CANADA 33
URUGUAY 17
It鈥檚 a long way off. But when events are measured in four-year quadrennials, national team programs must take the long view.
World No. 19 sa国际传媒 began its extended build-up to the 2019 World Cup in Japan with a 33-17 victory over No. 20 Uruguay before 1,123 fans Saturday at Westhills Stadium in Langford to kick off the Americas Rugby Championship.
Dan Moor, one of 12 newcomers dressed for sa国际传媒, scored two tries for a memorable first career cap.
鈥淚t was a great victory for the guys and a great building block to where whe want to get to,鈥� said veteran Clay Panga, the Westshore Velox Valhallians player, who started at No. 8 for sa国际传媒.
鈥淪ix of the new caps today were starters and those young guys really stepped up.鈥�
Alistair Clark was another newcomer who scored a try for sa国际传媒.
Among the chief issues uncovered during the 2015 World Cup post-mortems was the lack of Test match opportunities for second-tier nations compared to the top-flight nations. So World Rugby, as the rebranded IRB is now known, kicked the former developmental Americas Championship up to full-blown Test status this year.
鈥淭he [second-tier] countries wanted more Tests, and they gave them to us,鈥� said Canadian captain Hubert Buydens, the 2011 and 2015 World Cup veteran from the Castaway Wanderers.
鈥淓veryone is helped by getting more experience.鈥�
Uruguay head coach Esteban Meneses concurred.
鈥淚t is very important for us after the [2015] World Cup to be able to compete in these kinds of tournaments at the highest level possible,鈥� he said.
Mainly because it leaves plenty of leeway to experiment with different players and different ideas.
Of sa国际传媒鈥檚 12 uncapped players Saturday, six were starters, as it begins the process of piecing together its long list for the next 31脷2 years.
That put the leadership load on World Cup veterans and Castaway Wanderers forwards Buydens, Ray Barkwill and Jake Ilnicki, along with University of Victoria Vikes grad Phil Mackenzie, who started at winger.
sa国际传媒 led 19-7 at the half on tries by Mackenzie, Nick Blevins and Moor. Gord McRorie converted on four Canadian tries on the day. Uruguay鈥檚 majors came on tries by Alejandro Nieto and Leandro Leivas and a penalty try.
Francois Ratier, the Canadian women鈥檚 head coach, is guiding the men鈥檚 national team on an interim basis until a replacement is hired for Kieran Crowley. The latter guided sa国际传媒 through the 2011 and 2015 World Cups but left last month to become head coach of a pro team in Italy.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 been together long to prepare for the Americas tournament,鈥� said Ratier.
鈥淏ut we have come together. On Monday, camp opened at Shawnigan Lake School. By Tuesday, we were all on the same page.鈥�
And on Saturday, Ratier鈥檚 youthful squad came out and beat Los Teros, as the Uruguay national side is known.
sa国际传媒 is now 8-1 all-time against Uruguay.
The Uruguay head coach said coming from summer to winter wasn鈥檛 a factor for his side because Uruguay鈥檚 athletes do it all the time since the international sporting calendar is geared to the Northern Hemisphere across the board in all sports.
鈥淐oming from summer to winter, going to colder from warmer, is easier to adapt to than the other way around,鈥� said Meneses.
鈥淎nd this [Victoria] is not as cold as other places in sa国际传媒.鈥�
sa国际传媒 continues the home portion of the Americas Championship against world No. 42 Brazil on Feb. 20 at Westhills Stadium. The away Tests for sa国际传媒 in the Americas tournament are at Houston against the world No. 16 U.S. Eagles next Saturday, at No. 5 Argentina on Feb. 28 and at No. 24 Chile on March 6.
Tickets for the Brazil game at Westhills are on sale at events.rugbycanada.ca.
