Canada dominate Uruguay in Langford

Canada got the Americas Rugby Championship off to the best possible start taking maximum points a dominant display of running rugby as they defeated Uruguay convincingly at Westhills Stadium in Langford. A frantic opening quarter saw the home team score twice and from then on the men in red never looked like surrendering the lead, scoring five tries en route to a 33-17 victory.

Phil Mackenzie got on the board first after eschewed two opportunities to kick for goal and opted instead to take the lineout. A nice loop around flyhalf Gradyn Bowd saw the winger rip through the Uruguayan defensive line for the score. Nick Blevins was next, taking an inside ball from Mackenzie – again in off his wing – and running a hard line through the gap for the second try.

Uruguay looked to finally get into the game when a loose pass found Gordon McRorie instead, and a quick pass to Dan Moor put the flying winger in the clear for Canada’s third try. That seemed to spur Los Teros, and after huge pressure they finally got one of their own after a series of scrum penalties on the Canadian 5 metre line yielded a penalty try from referee Juan Sylvestre.

The second half proved more competitive as neither side managed to score until the 64th minute when replacement Alistair Clark – barely two minutes into his test debut – was on the receiving end of some classy interplay to touch down for Canada’s fourth try of the day. Los Teros replied immediately through Alejandro Nieto from close range, followed in short order by Moor’s second and one for opposite number Leandro Leivas.

Canada will be immensely happy with the performance, with seven players making their test debut and clearly enjoying a positive attacking game plan. The result is a relief after a miserable run in 2015. Accuracy at the lineout and physical commitment from the forwards will also be pleasing for interim head coach François Ratier and his support staff.

Los Teros, on the other hand, will not be pleased with a very slow opening quarter and a disappointing effort overall. Their defense struggled to deal with the Canadian midfield and they were overwhelmed by the speed of attack. Canada may well have surprised them, but Uruguay did themselves no favours with a lack of urgency on both sides of the ball letting them down.

Week two of the competition will see Canada travel south to Texas to face the US Eagles, while Uruguay head even further to São Paulo to face Brazil.

 

SCORING

CANADA 33
Tries – P. Mackenzie (7′), N. Blevins (19′), D. Moor 2 (27′, 71′), A. Clark (64′)
Cons – G. McRorie 4 (20′, 28′, 65′, 72′)
Yellow cards – C. Panga (75′)

URUGUAY 17
Tries – Penalty try (33′), A. Nieto (68′), L. Leivas (76′)
Cons – R. Silva (34′)
Yellow cards – M. Sanguinetti (62′)

 

TEAMS

CANADA
1 Hubert Buydens (capt.) (17 Djustice Sears-Duru 75′), 2 Ray Barkwill, 3 Jake Ilnicki, 4 Paul Ciulini, 5 Callum Morrison, 6 Kyle Gilmour, 7 Lucas Rumball (20 Alistair Clark 62′), 8 Clay Panga, 9 Gordon McRorie, 10 Gradyn Bowd, 11 Dan Moor, 12 Nick Blevins, 13 Mozac Samson, 14 Phil Mackenzie, 15 Patrick Parfrey

Not used: 16 Eric Howard, 18 Rob Brouwer, 19 Kyle Baillie, 21 Mike Hamson, 22 Andrew Ferguson, 23 Duncan Maguire

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti (17 Facundo Gattas 77′), 2 Carlos Arboleya (16 Germán Kessler 77′), 3 Juan Echeverría (18 Rafael Mones 77′), 4 Franco Lamanna (21 Gonzalo Soto 73′), 5 Diego Magno (20 Mathias Palomeque 77′), 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.), 7 Matías Beer (17 Facundo Gattas 70′-73′), 8 Alejandro Nieto 9, Guillermo Lijtenstein (22 Santiago Arata 73′), 10 Rodrigo Silva, 11 Gastón Mieres (23 Pedro Deal 73′), 12 Alberto Román, 13 Andrés Vilaseca, 14 Leandro Leivas, 15 Santiago Martínez

Not used: 19 Rodolfo de Mula

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Juan Sylvestre (UAR)
Assistants: David Smortchevsky (RC) & Harry Mason (RC)

Attendance: 1,123