Argentina Legends 21 Classic Canada 13

Argentina shot to the top of the World Rugby Classic standings after a come-from-behind triumph over Canada at the National Sports Centre on Tuesday night.

It was the second victory of the tournament for the Argentinians, which moved them on to eight points, three more than champions South Africa who face the Lions on Wednesday night.

Two tries, one conversion and three penalty goals secured the win for Argentina, with Canada scoring a converted try and two penalty goals.

Federico Castilla, the Argentinian captain, was delighted to hold off a determined Canadian side.

“We are so happy with the result,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“The play was fantastic and it was great to play a beautiful game in front of a good crowd. Now we get to rest and prepare for a hard game against South Africa.”

Canada coach Garth Cooke, who was seeking to build on the 24-19 triumph over Classic Lions on Saturday, felt his side threw away the match after holding the lead for the better part of the encounter.

“I think we really let ourselves down,” he said.

“They didn’t win it, we lost it. The same team that showed up on Saturday night didn't show up tonight.

“I think we weren’t playing to our game plan and were a bit fragmented, a bit flat. Our communication was low and the guys were waiting for them to come to us, instead of us going to them in defence and on offence.

“We’re going to take that and turn things around. We’re going to come back Friday night, all pistons firing to make a statement.

“The boys are hurting and we’re still going to have a good time, but tomorrow and the next few days we’re going to really work hard to bring a better product on Friday night.”

Argentina drew first blood when Martin Nunez booted a penalty seven minutes into the match.

Canada hit back with a try by fly half Aaron McLelland, who skipped through the Argentina defence to score under the posts. Full back Jeremiah Nikkel added the extras with a successful conversion.

Nikkel maintained his composure in front of the poles to kick two penalties for the Canadians to lead 13-3 at the break.

Nunez reduced the deficit with two penalties at the start of the second half before a well-executed maul resulted in Agustin Costa going over the line for Argentina’s first try, which was converted by Nunez.

Another controlled drive, this time from a lineout, resulted in prop Leandro Urriza barging over the line for Argentina’s second five-pointer and the match ended with Argentina on the charge as they sought a third try, only for the ball to be lost forward.

In the second match of the night, Italian Classic XV defeated Classic Eagles 28-20 to pick up their first win of the tournament. The Americans, who lost to South Africa on Sunday, are still yet to taste victory.

As one of the four teams playing sevens on Wednesday night as a precursor to the match between South Africa and Lions, Canada have a chance to clinch some silverware.

A second win of the tournament for the Springboks would nicely set up their eagerly anticipated showdown with the Pumas on Friday night to decide the winners of the tournament.

“We are playing tomorrow,” the Canada coach said.

“It would be nice for us to win the sevens, but our main reason for coming here is to win the tournament, that’s our primary focus.”