CANADA 28 URUGUAY 10
There was enough rugby wattage to light up even a dull, wet fall Friday night at Westhills Stadium.
To validate Victoria's reputation as a rugby town, about 2,000 enthusiastic fans braved the soggy conditions to watch the opening games of the Americas championship tournament.
Call the teams what you will - the Eaglets, Baby Pumas, Tiny Teros or Canucks Rising - but the aspiring next generation of national team players for four nations were on ample display in the Langford facility.
sa国际传媒 defeated Uruguay 28-10 and Argentina beat the United States 39-3 to kick off the tournament.
The highly-energized spirit of the night was exemplified by a lacerating tackle by NIck Blevins of sa国际传媒 on Gaston Mieres of Uruguay that earned a yellow card and almost caused the rugby equivalent of a line brawl as the Uruguayans objected and players scuffled until order was restored.
First-half tries by captain Tyler Ardron, off an interception, and Patrick Parfrey, off a chip kick, got world No. 13 sa国际传媒 off to a running start against No. 23 Uruguay. Fullback Liam Underwood put it away for sa国际传媒 with a second-half try.
The foot of Victoria's Connor Braid was highly reliable as usual as he connected on two converts and three penalty goals for sa国际传媒.
"I'm pleased to get a win, but I thought perhaps we gave away too many penalties," said Canadian head coach Kieran Crowley of Mill Bay, a World Cup-winning former New Zealand All Black.
"We scored points off defensive pressure and that's good. Overall, it's a line in the sand and something to build on in this tournament and I'm pleased with the game."
In the earlier fixture, these Argentina Pumas-in-waiting look well on their way to eventually becoming the real thing. It took only two darting tries in the first half to show why world No. 8 Argentina is considered one of the great rugby nations and certainly the class of the Americas.
The first came on a try by Javier Rojas off slicing lateral passes by captain Tomas Cubelli and fly-half Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias. The second was the result of a quicksilver long run down the left side by Cubelli with a dramatic pass to Iglesias for the try that left American heads spinning. That was further complemented by substitute Moyano Ramiro's three tries in the second half against the world No. 17 U.S.
"We still have things to improve on," said Argentine captain Cubelli, as if their opponents in this tournament didn't already have enough to worry about.
Cubelli, from the Belgrano Club of Buenos Aires, has already been capped seven times for the full Pumas national-team side and it showed.
"We played our system tonight, even though the rain was not the best for us."
But this is a Southern Hemisphere nation that over the years has become more than acclimatized to playing in Northern Hemisphere conditions.
The Americas tournament showcases the national 'B' teams of the four countries. It continues Tuesday with Argentina meeting Uruguay in an all Ibero-American match-up at 5: 30 p.m. and sa国际传媒 playing the U.S. in an all-North American showdown at 7: 30 p.m.
The tournament concludes next Saturday with sa国际传媒 playing Argentina and the U.S. meeting Uruguay.
SCRUM BITS: The Argentine and Uruguayan players will be treated to some sporting Canadiana tonight at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre when they will be the guests of the Victoria Royals for the Western Hockey League game against the Kelowna Rockets. Not doubt there will be some lively debate over which sport is tougher.
