Canada crashed to defeat in Maldonado as Uruguay took the spoils by 17-13 on Saturday evening. It marks the first time that Los Teros have defeated Canada since August of 2002. With that Uruguay jumps above the North Americans in the Americas Rugby Championship and rise to 21st in the World Rankings, just millimetres behind Canada who retain their 20th spot by the skin of their teeth.

In a match that might best likened to an 80-minute bar fight, the two sides smashed into each other with reckless abandon with back play and handling skills at a premium. Humid conditions made the ball slippery but could not entirely excuse the number of poor unforced errors committed, with some of tragic proportions coming from Canadians.

Gordon McRorie made good on the first penalty kick of the evening after a bizarre incident saw Ray Barkwill wrestling with Santiago Arata just minutes into the match. Barkwill claimed gouging but there was no TMO to review the tape, so the best the referee could offer was a penalty against Juan Echeverría for being the third man in. Initial replays were inconclusive, though we may hear more of this incident later.

It would be some time before Canada would find offensive success again. Germán Albanell leveled the scores with his own penalty goal, and then came a moment of brilliant from Leandro Leivas. The right winger kicked a tumbling ball out of mid air that somehow stayed infield. A shocked Brock Staller tried to get back in time but it was Leivas who nudged ahead of the Canadian fullback at the last second, sliding over the ball on his back before touching it down for a miraculous try.

The score was a shot to the gut for the Canadians, and their wind was completely taken when Staller was sent to the bin soon after. Juan Manuel Cat chipped ahead but Nick Blevins and then Staller clumsily ran into the Uruguayan midfielder with the ball long gone. While the collision was at the low end of seriousness, the referee showed no mercy and brandished the yellow card. From the ensuing lineout Los Teros marched forward in the maul and an intentional collapse meant a penalty try and seven points on the board for Uruguay. No more scoring would come from the half.

A number of penalties against Uruguay early in the second half quickly resulted in Albanell getting his ticket for a 10 minute breather. McRorie took advantage with three points, but that was all Canada could muster with the man advantage. Canada turned down a couple long range penalty kicks but couldn’t capitalize on field position, and Uruguay were content to spoil and hang on. A dazzling run from Phil Mack just seconds after entering the game for McRorie looked to have conjured a try but for Admir Cejvanovic to drop Gradyn Bowd’s offload with the line at his mercy.

Franco Lamanna received Uruguay’s second yellow late in the second half after his chop tackle on Djustice Sears-Duru was deemed dangerous. Despite being down by 13 points and short on time, Canada opted for a shot at goal but Staller sliced the kick from in front of the posts and chins began to drop. A spark of life came when Conor Trainor suddenly broke clean through, dancing around the cover defense to score under the posts. Staller took the extras but there was precious little time on the clock.

With possession won at the kickoff Canada again went on the attack and again it was Trainor who made inroads over halfway. More phase play had Los Teros reeling and under severe pressure with only 14 players on the pitch, but another handling error spilled the ball and with it all hope evaporated. Uruguay ground down the remaining seconds through their forwards and as Guillermo Lijtenstein sent the ball over the touchline the players rejoiced.

Uruguay now sit third on the overall table and a win over Chile next weekend will clinch their spot and see them finish with a 3-2 record. Canada get a bonus point from the loss but their fate is now out of their hands. Their last task will be to avoid a similar fate against Brazil in São Paulo.

SCORING

URUGUAY 17

Tries – L. Leivas (19’), Penalty try (26’)

Cons – G. Albanell (20’)

Pens – G. Albanell (11’)

Yellow cards – G. Albanell (49’), F. Lamanna (73’)

CANADA 13

Tries – C. Trainor (75’)

Cons – B. Staller (76’)

Pens – G. McRorie 2 (4’, 50’)

Yellow cards – B. Staller (25’)

TEAMS

URUGUAY

1 Mateo Sanguinetti (16 Facundo Gattas 59’), 2 Martín Espiga (17 Matías Benítez 74′), 3 Juan Echeverría (18 Mario Sagario 51’), 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Diego Ayala (20 Diego Magno 66’), 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.) (19 Juan Diego Ormaechea 65’), 7 Franco Lamanna, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Santiago Arata (21 Guillermo Lijtenstein 56’), 10 Germán Albanell, 11 Nicolás Freitas, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Juan Manuel Cat (23 Gastón Mieres 61’), 14 Leandro Leivas (22 Gastón Gibernau 74′), 15 Rodrigo Silva

CANADA

1 Rob Brouwer (17 Djustice Sears-Duru 69’), 2 Ray Barkwill (16 Eric Howard 63′), 3 Matt Tierney, 4 Brett Beukeboom, 5 Reegan O’Gorman (19 Liam Chisholm 56’), 6 Clay Panga (20 Matt Beukeboom 61’), 7 Lucas Rumball, 8 Admir Cejvanovic, 9 Gordon McRorie (capt.) (21 Phil Mack 59’), 10 Robbie Povey (22 Gradyn Bowd HT), 11 Kainoa Lloyd (23 Guiseppe du Toit 69’), 12 Nick Blevins, 13 Conor Trainor (23 Guiseppe du Toit 25’-28’), 14 Dan Moor, 15 Brock Staller

Not used: 18 Cole Keith

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Derek Summers (USAR)

Assistants: Joaquín Montes (URU) & Rodrigo Goyret (URU)