Argentina Jaguars were crowned the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship winners after a comfortable 35-11 defeat of British Columbia's Bears in the final at Fletcher's Field in Markham on Saturday.

The defeat was the Canadian provincial side's first loss in the new Championship after they had gone through the round robin stage with three other provincial sides unbeaten and then overcome Ontario Blues in the semi finals.

Nathan Hirayama had scored all of the Bears' points in their 12-8 semi final win over the Ontario Blues and the Canadian international fly half did the same against the Jaguars with a try and two penalties in
the defeat.

With Argentine sides renowned for their forward strength, it was perhaps surprising that the Bears elected to take them on up front rather than work around this advantage and for the first half the tactic appeared to work.

Building for the future
The Jaguars had scored first through Joaquin Tuculet, but Hirayama then took the Bears out to an 11-7 lead. However that would be the last time the Bears troubled the scoreboard with Benjamin Macome crossing to put his side ahead at half time.
With the majority of the second half played in the Bears' half, the Jaguars crossed for three more tries through Agustin Creevy, Martin Bustos Moyano and Esteban Bustillo with Benjamin Urdapilleta converting all five tries to seal a dominant win.

"The ARC tournament is so promising for Rugby in North America," said Bears coach Mike James afterwards. "For us Argentina is a model of excellence. Whenever we play a side from Argentina it is a good reality check for Rugby in Canada and a great example of where we need to and can get to as a country."

This was a sentiment echoed by Mark Egan, the IRB's Head of Development and Performance who was at Fletcher's Fields to witness the conclusion of the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship.

"I thought it was a fantastic event and definitely a level above NA4 competition that has been held in the past. I was impressed with the Canadian provinces, particularly the players' fitness. Obviously the Jaguars were worthy winners today. Hopefully this can be a tournament we build on in the future."

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