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Canada falls to Argentina 'A' 20-6 to open Americas Rugby Championship

Canada falls to Argentina 'A' 20-6

LANGFORD, B.C. — Captain Gordon McRorie kicked two penalties but that was all the points Canada could muster, dropping its 2017 Americas Rugby Championship opener 20-6 to Argentina 'A' on Saturday.

Santiago Medrano and Segundo Tuclet had tries for Argentina 'A'.

"They looked a little more organized than us," Canada's head coach Mark Anscombe said. "It was anyone's game at half time but I thought we played a poor second half and they started playing a bit more and put us under pressure."

The two sides were affected by the conditions at Westhills Stadium â€” a field covered with snow while rain fell — and it meant for a sloppy first half that was filled with turnovers. The two sides produced only a penalty apiece. 

Domingo Miotti gave the visitors a 3-0 lead in the second minute before Lucas Rumball was shown a yellow card on the restart for an illegal hit in the air.

McRorie tied things up with an 11th minute penalty, but Medrano gathered Miotti's grubber kick to touch down in the 50th minute to give Argentina 'A' a 10-3 lead.

After McRorie cut the deficit to 10-6 in the 62nd minute, Tuclet scored on a solo effort five minutes later to extend the Argentina 'A' lead to 17-6.

Miotti sealed the victory in the 75th minute with his second penalty of the game.

"We weren't patient and went away from doing anything with the ball we had," Anscombe said. "It was individuals doing their own thing rather sticking to our structures.

"We just made some poor decisions and that played into their hands."

The Canadians return to action next Saturday at Westhills Stadium when they host Chile.

 

 

 

The Canadian Press