Americas Rugby Championship opens with wins for USA, Argentina XV and Uruguay

The fourth edition of the Americas Rugby Championship got underway in exciting fashion this weekend with victories for reigning champions USA, Argentina XV and Uruguay.

The USA Eagles, ranked a record high twelfth in the world following an impressive 2018, continued their fine form by recording an emphatic 11 try, 71-8 victory over Chile in Santiago. Argentina XV also made a winning start after overcoming visitors Brazil 54-3 in Neuquen.

The final match of the opening weekend saw Uruguay, who played much of the match with 14 men, snatch a dramatic 20-17 win over Canada with the last play of a hard-fought encounter in Montevideo.

VIEW FULL WEEK ONE REVIEW AND MATCH REPORTS >>

Uruguay will take on Chile in round two on Friday, February 8 in Montevideo, while Brazil will host Canada the following day with both teams looking for their first victories of the competition.

The big clash of the weekend will see USA travel to face Argentina XV on Saturday with both teams looking to build on their opening round victories.

VIEW AMERICAS RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 2019 FIXTURES >>

The Americas Rugby Championship, which runs during the same international window as the Six Nations Championship, provides a vital platform for the top teams in South and North America to showcase their growing presence in international rugby.

Staged for the first time in a Rugby World Cup year, the Americas Rugby Championship takes on added significance for Rugby World Cup qualified nations Argentina, Uruguay, USA and Canada, who will be looking to build on their preparations towards Japan 2019.

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About the Americas Rugby Championship

The Americas Rugby Championship (ARC) is an international, round-robin competition at the test level which features six competing teams from North and South America including Argentina XV, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Uruguay and USA. All matches contested in the ARC count for rankings points and test caps with the exception of those played against Argentina XV who compete as a secondary national team. Originally introduced as a development tournament, the Americas Rugby Championship began operating at the senior international level in 2016 where Argentina XV (who remained as part of the setup) claimed the inaugural championship and USA took runners-up. USA are currently reigning champions having won both the 2017 and 2018 ARC with Argentina XV runners-up in both years.

ARC Points Structure

Win – 4 points
Draw – 2 points
Loss – 0 points

Bonus
Scoring 4+ tries – 1 point
Losing by 7 or fewer points – 1 point

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