Canada won a blowout game in front of a sold-out home crowd against Chile last week. They are looking for another strong home victory against Argentina on March 1 at Westhills Stadium in Langford in the Americas Rugby Championships.
Kingsley Jones said he expects both teams to play their brand of very creative “speed ball.”
“It’s going to be interesting,” he said.
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As the No. 1 ranked team in the tournament, Jones said Argentina will bring a similar brand of tricky plays that Canada’s known for. And as a strong all-round team they will be a test for the home team “for sure,” he added.
The key challenge will be dealing with a team that’s effective from five metres out and is known for being hard to stop, Jones said. His squad will need to be accustomed to defending farther out from the try line and playing corners.
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Canada will try to put pressure on the Argentinians from the very beginning, the head coach said. The team will have to “be on our money all the time,” Jones said. They’ve been emphasizing scrum challenges in practice.
Argentina XV coach Ignacio Lobbe implied the weather is going to be a noticeable factor. Going “from 38 degrees to zero degrees,” is going to have to be an adjustment for his team, he said.
Canada’s next game will be against their rivals the U.S., which won the last two ARC’s, in Seattle on March 8.
swikar.oli@goldstreamgazette.com
