Two contrasting semi finals took place yesterday in North America with the favorites winning both matches and setting up a final next weekend (October 17th) at Fletcher Fields in Toronto. The final will kick off at 3:30pm following the Bronze Final which will be played at the same venue at 1:00pm

Don't forget! You can debate this weekends action on the forum here!

In the first semi final Denver, Colorado played host to the USA Select XV vs Argentina Jaguars. It was a game to better understand the depth of both countries talent pools and to prepare for the November international window when the USA will play two crucial World Cup qualifying matches against Uruguay and Argentina tour England, Wales and Scotland. It was the final chance for many players from both countries to impress and in the case of the visitors this certainly happened. Argentina have lost two French based backrowers to injury (Leguizamon and Galindo) for November and needed players to shine. Thats what happened with the backrow of Leonardo Senatore, Rodrigo Bruno and Dino Caceres all putting in strong performances. Senatore may well have earned a test call up.

The game was an 8 try to 1 thrashing in snowy conditions as one of Argentina's young talented flyhalves, Benjamin Urdapilleta, was able to control proceedings after his forwards overpowered the North Americans. Urdapilleta scored 22 points, including the games first try in the first minute of the match. When winger, Martin Bustos Moyano scored 6 minutes latter, the Jaguars were winning 12-0 and looking like running away with the game. The USA Select XV scored their first points through a penalty to San Francisco centre, Volney Rouse in the 13th minute but the resolve of the Jaguars was unchanged as promising second rower, Carlos Caceres scored a try two minutes latter which Urdapilleta converted and then kicked a penalty in the 23rd minute to give the visitors a 22-3 lead. USA Select XV's Outside centre, Corey Blair, scored the games next points when he scored the only try for the North Americans in the 29th minute. Rouse converted to encourage the home side but, again, with Jaguars players trying their best to impress the Pumas selectors, they scored two more first half tries with sevens star, and Jaguars centre Horacio San Martin scoring in the 32nd minute and Leonardo Senatore in the 34th. Urdapilleta converted both.

The Jaguars scored 21 points in the second half with the backs again dominating. The first was scored by fullback, Lucas Berra Oro, in the 45th minute, the second by wing, Juan Imhoff and the third by replacement fullback, Federico Nicolas Sanchez 3 minutes from full time. The USA Select XV failed to score a point in the second half.

The extent of the win for the South Americans is something that will have made the visiting players and coaches happy but would have done just the opposite for the hosts. Without doubt, the result is a strong reflection of the success of the PladAR system which has given Argentina a domestic professional player base of over forty players. It is also a strong indication of the depth Argentina have as they look to keep as many leading players as possible in Argentina in time for the country's inclusion in the expanded Tri Nations in 2012.

In the second semifinal which was also the Canadian final, the BC Bears completed a perfect season by defeating the Ontario Blues 12-8 at MacDonald Park in Victoria, BC to remain undefeated. It was a drastically different game to the first semifinal with only one try scored in a tight game dominated by the forwards and by kicking with plenty of highballs put up by both sides. The Blues had the better of play early on but the favourites showed just how good they are by not panicing and controlling things as the game went on. The backs were not able to contribute to the game as the defense of both sides cancelled out both teams backlines. The defence was strong but came at a cost for the visitors as they gave away kickable penalties which ultimately cost them the match. Ontario Blues Flyhalf, Steve Piatek, summed it up well in saying “We did everything well, including giving up penalties. We’ll just have to take this into next week and prove we should’ve won today. It’s always fun to beat up on the Americans.”

The Blues scored the games first points as Piatek, kicked a first half penalty. Sadly, for his team it would be the only goal scored for Ontario. They scored the games only try early on in the game with centre, Mike Scholz scoring. The Bears were losing and needed to respond well in the second half. They did as Nathan Hirayama continued his good form to finish the game with four penalities to give the Bears victory and in doing so win the MacTier Cup as Candian champions for 2009.

The game was a great opportunity for many players to impress before the November tests against Japan and Russia and underlined, once again, the success and importance of the tournament for Canadian rugby. The final should see the Jaguars winning but the Bears will not give up easily and will certainly be competitive. The fixture following the final on October 21 when Canada 'A' play the Argentina Jaguars is an outstanding opportunity that all Bears players will not want to miss.


JAGUARS DOWN USA TO TAKE ARC SEMI-FINAL

Saturday, October 10, 2009 - Submitted by Ashley Voss The USA Select XV had a tough day at the snow-covered Infinity Park on Saturday afternoon, falling 57-10 to the Argentina Jaguars in the Americas Rugby Championship semifinals.

“The Jaguars were better on the day, there are no excuses. We made too many errors and they’re a strong team so they capitalized on them. The team cannot make these mistakes if they want to compete at this level,” USA Select XV Head Coach Paul Keeler said following the match.

“However, from here we must move forward and look ahead to next weekend. We’ll solidify our defense and work past today’s performance - we can’t blame fitness, we can’t blame the weather, we need to step up our level of play.”

The Jaguars pounced early on and hardly looked back in an 8 try effort. Flyhalf Benjamin Urdapilleta started the scoring charge with a try inside the first minute and led Argentina with 22 points on the day, thanks to his accurate boot(7 Conv./1 PK).

Trailing 12-0 with 13 minutes gone, the USA Select XV capitalized on an offsides penalty against Argentina when USA center Volney Rouse connected on his second attempt at the posts, narrowing the gap 12-3.

As the half pressed on the Americans struggled to gain momentum against the stiff Argentina defense. That is, until minute 29 when center Corey Blair caught a quick offload and split the Argentina to dot down the team’s lone try. With Rouse again connecting for the extras, the U.S. kept its hopes alive, still trailing the Jaguars 22-10.

Before the end of the half, Argentina would put up 14 more points - a try a piece from Horacio San Martin and Leonardo Senatore, and Urdapilleta converting both – sending the sides to the lockers at 36-10.

A resilient U.S. team took the field after the break and looked to score early on, but handling errors ultimately proved all too costly and the USA Select XV was held scoreless for the remainder of the match.

With less than three minutes gone in the 2nd half, the USA’s Nese Malifa cleared the ball deep into Argentina territory and the team looked to score but was pushed out and sent packing to defend their own line.

The Select XV held strong until the 45th minute, when Lucas Barrero Oro crossed over for the team’s first try of the half. From there, Argentina continued to hold control of the game, dominating possession and putting in two more tries (Juan Imhoff and Federico Nicolas Sanchez) before the final whistle. In the end it was Argentina 57, USA Selects 10.

The U.S. now has a week to regroup before facing the Ontario Blues in the Americas Rugby Championship bronze match on Saturday, Oct. 17 at Fletchers Field in Markham, Ontario. The Argentina Jaguars will face the British Columbia Bears in the title match.

ARG 57
Tries: Urdapilleta, Bustos Muyano, Caceres, San Martin, Senatore, Barrera Oro, Imhoff, Sanchez??
Conversions: Urdapilleta? (7)?
PKs: Urdapilleta

USA 10
Tries: Blair??
Conversions: Rouse
PKs: Rouse


Americas Rugby Championship
Infinity Park – Glendale, Colo. ?
October 10, 2009??

USA Select XV
1. Jacob Sprague (Mystic River) ?
2. Chris Baumann (Life University) ?
3. Phil Thiel (Life University) ?
4. Brian Doyle (New York Athletic Club RFC) ?
5. Samu Manoa (San Francisco Golden Gate RFC) ?
6. Garrett Peterson (Denver Barbarians) Repl. by Patrick Danahy (Life University) at 56 min
7. Steve St. Pierre (Brigham Young University) Repl. by Dan La Prevotte (San Francisco Golden Gate) at 35 min ?
8. Nic Johnson (Denver Barbarians RFC) ?
9. Brendan Thompson (Life University) ?
10. Maximo DeAchaval (Denver Barbarians) repl. by Nese Malifa (Belmont Shore RFC) at 46 min?
11. Peter Sio (Belmont Shore) ?
12. Volney Rouse (San Francisco Golden Gate) ?
13. Corey Blair (Belmont Shore) ?
14. Eric Walton (Greater Omaha Area Touring Side) Repl. by Kevin Swiryn (Old Puget Sound Beach RFC) at 46 min?
15. Mark Roberts (Chicago Lions)?

Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Paul Keeler (Emeryville, Calif.)?
Asst.Forwards: Eugene Mountjoy (North Dighton, Mass.) ?
Asst. Backs: Jason Kelly (Henderson, Nev.)?
Skills Coach: Paule Barford (Alpharetta, Ga.)?
Manager: Tristan Lewis (Chicago, Ill.).?

Argentina Jaguars

1. Federico Merlo (repl by Naruaez at 66) 2. Agustin Creevy (Repl by Maxmiliano Bustos at 60 min) 3. Matias Naruaez 4. Carlos Caceres (repl. by Hugo Schieranno at 56) 5. Mariano Galarza ?6. Rodrigo Bruno 7. Dino Caceres (repl by Rodrigo Baez at 61 min) 8. Leonardo Senatore 9. Francisco Cubelli (repl. by Hernan Oliuari at 64 min) 10. Benjamin Urdapilleta 11. Juan Imhoff (repl. by Facundo Vega at 64 min) 12. Horacio San Martin 13. Paolo Mac 14. Martin Bustos Moyano 15. Lucas Barrero Oro (repl. by Federico Nicolas Sanchez at 60 min)


BEARS TAKE CANADIAN ARC TITLE 12-8 OVER BLUES

Saturday, October 10, 2009 - Submitted by RC It was not pretty, but the BC Bears were able to ride Nate Hirayama’s four penalties to edge the Ontario Blues by a score of 12 – 8 at MacDonald Park in Victoria, British Columbia.
The Blues’ defensive pressure kept the Bears from crossing the try line in the ARC semi-final, but four costly penalties within Hirayama’s range ultimately proved the difference.

Having smartly rode the underdog façade into Saturday’s match, the Ontario Blues made a convincing case to be the Canadian champions and looked to surprise the home side when flyhalf Steve Piatek split the uprights for a quick three.
BC had to rely on a number of shoe-string tackles to keep Ontario from turning their strong defence into more than the five points from centre Mike Scholz’s early try.

Coming into the semi-final, the Bears had scored the most points in the Canadian round-robin play and the Blues had given up the least, so Saturday’s low and narrow score was not entirely surprising.

The match took almost the full first 40 to take shape, as both teams resorted to put the ball in the air. When it moved to the ground, the heated rivalry materialized into a yellow card for each squad. The Bears’ usual arsenal was neutralized and the match turned into a duel of the fly-halves, former teammates at the University of Victoria. Each was instrumental for their sides, trading perfectly weighted kicks for territory.

Hirayama, the overall points leader with 48, acknowledged Ontario’s early bid for the win and credits the close scoreline to their defence.

“Especially going into the second half, [the Blues] had us worried. I think we were on defence most of the game. Ontario did well to pressure us on offense and their counterattack was good; we didn’t have many options when it came to kicking.”

Though the win came at the hand of Hirayama’s foot, Piatek actually had a better strike rate at 87% entering this match, but the Bears’ flyhalf was able to make the Blues pay for their infractions on the 40m line. Piatek was frustrated that the Blues, after holding the Bears try-less, gave up crucial penalties that now sees his squad playing for third place rather than first next week at the ARC Final.

“We did everything well, including giving up penalties. We’ll just have to take this into next week and prove we should’ve won today. It’s always fun to beat up on the Americans.”

Formerly awarded to the winner of the Canadian Super League, the MacTier Cup was presented to the BC Bears on Saturday for earning the Canadian title.

The ARC Final took shape as the international component of the competition began today with a semi-final in Glendale, Colorado between the Argentina Jaguars and the USA Select XV.

Argentina took the match easily, beating their American counterparts 57 - 10.

Fletcher’s Fields in Markham, Ontario will host the two final ARC matches on October 17. In the Bronze Final, the Ontario Blues will square off against the USA Select XV at 1pm.

In the inaugural ARC Championship Final, the BC Bears, as the Canadian representatives and undefeated to date, take on the Argentina Jaguars at 3.30pm.

Scoring

Ontario Blues
Try: Mike Scholtz
Penalty: Steve Piatek

BC Bears
Penalties: Nathan Hirayama (4)