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11.03.2023National Teams

GRR's ongoing blog on the 2023 Pan-Am Games Rugby—check back for updates.

Women

USA 44 Jamaica 0

The first game of the entire competition and the USA were a little rusty. Not everything was perfect. But they dominated Jamaica, who didn't get out of their own half until they kicked off after the break. Jamaica didn't get much going offensively because the USA was so quick on the ball. No one on the USA played poorly and while there was a forward pass here or a high pass over someone's head there, when they relaxed the passes flowed.

Spiff Sedrick set up Naya Tapper for the opener. Alena Olsen set up Sedrick for the next one. Cheta Emba scored off a Nicole Heavirland quick tap and then stole a lineout to set up Olsen. Unfortunately Olsen was hurt scoring (looks like she might have been stepped on). She certainly was in pain and had to be helped off. That's a big loss.

20-0 at halftime (yes, no conversions!).

Jamaica kicked off and a series of scrums and little back-and-forths meant the USA was in their own half for almost three minutes. Then Ariana Ramsey made a break off a lineout (forced by a slobberknocker tackle by Sedrick) and then the ball was sent out to Sam Sullivan, who went close to 60 meters untouched.

After that Jamaica was stuck in their half again as they kept dropping the restart. Nana Faavesi got close off a quick tap and the ball was then sent out wide for Ramsey to take in. A little scamper by Neavirland and some strength in contact from Ilona Maher created space for Sullivan's second, and with time up Sullivan sent a wide kick that bounced perfectly for Ramsey.

USA 44
Tries: Ramsey 2, Sullivan 2, Tapper, Sedrick, Emba, Olsen
Convs: Heavirland 2

Jamaica 0

Colombia ran past Paraguay although the Paraguayans almost scored the try of the day with some excellent soccer skills. But the ball eventually rolled into touch. Maria Arzuaga Gonzalez was brilliant and scoed two tries.

Colombia 32
Tries: Arzuaga 4, Soto, Majia, Rios, Orobio
Convs: Pacheco

Paraguay 7
Tries: Cristaldo
Convs: Benitez

Brazil dominated Mexico looking fluid and dynamic. Aline Ribeiro raced in for three tries and their goalkicking, while not from difficult spots, was still refreshingly accurate.

Brazil 47
Tries: Ribeiro 4, De Conti, Da Silva, De Lima
Convs: Gonzalez Da Costa 3, De Farias, Nicolau 2

Mexico 0

Canada 36 Chile 0

Chile hardly saw the ball in this one and Chloe Daniels scored in the first few seconds. Canada was able to run the maximum number of players on and controlled the point of contact, allowing them to move the ball fairly easily.

Canada 36
Tries: Logan 2, Valenzuela, Daniels, Williams, Romeo, De Couvreur
Convs: Hogan-Rochester 3

Chile 0

Round 2

The Eagles scored about two minutes in and it took a while for them to really take control against a Colombia side that plays tenacious defense. Tries from Cheta Emba and Naya Tapper, with the second converted by Nicole Heavirland, paced the USA to a 12-0 lead and it remains so almost to the midway point of the second half. Finally it started to flow and tries from Tapper, Heavirland, and Sam Sullivan, all converted by Montana native Heavirland made it 33-0 at the end.

But it wasn't exactly a walkover.

USA 33
Tries: Tapper 2, Emba, Heavirland, Sullivan
Convs: Heavirland 4

Colombia 0

In a wild back and forth game between two sides with enormous potential, Paraguay scored early only to see Jamaica run in three in less than four minutes to take a 17-7 lead. Paraguay answered in the second half and made it one-score game at 17-14, but Naomi Dodd's try late kind of sealed it. Paraguay made a game of it though, scoring with time virtually up to finish the game 24-21.

Interesting article from PR7s discusses some of the players who performed in that league over the summer now playing for their country at the Pan-Am Games. One of those mentioned was Jasmine Rampton, who scored a try and kicked two crucial conversions in this game.

Jamaica 24
Tries: Rampton, Dodd 2, Blair
Convs: Rampton 2

Paraguay 21
Tries: Cristaldo 2, Romero
Convs: Viveros 3

Canada crushed Mexico. Not much to say about this one except to point out that Mexico struggles to bring size and physical power to their game, and Canada has that, and more.

Canada 69
Tries: Valenzuela, Nicholas, Romeo 2, Hogan-Rochester 2, Williams 2, Logan, Norsten, Other
Convs: Hogan-Rochester 6, Daniels, Nicholas

Mexico 0

Brazil outstripped Chile with their speed and shut out the hometown team to get to 2-0 without giving up a point.

Brazil 41
Tries: Da Silva, Dos Santos, Gomes, Nicolau, De Farias 3
Convs: Gonzalez 2, Nicolau

Chile 0

After Round 2 here are the Women's Pool Standings:

Round 3

Well then ... the USA actually kind of struggled in the first half to put Paraguay away, but then finally did it. Ariana Ramsey is starting to feel the power and she scored three tries in this game. Once again, though, others got in on the act. Good to see Alensa Olsen none the worse for wear after suffering an injury in the opening game.

This win secures Pool A for the USA and ensures they will play the runner-up in Pool B which should be Brazil.

USA 39
Tries: Ramsey 3, Sullivan, Tapper, Rovetti, Sedrick
Convs: Heavirland, Sedrick

Paraguay 0

Colombia plays tough and while their game with Jamaica was fairly back-and-forth, they pulled away late. Naomi Dodd once again scored for Jamaica to stake the Crocs to a 7-0 lead, but tries from Valentina Tapias and Laidy Soto, both converted by Laura Pacheco, put Colombia ahead 14-7 at the break. Dodd's second of the game and fourth of the day made it a tie ballgame with Rampton's extras. With about three minutes to go Colombia's Maribel Mestra scored to nudge her side ahead and Mena Rios iced it with no time left. But it was a close-run thing.

That win put Colombia at 2-1 and into the semifinals.

Colombia 26
Tries: Tapis, Soto, Mestra, Rios
Convs: Pacheco 2, Lopera

Jamaica 14
Tries: Dodd 2
Convs: Rampton 2

As expected Brazil vs Canada was a tough one for both. Brazil's speed and desire to keep the ball alive had the Brazilians ahead 14-12 at halftime. Mariana Nicolau, one of the PR7s players mentioned in this article on players from that competition performing in the Pan-Am Games, scored a try, converted it, and also converted Luiza Gonzalez's try just before halftime which put them ahead.

Bianca Dos Santos was brought on at halftime and just a few seconds later she was over to make it 21-12. So the upset was on! Except Canada is too confident, too clinical for that. They brought on Asia Hogan-Rochester, who settled things down, and the always dangerous Charity Williams scored two tries in the space of as many minutes to vault her side to a 24-21 lead. Brazil was desperate to regain the lead but instead Neesha Romeo's try with less than a minute to go sealed the victory for Canada.

What this means is Canada plays Colombia in the semis on Saturday at 11:05AM ET, while Brazil takes on the United States at 10:40AM ET.

Canada 29
Tries: Williams 2, Logan, Norsten, Romeo
Convs: Hogan-Rochester 2

Brazil 21
Tries: Nicolau, Gonzalez, Dos Santos
Convs: Nicolau 3

Chile torched Mexico 27-5 to end the women's pool play.

Chile 27
Tries: Araneda, Rojas 2, N. Badilla, A. Badilla
Convs: A. Badilla

Mexico 5
Tries: Gonzalez

"If we can focus on those small details those will trickle into the big details that will get us the outcomes we want," said Tapper after the third game, adding that the USA needs to stick to their philosophy and standards. "Once we get over those [chaotic moments], who knows what can happen."

Men

USA Lucas Lacamp intercepted a Mexico pass in the first few seconds to score a bit of a gift try. Pita Vi ran a good support line for another. Nick Hardrict went over on a misdirection move off a scrum. Jack Wendling thundered through some weak tackles, and after a nicely-taken dummy and score for Alberto Rodriguez, Lacamp got his second.

The second half saw the USA in little difficult as they dominated possession and were pretty precise in their passing. Darrell Williams capped off two nice moves, including one at the end of the game. Hardrict scored again off the scrum and added another before also setting up Lacamp for one on a lovely offload. Pita Vi added one as the USA dominated. A driving tackle from Tucker Trickey on the tryline did save a try.

USA 58
Tries: Hardrict 3, Lacamp 3, Williams 2, Vi, Wendling
Convs: Hardrict, Walsh, Lacamp 2

Mexico 7
Tries: Alb. Rodriguez
Convs: And. Rodriguez

Canada were tested by an athletic Brazil side led in part by PR7s veteran Robert Tenorio. The Canadians were not tight with the ball and after taking an early lead thanks to the hard running of David Richard, who scored both early tries, they let one slip. Robson Alves went over and it was 12-5 at halftime. Some hard running from Tenorio and Moises Duque saw the latter go over and Daniel Lima's conversion tied it up 12-12. Canada was in real trouble.

But a nice finish by Ethan Hager and a later score from Richard to finish his hat trick put the game away for the Canadians.

Canada 22
Tries: Richard 3, Hager
Convs Kratz

Brazil 12
Tries: Alves, Duque
Convs: Lima

The upset seemed on early in this game as Argentina played uncharacteristically lackadaisical rugby and good defensive pressure eventually led to Lloyd Anderson scoring for the Jamaicans. The Crocs led 7-0 until late in the first half when Santiago Mare finally found some space. Still it was 7-7 as halftime approached before Mare cut through for the go-ahead score. The second half, however, was a different story as the Pumas put it together, controlled the restarts and moved the ball nicely. Jamaica could not cover the variety of ways Argentina attacks and their fitness and structure on defense began to break down.

Of course when you can bring on Marcos Moneta as a sub you're can turn the momentum around pretty quickly.

Argentina 40
Tries: Mare 2, Vera 2, Moneta, Graziano
Convs: Mare 3, Vera 2

Jamaica 7
Tries: Anderson
Convs: Fraser

Probably the game of the day so far in the men's competition was Chile vs Uruguay. Bolstered by the home crowd the Condors beat Los Teros 24-7. This was a back-and-forth game, but Uruguay was not in the right frame of mind. They got a yellow card to Guillermo Lijtenstein for a silly elbow and Manuel Jose Bustamente went over soon thereafter.

Uruguay equalized, but in the second half a well-worked try capped off by Gonzalo Lara put Chile ahead midway through the second half. It was still only 12-7 at this point, but twice at key moments Chile got the ball back, and both times were very, very patient, avoiding contact (where Uruguay could beat them) and instead keeping the ball alive until a gap opened up. Benjamin Videla punished one such gap, and Diego Warnken finished it off with no time left. A very smart and excitign performance from Chile.

Chile 24
Tries: Bustamente, Lara, Videla, Warnken
Convs: Warnken, Strabucchi

Uruguay 7
Tries: Amaya
Convs: Lijtenstein

So what this means is Uruguay is in trouble when it comes to making the semis. Argentina, Canada, and the USA look in good shape, while Chile just needs to stay healthy through Argentina and then deal with Jamaica in the last match of the day. Canada vs USA should decide Pool B, but the USA cannot afford to take Brazil lightly. Uruguay is definitely capable of upsetting Argentina if they draw Los Pumas into a slugfest.

Round 2

So we told you that Brazil has some talent and they have some big, strong players who challenge you. The USA put out a team designed to counter that and they then got smacked in the mouth a bit. Sergio Silveira's try two minutes in held up until just before halftime and you could kind of feel the panic leaking in.

Jack Wendling's try right before halftime allowed a bit of a sight of relief, but it was still 5-5 at the break.

Patience was the key and patience led to a Pita Vi try that Lucas Lacamp converted for a 12-5 lead. About 90 seconds late Nick Hardict was over and it was a two-score game. But USA fans might have liked to have seen the Eagles put this away with one or two tries late. They didn't. Final score 17-5.

USA 17
Tries: Wendling, Vi, Hardrict
Convs: Lacamp

Brazil 5
Tries: Silveira

Canada and Mexico were close through the first half, which saw the Canadians lead only 14-5 at the break. But they controlled the narrative after that. Lachlan Kratz was perfect with his conversions and he logged 24 points in the game.

Canada 42
Tries: Percillier-McDougal, Kratz 2, Richard 2, Thiel
Convs: Kratz 7

Mexico 5
Tries: Martin

Uruguay took their frustrations from the first game out on Jamacia.

Uruguay 41
Tries: Amaya 2, Facciolo, Ardao, Arcos, Basso
Convs: Alvarez, Ardao, LIjtenstein

Jamaica 0

Argentina beat Chile but it was a well-contested game and Chile showed a lot in this one. They stopped the bleeding a little bit in the second half and certainly put themselves in position to make the semifinals with Jamaica left on their slate.

Argentina 28
Tries: Lavayen, Mare 2, Moneta
Convs: Mare 3, Pellandini

Chile 12
Tries: Strabucchi, Garafulic
Convs: Warnken

So after Round 2 the standings look like this:

Round 3

No one wants to play Argentina in the semifinals, so this USA vs Canada game was pretty important even though both had secured semifinal places. It took just over a minute for Pita Vi to score his third try of the day and with Lucas Lacamp's conversion the USA had an early 7-0 lead. The question was, could they build on it? Yes but it took them almost the entirety of the first half. Canada worked hard on defense but eventually, with Jack Isherwood in the sin bin, the Eagles got Jack Wendling over for the second try and a 12-0 halftime lead.

Right after the second half kickoff Canada's Matthew Percillier-McDougall was over and we of course had a game on our hands. But a sign that maybe this young USA team has something special going on, the Eagles set it up for Vi once for yet another clutch try from the veteran.Sam Walsh converted and at 19-5 the USA was ahead by two converted tries with less than three minutes to go—and a tie would see the USA #1 in their pool. But they didn't need that, and instead closed out the game nicely 19-5 to go 3-0 on the day.

USA 19
Tries: Vi 2, Wendling
Convs: Lacamp, Walsh

Canada 5
Tries: Percillier-McDougall

Brazil took care of Mexico and it's been a pretty good day for the Brazil program despite the 1-2 record.

Brazil 29
Tries: Dos Santos, Duque, Lima, Alves, Menezes
Convs: Duque 2

Mexico 0

Uruguay is not a team you want to play on Day One because they will leave you with some aches and pains. But Argentina did handle them and, as expected, won their pool.

Argentina 35
Tries: Lavayen, Osadczuk 2, Mare, Gonzalez
Convs: Lavayen 2, Mare 3

Uruguay 5
Tries: Facciolo

Chile capped off their hugely successful Day One with the much-needed victory over Jamaica to ensure a semifinal spot.

Chile 27
Tries: Lara, Game 2, Garafulic, Salas
Convs: Salas

Jamaica 12
Tries: Facey 2
Convs: McNally