United States 31 Uruguay 28

The USA Eagles held off a late charge by the Uruguay Teros at Fletcher's Fields, Markham on Saturday to claim third-place in the Finals the 2001 PARA Tournament.

With the US ahead 31-16 with only eight minutes of regular time to play, Uruguay threw everything into the attack to claim a brilliant individual try by outside-half Bernardo Amarillo at 77 minutes and a penalty-try at 79 minutes to bring the final score to 31-28.

The Eagles began well, playing a wide-open, enterprising rugby with San Francisco's Grant Wells trading penalty kicks with Uruguay's Juan Menchaca.  6-6.  Then at 30-minutes the US won a Uruguayan ball deep in its own end, and set centre Phillip Eloff on a long run.  Using wing Maklakai Delai as a foil, Eloff ran seventy- metres to score.  Wells converted, but Menchaca hit another penalty to bring the half-time score to 13-9.

At 47-minutes US number 8 Kort Schubert fielded a poor Uruguay clearance and took the ball up, he passed to wing Jovesa Naivalu who rounded his man and scored from 25-metres, 18-9.  Uruguay came back in its usual fashion mauling, mauling, mauling until it put wing-forward Nicolas Brignoni over at 50 minutes.  Menchaca converted 18-16.  A minute later Naivalu again took matters into his own hands, taking a wing-in pass and weaving through the South American defense to score under the posts, Wells converted 25-16.

Wells accounted for two penalties at 70- and 72-minutes bringing the US to its widest differential, 31-16.  Then Uruguay mounted its last ditch scoring drive that nearly saw it claim victory, almost in the same fashion as it had against Canada on Wednesday night in Hamilton.

"We played well for 70-minutes," said US coach Duncan Hall, "but Uruguay played well for 80 minutes.  It was a great relief to hear the final whistle.

"Uruguay are such a tough side to play against," he continued "But, I thought we played with more variety in our game today than we have all tournament.  Though there was one try by Eloff that could be considered opportunistic, we constructed tries today, and looked threatening with the ball in hand."

"We had control for most of the match," said US Captain Dave Hodges.  "We made hard work of it.  We need more maturity and experience to learn how to hold onto leads and not let games get away from us.  But, we had the heart to stick it out and I think the guys did well."

Uruguay, unlucky not to come away with a victory in its last two matches, proved tough opponents losing closely in all its games:  to Argentina 32-27, Canada 14-8 and the USA 31-28 to earn tournament bonus points in all games for losses within 7-points.

The Teams:

United States:  1 Mike MacDonald, 2 Kirk Khasigian, 3 Paul Still, 4 Dave Hodges (c), 5 Tom Kelleher, 6 Olo Fifita, 7 Alex Magleby, 8 Kort Schubert, 9 Mose Timoteo, 10 Grant Wells, 11 Malakai Delai, 12 Phillip Eloff, 13 Link Wilfley, 14 Jovesa Naivalu, 15 Kurt Shuman
Reserves:  Robbie Flynn, Juan Grobler, Tim Kluempers, Eric Reed

Uruguay:  15. Juan Menchaca 14. Juan Martin Marquez 13. Pedro Vecino 12. Joquain De Freitas 11.Emiliano Ibarra 10. Bernardo Amirillo 9.Martin Mendaro (Caffera 71 mins) 8.Juan Carlos Bado 7.Nicolas Grille 6.Nicolas Brigonini 5.Rodrigo Capo (Ponce De Leon 60 mins) 4. Juan Alzueta 3.Juan Machado (Storace 60 mins) 2.Francisco De Los Santos (Lamelas 64 mins) 1. Rodrigo Sanchez
Replacements:  16. Diego Lamelas 17. Guillermos Storace 18. Eduardo Berrutti 19. Augustin Ponce De Leon 20. Pablo Pagani 21. Emiliano Caffera 22. Hillario Canessa

Referee:  Ian Hyde-Lay (Canada)
Touch Judges:  Santiago Borsani (Argentina), Mr. Berry (Canada)
Attendance:  2,400

Points Scorers:

United States
Tries:  Eloff P. 1, Naivalu J. 2
Conv:  Wells G. 2
Pen K.:  Wells G. 4

Uruguay
Try:  Nicolas Brignoni, Bernardo Amarillo, Penalty try
Penalties:  Juan Menchaca (3)
Conversion:  Juan Menchaca

Argentina 20 Canada 6

Fuelled by three Juan Fernandez Miranda drop-goals the Argentina Pumas defeated Canada 20-6 to capture their fourth Pan American Rugby championship at Fletcher's Fields in Markham, Ontario in front of 2,400 fans on Saturday.

It was a predicatably physical affair that saw a total of two sinbins and a red card on Canada and a yellow card on Argentina's flanker Rimas Alvarez, who in the fifth minute was called for punching.  Canada could do nothing with the advantage, and the Pumas mounted wave after wave of attack.  Canada were well organised in defense and brought each attack to a halt.

Argentina opened the scoring at the nine minute mark when Miranda struck a well placed left footed drop goal 40 metres for the 3-0 lead.

Argentina added to that with a Felipe Contepomi penalty goal and the 6-0 advantage.

It was a clever up and under, inside the Canadian 22 that had prop Rod Snow leaving earth to go after the high ball.  Fullback Bernardo Mario Stortoni jumped a little higher, and gathered in the ball, dishing it right where a maul quickly formed, and then second row Leonardo Roldan rolled right, and in the grasp of Canadian scrum-half Ed Fairhurst, touched down for the unconverted try -- Argentina 11-0.

Scott Stewart finally got Canada on the board in the 28th minute with a penalty kick from 23 metres.

A moment later Canadian wing Fred Asselin was called for throwing a punch, leaving Canada shorthanded for ten minutes.

The South Americans began to play in the Canadian end, winning a penalty at the five metre line, but following two Puma scrums the Canucks were awarded a penalty for Argentina not coming into the scrum straight.  Scott Stewart kicked a long ball down the park to relieve the pressure.

The Pumas almost got an interception try following a Canadian break at their own 22, but USA referee Al Klemp called it back for an offside infringement and Canada had dodged another bullet.

Canadian team coach David Clark was not upset at the number of send-offs, saying, "we wanted to be quite forceful out there.  That's what we needed against a team like Argentina.

"We kept them to one try which was another very good defensive effort.  The field-goals they scored were a bit of a kick in the backside -- they always are."

Argentina's first shot at goal in the second half came from an obstruction call in a lineout.  Contepomi got some leg on the attempt, but it was short and the Canadians restarted from a 22 dropout.  The Pumas counter attacked, Ed Fairhurst misplayed the ball and Argentina had an attacking position from the 8 metre line.  A knock-on by Fernandez gave Canada a scrum and the relief they needed.

In the 48th minute Miranda used the wind to adavantage slotting his second drop goal of the game, and the Pumas led 14-3.

Coach for Argentina Marcelo Loffreda admitted the Canadian defense was well settled and that the best route would be through the air.

"We had to figure out other ways to score points, and our number ten had a good afternoon with the drop-goals," said Loffreda.

"I think that Canada is a very good team.  I think that it was very difficult for us to break the (Canadian) defense and in some parts of the game Canada also broke our defense."

A moment later Klemp awarded Canada a penalty after talking from the Pumas caused a reversed call.  Stewart had a shot from left of the posts 22 metres out, and made no mistake about it cutting the South American's lead to 14-6.

In the 57th minute Canada received their second sinbin of the day when hooker Pat Dunkley was shown the gate for 10 minutes, causing Dale Burleigh to come on as a front row substitute and Fred Asselin coming off for the second time that day to even the numbers.

Despite the shortage of manpower Canada managed to shift the flow of the game when Puma fullback Stortoni gathered in a Scott Stewart clearing kick at the Canadian 35 metre line and met the one man welcoming committee of Al Charron, who cleared the back off his feet in a thunderous tackle that momentarily winded the Argentinean.

The tackle by Charron seemed to embolden the rest of the team, and despite being shorthanded they controlled the ball and tackled well, rattling the Pumas.

Coach Clark said that kind of thing is why Charron is so important in galvanizing his young team.

"I think it's marvelous -- it rubs off on the other players.  That just gives you the desire to do something to match him and catch up with him," said Clark.

Al Charron said that while he regrets the number of yellows and the red, he doesn't think the Canadian aggressiveness neccessarily left the team in peril.

"I don't think we got ourselves into real trouble when we were short a man," said the big flanker -- in for his record setting 63rd appearance for Canada.

He said that there was no rhythm in the Canadian pattern in the first half, and that is something they, as a team will have to sort out in short order.  "We can't wait until the second half to try and find that rhythm.  The first half is where we need to have a bit more rhythm."

In the 68th minute Canada guessed wrong about a ball being out of a lineout giving Contepomi his second penalty goal of the day from 22 metres, giving the Pumas an 11 point edge 17-6.

Canada finally tired of yellow cards, with number 8 Ryan Banks getting a red in the 74th minute for an errant elbow on Pumas scrumhalf Augustin Pichot, and it appeared the cause was lost.  A moment later Miranda got his third drop goal of the afternoon from 25 metres and Argentina led 20-6.

Miranda, who matched Pumas legend Hugo Porta for most drop goals in a match said "kicking drops is one of the things I like most.  On every opportunity I saw that the forwards were on the floor, I didn't have many options and I tried and they went."

Pumas scrum-half Augustin Pichot commended Miranda for the job he did on the afternoon.  "It was a better opportunity, it was what we were looking for.  I think it was a tough game and we had to kick sometimes, play sometimes."

The game stepped up physically another notch, and the Pumas trainers were spending more time on the field then some of the Canadian players.

Clark feels it was a successful tournament for his team, noting "we sorted a couple of things out -- though we still haven't got it right.  We've got to get a settled back line -- it was lot better today.  We got the breaks, got the ball to the edges of field but we're just short one or two players."

Canada showed a late flourish, with just 14 men, recycling the ball after an excellent John Cannon run, bolstered by large charges up the field from Rod Snow and his front row partner Jon Thiel.  They finally ran out of space and steam and Klemp blew the whistle to close the 2001 Pan American championships.

Argentina finish the tournament a perfect 3-0, with Canada runners-up at 2-1.  Earlier in the day the USA got their first win of the tournament 31-28 over Uruguay to take third place, just edging the Teros who had three bonus points from losing games by 7 points or less each game.

Canada now prepare for a two test tour from England, beginning in Toronto next Saturday.  They will be without the services of Ryan Banks, who just after the conclusion of the match attended a hearing with match commissioner Bob Latham of the USA who handed the flanker a one week suspension for throwing an elbow during the match.

Yellow Cards:  Fred Asselin (Canada), Pat Dunkley (Canada), Rimas Alvarez (Argentina)

Red Card:  Ryan Banks (Argentina)

Attendance:  2,400

The Teams:

Argentina:  1 Leopoldo De Chazal, 2 Juan Jose Villar, 3 Santiago Gonzalez Bonorino, 4 Leonardo Roldan, 5 Mariano Sambucetti, 6 Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, 7 Rolando Martin, 8 Hugo Dande, 9 Agustin Pichot, 10 Juan Fernandez Miranda, 11 Octavio Bartolucci, 12 Felipe Contepomi, 13 Jose Orengo, 14 Gonzalo Camardon, 15 Bernardo Stortoni
Reserves:  Agustin Canalda, Martin Durand, Gustavo Morlaes Oliver

Canada:  1 Rod Snow, 2 Pat Dunkley, 3 John Thiel, 4 Ed Knaggs, 5 John Tait, 6 Alan Charron, 7 Gregor Dixon, 8 Ryan Banks, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 10 Scott Stewart, 11 Fred Asselin, 12 John Cannon, 13 Mark Irvine, 14 Sean Fauth, 15 Jeff Williams

Referee:  Al Klemp (USA)
Touch Judges:  David Steele (Canada), Bernardo Blengio (Uruguay)

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Roldan L. 1
Pen K.:  Contepomi F. 2
Drop G.:  Fernandez Miranda J. 3

Canada
Pen K.:  Stewart D.S. 2

Canada 14 Uruguay 8

Canada came away with an uninspiring win over Uruguay, 14-8, to secure second place after two rounds of the 2001 Pan American rugby championships at Hamilton, Ontario Wednesday night.

It was a game that neither team really wanted to win, rife with errors, jerky play, and poor decision making that had the 1,200 fans at the edge of their seats -- trying decide whether to head to the beer tent or not.

Canada got on the board first courtesy of a Bob Ross penalty from 24 metres, his first international points since "retiring" in 1999.

The Teros began to test Canadian fullback Scott Stewart, launching high balls that he took on the trot each time to great effect.  The crowd roared their approval when he knocked Uruguayan second row Augustin Ponce De Leon back before getting stopped by multiple opposition tackles.

Wing Fred Asselin made a break from several knock ons giving the crowd something to cheer about as he zoomed for a 40 metre break before the Teros defence shut him down.

The first half became as exciting as watching two guys play chess in a darkened room, with kicks on the full, chips knocked on, and scrums wheeling on both sides.  Ross scored a second penalty from 26 metres but that would be the only offense from either team.

Teros fullback Juan Menchaca missed two shots at goal and the chance at an even scoreboard heading into the dressing rooms.

"It was a dreadful display on many people's parts," said Canadian coach David Clark.  "We weren't allowed to get in our rhythm, there were a number of penalties which I thought were very, very severe.  Their driving maul was a problem to us, and the touch judges should do something about it.

"We didn't do it well, too many mistakes, dropped balls, turned the ball over.  We looked dangerous when we went wide and could hang onto the ball, but we didn't get enough of it."

Uruguayan coach Daniel Herrera felt that his team was beaten not by Canada, but by Argentinean referee Santiago Borsani, saying his team could have won the game had it not been for the officiating.

"I think in the second half the only team on the field was Uruguay, and unfortunately we are a little team and some persons are under pressure and only watch one side, otherwise we could have won this game," said Herrera.  "We are accustomed to this person, and these things happening-- we know him -- we were prepared for him."

Of concern to the Canadians must have been the fact the scrum was being moved by the short but stocky Uruguayans.  With that in mind Clark inserted John Tait into the engine room, giving Ed Knaggs the rest of the night off.

Jeff Williams began to explore some of his options, moving around the park from his right wing position and finding the occasional gap.  The Canadians began to stretch the Teros defense and were awarded a five metre scrum from a Uruguayan knock on.  The scrum worked hard, benefited by the fresh legs of Ryan Banks, and new cap, hooker Dale Burleigh dropped on the ball for his first international try.  Banks and a few of the Teros began to exchange opinions following the score before the veteran trotted away to the admiring whoops of the home crowd.

Canadian captain Al Charron marked his return to international duties with some big hits, and useful work cleaning up ball at the back of the lineout.

Ross added a third penalty, and it appeared Canada were in safe 14-0.  But those feelings of security were premature as the Uruguyans mounted a counter attack in the 63rd minute ending with a maul at the Canadian five metre line.  A moment later flanker Nicolas Brignoni found the space he needed scoring the crucial try.  Menchaca could not convert, and the Teros trailed 14-5 and plenty of time to work with.

Uruguay got on the scoreboard again with Menchaca penalty from 38 metres and the South Americans were within a converted try of tying the match.

Bob Ross had the chance to extend the Canadian lead, but missed from 37 metres and both teams dug in for the dash to the finish line.

With full time approaching, hostilities heightened around the Canadian ten metre line, with a number of punches thrown on both sides and the Uruguayan coaches screaming for a sinbin.  Instead Canada were awarded a penalty, kicked for touch and Santiago Borsani blew the whistle to end a dreary night of rugby.

Following the match Charron was bitingly honest about the quality of the spectacle.

"To be honest I didn't come out of that game very tired, and that's a sin really to say that, but there was so many stoppages you were getting breaks," said the flanker who made his team leading 62nd appearance for Canada.  "No matter how much running you do to get things going it was stop/start and a sorry display of rugby -- It must have been painful to watch."

Argentina now lead the round robin tournament with a 2-0 record and 10 points, with Canada second at 8 points, Uruguay in third with 2, and the USA in last with 0 pts.

On Saturday Uruguay take on the US in the first match of a rugby doubleheader, while Argentina and Canada will decide the Pan American championship starting at 4:00 p.m at Fletcher's Fields in Markham, Ontario.

The teams:

Canada:  1 Duane Major, 2 Dale Burleigh, 3 Boris Stoikos, 4 Ron Johnstone, 5 Ed Knaggs, 6 Alan Charron, 7 Jeff Tomlinson, 8 Mike Schmid, 9 Marco Di Girolomo, 10 Bobby Ross, 11 Fred Asselin, 12 Kyle Nichols, 13 Colin Robertson, 14 Jeff Williams, 15 Scott Stewart
Reserves:  Ryan Banks, John Tait, Kevin Wirachowski, Colin Yukes

Uruguay:  Juan Menchaca, Bernardo Saenz, Pedro Vecino, Hilario Canessa, Emiliano Ibarra, Bernardo Amarillo, Augustin Urrestara, Eduardo Berrutti, Diego Lamelas, Guillermo Storace, Augustin Ponce De Leon, Nicolas Brignoni, Sebastien Mosquera, Juan Carlos Bado
Replacements:  (16-22) Francisco Santos De Los (49 mins for Lameuas), Sanchez Rodrigo (Berrutti), Juan Machado, Juan Alzueta, Another, Martin Mendaro, Joaquin De Freitas

Attendance:  1200

Points Scorers:

Canada
Tries:  Burleigh D. 1
Pen K.:  Ross R.P. 3

Uruguay
Try:  Nicolas Brignoni
Penalty:  Juan Menchaca

Canada 19 United States 10

Attempting to stop a two game win streak by the visiting USA, Canada came away with a defensive minded 19-10 victory in front of 7,100 fans at Richardson stadium in Kingston, Ontario.

The win also gave Canada a berth in the 2001 Pacific Rim tournament in Japan, and also possesion of the Can-Am cup which goes to the winner of the annual encounter between the two countries.

Canada began the attack from the start, enjoying long passages of play and quickly getting to the US end.  An offside by the Americans gave Scott Stewart his first shot at goal from 23 metres, which he made for the 3-0 lead at the four minute mark.

The Canadians maintained the pressure and showed remarkable control with nine phases from five metres out before referee Santiago Borsoni showed advantage to Canada.  Prop Jon Thiel saw the ball squirt out from a ruck picked it up and dropped over the line for the try.  Stewart converted to make the score 10-0 and it looked like it would be a long day for the Eagles.

In the 33rd minute a US kick to touch looked to be an opportunity for a quick throw in but scrumhalf Kevin Dalzell raced up reading the situation and intercepted the ball, going 60 metres for the try.  Grant Wells, who had missed two earlier penalty attempts made good on the conversion to narrow the Canuck lead to 10-7.

Canadian coach David Clark was pleased with the composure his young team showed.  Jeff Williams, a fullback, scrum-half Ed Fairhurst and centre John Cannon were on for their first tests, and performed well.

"Jeff Williams, in front of his home crowd had a marvelous performance," remarked Clark.  "He was brave under the high ball, came into the line at speed, he put the ball behind them he did everything that was expected of him.

"John Cannon a tower of strength in the centres.  He made his tackles well and hard, and cut them adrift.

"And Ed Fairhurst should thank the forward pack for the rest of his life a very comfortable ride in his first cap."

Clark's counterpart Duncan Hall was disappointed with the loss and lack of offensive punch.  The Eagles sole try came from the interception try by Dalzell.

"We just didn't have good enough ball to use really," Hall said candidly.  "I think the Canadians defended very well, they shut our space down.  We didn't quite get the thrust in the backline today."

Hall felt that his young front row just didn't provide the platform needed to get clean ball to Dalzell.

"Unfortunately we don't have a lot of depth, but all the players here are trying their hardest.  That's all we can ask at the moment," said the Australian.

Just before the half Stewart knocked his second penalty of the first half for the 13-7 advantage.

In the second frame the US began to control the Canadian attack on the ground, preferring to let Scott Stewart and Jeff Williams clear the ball down the pitch with huge territorial kicks.  Stewart got another shot at goal but pushed it just wide, before finding the mark in the 65th minute and the 16-7 lead.

Wells responded with a penalty, and then missed another shot at goal a few minutes later and the score was 16-10.

At the 69th minute John Cannon, found a gap and drove down to the US five metre line.  In the ensuing ruck US wing Malkai Delai was shown the yellow card by Borsoni for killing the ball near the goal line.

Team captain Gregor Dixon opted for the sure three points and Stewart did not disappoint, for the final scoreline of 19-10.

Stewart who was good on four of six attempts for 14 points, was disappointed at a couple of the kicks he missed saying that his rhythm was off because of a delay in getting a kicking tee on to the pitch.

"I did miss a couple of kicks I would have liked to have made but we didn't get the tee on in time and the referee was counting down the 30 seconds to kick the ball, instead of the minute I usually get to kick the ball.

"So it was a little extra pressure, and I couldn't do the normal routine and as a result it ruined my concentration.  But overall kind of happy considering the way I was kicking yesterday (in training)."

The Canadians began to use their 7's skills throwing the ball around, finding interesting gaps, and exposing the US who were still a man short.  John Cannon blazed up the far sideline, before offloading to Sean Fauth who finally got put into touch, but the Eagles were beginning to feel the pressure of the sustained Canadian attack.  A moment later the whistle blew and the American win streak over Canada ended at two.

Earlier in the day Argentina defeated Uruguay 32-27, and with a bonus point for scoring four tries is now in first place with a 1-0 record in the Pan-Am table, at 5 points.  Canada is in second with four points.

The teams:

Canada:  1 Rod Snow, 2 Pat Dunkley, 3 John Thiel, 4 Ed Knaggs, 5 John Tait, 6 Ryan Banks, 7 Mike Schmid, 8 Gregor Dixon (c), 9 Ed Fairhurst, 10 Scott Stewart, 11 Sean Fauth, 12 John Cannon, 13 Mark Irvine, 14 Nik Witkowski, 15 Jeff Williams
Reserves:  Dale Burleigh, Marco Di Girolomo, Ron Johnstone, Duane Major, Bobby Ross, Jeff Tomlinson, Kevin Wirachowski

United States:  1 Mike MacDonald, 2 Robbie Flynn, 3 Paul Still, 4 Luke Gross, 5 Tom Kelleher, 6 Dave Hodges (c), 7 Kort Schubert, 8 Dan Lyle, 9 Kevin Dalzell, 10 Grant Wells, 11 Malakai Delai, 12 Phillip Eloff, 13 Juan Grobler, 14 Jovesa Naivalu, 15 John Buchholz
Reserves:  Olo Fifita, Kirk Khasigian, Kimball Kjar, Tim Kluempers, Alex Magleby, Mose Timoteo, Link Wilfley

Referee:  Santiago Borsani
Touch Judge:  Steve Scott (Canada), Eduardo Blengio (Uruguay)
Fourth official:  Chris Slack
Attendance:  7,135

Points Scorers:

Canada
Tries:  Thiel J. 1
Conv:  Stewart D.S. 1
Pen K.:  Stewart D.S. 3

United States
Tries:  Dalzell K. 1
Conv:  Wells G. 1
Pen K.:  Wells G. 1

Argentina 32 Uruguay 27

Despite being down 22-6 at half-time Uruguay scored two second half tries along with three penalties to come within a whisker of beating Argentina for the first time in 27 attempts.  But in the end Argentina prevailed 32-27 with a four-try effort giving them a 1-0 record in the opening round of the Pan American championships in Canada.

It appeared that Argentina would have an easy day as they jumped to a quick 19-0 lead on tries from number 8 Hugo Dande, and a wonderful 35 metre scamper from wing Jose Maria Nunez Piossek.  Flyhalf Felipe Contepomi provided two conversions, before centre Jose Orengo found a gap to go 35 metres for an uncoverted try.

It was the Teros who came to play in the second half, showing early attacks and thoughtful running that began to hem Argentina in it's half.

Menchaca added two more penalties to cut the lead to 22-12 and Uruguay began to realise there was momentum they could build on.

Argentina then got a try from wing Facundo Soler, which Contepomi converted for a 29-12 lead.

Menchaca got his fifth penalty of the day and then substitute Pablo Pagani found some space before releasing wing Emiliano Ibarra for a long try.  Menchaca converted and Uruguay began to feel they had a chance for the upset with the score narrowing to 29-22.

Contepomi slotted a 25 metre penalty kick, the result of a Uruguyan offside to make the score 32-22.

The Teros then began impressive passages that took them onto the Pumas doorstep.  Uruguayan scrumhalf Martin Mendaro then took advantage of a ruck from five metres out to scoot in for their second try of the half.  Menchaca had his first miss of the day on the conversion attempt and his team was within a try of tying the match 32-27.

Argentina managed to relieve some late pressure and with the clock ticking over for fulltime, Uruguay missed the chance of a lifetime to get their first ever win over their South American neighbours.

Uruguayan coach Daniel Herrera was estatic with the result, and at the same time a bit morose that they had come so close without getting the win.

"I am very pleased but when you have this opportunity, after the game I am quite sad," said the emotional coach.  "For the way we played in the second half we could have won.  I think that we had lots of lost opportunities."

Coach for Argentina Marcelo Lofferda was disappointed with the way his team let up in the second half, and thinks there are some things they will have to change over the next week.

"We had some good play in the first half but then we had problems with the scrums and the players were getting loose.  When the score got close Uruguay showed a big heart and pride in their jersey and fought hard," said Lofferda.

Argentina now take on the USA on Wednesday in Hamilton, Ontario, while Uruguay will play Canada in the second half of a double header.

The Teams:

Argentina:  1 Leopoldo De Chazal, 2 Juan Jose Villar, 3 Santiago Gonzalez Bonorino, 4 Gustavo Morlaes Oliver, 5 Leonardo Roldan, 6 Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, 7 Rolando Martin, 8 Hugo Dande, 9 Agustin Pichot (c), 10 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Jose Nunez Piosseck, 12 Jose Orengo, 13 Eduardo Simone, 14 Facundo Soler, 15 Bernardo Stortoni
Reserves:  Matias Albina, Martin Durand, Juan Fernandez Miranda, Francisco Leonelli, Mariano Sambucetti

Referee:  Mr. Ian Hyde-Lay (Canada)
Touch Judges:  Al Klemp (USA), Josy Ferraro Canada

Points Scorers:

Argentina
Tries:  Dande H. 1, Nunez Piosseck J.M. 1, Orengo J. 1, Soler F. 1
Conv:  Contepomi F. 3
Pen K.:  Contepomi F. 2