteed to make the run-on side in the World Cup but it is no slight on his talent. Against Brazil he covered the back superbly and put in a brilliant cover tackle on Daniel Sancery that saved a certain try. He now heads back to the Arrows to show his wares in Major League Rugby.