Full Match – Canada vs Argentina 2001

The final match of the 2001 Pan Am Championship saw hosts Canada square off against Argentina at Fletcher’s Fields. May 26 was the date, with both sides entering the match undefeated in their first two games of the competition against the USA and Uruguay.

There were no debuts this time, with Canada coach David Clark recalling his strongest available side after fielding a largely second-string lineup against Los Teros during the week. Rod Snow, Pat Dunkley, and Jon Thiel were back in the front row with John Tait at lock. Gregor Dixon joined Ryan Banks in the back row.

Scott Stewart moved back to flyhalf with Ed Fairhurst at scrumhalf in the absence of Morgan Williams. An experimental midfield had Mark Irvine pushing John Cannon to outside center and Sean Fauth was restored on the left wing as Jeff Williams switched to his favored fullback spot.

Los Pumas were not in top form under Marcelo Loffreda and were missing several top European professionals. Agustín Pichot captained the side and along with Felipe Contepomi gave the team some star power that would pay dividends. Juan Fernández Miranda remarkably kicked drop goals off both feet during the match.

The forwards were held together by a tough second row pairing of Leonardo Roldán and Mariano Sambucetti and a menacing back row. Rimas Álvarez Kairelis got a rare start on the side of the scrum with the renowned Rolando Martín at openside flanker. Suspension to Gonzalo Longo gave Hugo Dande his second test start.

It was a fierce contest that saw three players sin-binned and another sent off late in the game. Canada would go on to host England the following weekend with Argentina touring New Zealand.

CANADA
1 Rod Snow, 2 Pat Dunkley, 3 Jon Thiel, 4 John Tait, 5 Ed Knaggs, 6 Al Charron (capt.), 7 Gregor Dixon, 8 Ryan Banks, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 10 Scott Stewart, 11 Sean Fauth, 12 Mark Irvine, 13 John Cannon, 14 Fred Asselin, 15 Jeff Williams

Replacements: 16 Dale Burleigh, 17 Duane Major, 18 Kevin Wirachowski, 19 Ron Johnstone, 20 Mike Schmid, 21 Marco Di Girolamo, 22 Bob Ross

ARGENTINA
1 Leopoldo de Chazal, 2 Juan José Villar, 3 Santiago González Bonorino, 4 Leonardo Roldan, 5 Mariano Sambucetti, 6 Rimas Álvarez Kairelis, 7 Rolando Martín, 8 Hugo Dande, 9 Agustín Pichot (capt.), 10 Juan Fernández Miranda, 11 Gonzalo Camardón, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 13 José Orengo, 14 Octavio Bartolucci, 15 Bernardo Stortoni

Replacements: 16 Agustín Canalda, 17 Pablo Cardinali, 18 Gustavo Morales, 19 Matías Albina, 20 Facundo Soler, 21 Martín Durand, 22 José Núñez Piossek

Referee: Al Klemp (USA)
Assistants: Eduardo Blengio (Uruguay) & David Steele (Canada)

Attendance: 2,400