Canada ‘A’ beaten 35-21 by Uruguay ‘A’ at World Rugby Americas Pacific Challenge

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Canada ‘A’ dropped its opening game at the World Rugby Americas Pacific Challenge on Saturday, losing 35-21 to Uruguay ‘A.’

The six-team tournament, which runs through Oct. 14, also features Samoa A and the USA Selects. It was introduced in 2016 “to boost the high-performance pathway” and prepare the countries for the November internationals.

The Canadians face defending champion Argentina ‘A’ on Wednesday and Tonga ‘A’ on Oct. 14.

Doug Fraser, Patrick Parfrey and Gord McRorie scored tries for Canada. Guiseppe de Toit booted three conversions.

Uruguay kicked three penalties and added four tries, three of which were converted.

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Uruguay led 6-0 on a pair of penalties before Fraser touched down for a converted try that gave Canada a 7-6 lead. But a penalty try just before halftime put Uruguay up 13-7 at the break.

Parfrey’s converted try early in the second half gave Canada a 14-13 lead after a driving maul by the forwards. But the South Americans regained the lead with a 44th-minute penalty and increased the lead to 23-14 by a 62nd-minute try by scrum half Santiago Arata.

McRorie’s converted try cut the lead to 23-21 in the 74th minute, only to have Uruguay extend its lead to 30-21 three minutes later with a converted try by Manuel Diana. Uruguay added a try in the final minute.

Canada coach Kingsley Jones’s starting 15 were all fully capped.

But the Canadians lost flankers Lucas Rumball (lower body injury) and Matt Heaton (head injury) within the first 10 minutes. Dustin Dobravsky and Conor Keys came on as replacements.

The Canadian Press