Can sa国际传媒 do to Argentina in rugby what it had done to it in hockey by Germany?
The theory goes sa国际传媒 can send less than its best internationally in hockey and still win sans NHLers. But Germany put paid to that in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics with a major upset in the semifinals.
Argentina sends its national B team to the Americas Rugby Championship because its full national side, the world top-10 Pumas, would overwhelm the competition. But that hasn鈥檛 stopped Argentina XV from leading the ARC standings at 3-0 heading into tonight鈥檚 game at 7 at Westhills Stadium against sa国际传媒 (1-2).
sa国际传媒 would be hard-pressed to beat the Pumas. But can it pull off the upset against Argentina鈥檚 B side? That, too, is a hard ask. Yet, remember Germany-sa国际传媒 in hockey at Pyeongchang.
鈥淲e have to be confident but we know we face a big challenge against Argentina XV,鈥� warned sa国际传媒 head coach Kingsley Jones.
鈥淲e have to be on the money all the time. We can鈥檛 lose concentration.鈥�
Jones pointed to home-field advantage in Langford as possibly being pivotal: 鈥淲e are at home, where our crowd was a big help to us last week [in a 56-0 ARC victory over Chile]. We鈥檒l test Argentina away from their home.鈥�
That is also on the mind of Argentina XV head coach Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe: 鈥淲e鈥檝e come from 39 degrees to zero degrees. There was snow when we played up here two years ago. Hopefully, there鈥檚 not snow [tonight].鈥�
Lobbe played pro rugby for Sale in Wales under Jones.
鈥淸Jones] has done a really good job in sa国际传媒.鈥� said Lobbe.
鈥淲e [scouted] the game and sa国际传媒 played quick rugby against Chile.鈥�
The task gets a lot harder for sa国际传媒 tonight.
鈥淲e want to develop young players to go up to our national team,鈥� said Lobbe, of his Argentina XV lineup.
Canadian captain Lucas Rumball knows the hosts will be in tough tonight.
鈥淎rgentina plays fast with a lot of trick plays off the lineouts and scrums,鈥� said Rumball, who will start at flanker.
鈥淲e have to expect the unexpected. But the boys are excited. Our crowd was unreal last week against Chile. The noise they make definitely keeps us going throughout the game. Hopefully, we鈥檒l see another sold-out crowd [tonight].鈥�
Westhills Stadium is undergoing an expansion to 6,000 seats for future rugby Tests and also Pacific FC of the pro soccer Canadian Premier League. Because of the construction, only the old main grandstand is available for the ARC matches. The grandstand, seating just over 1,000, was full against Chile. Rugby sa国际传媒 says only about 100 tickets remain for tonight鈥檚 game against Argentina XV and advises fans to buy them online at rugby.ca rather than waiting until arriving at the gate. The game will be broadcast live on TSN5.
Argentina is 3-0, the U.S. and Uruguay 2-1, sa国际传媒 and Brazil 1-2 and Chile 0-3 in the ARC standings.
sa国际传媒, missing its overseas pro players, began the ARC with tight road losses to Uruguay at the final whistle in Montevideo and 18-10 upset to Brazil in Sao Paulo. Those were certainly a letdown for sa国际传媒 after the high of beating Kenya, Germany and Hong Kong to win the last-chance qualifier at Marseille in November to earn the 20th and final berth into the 2019 World Cup this fall in Japan.
鈥淚t鈥檚 way better playing rugby with wins,鈥� said Rumball, referring to last week鈥檚 victory over Chile.
sa国际传媒 closes out the ARC against the U.S. next Friday in Seattle. That鈥檚 a grudge match in the wake of the U.S. drubbing of sa国际传媒 in the direct North American qualifier for the 2019 World Cup in 2017 at San Diego.
