Classic Lions head into the final day of action at the World Rugby Classic in a strong position to be crowned champions.

The Lions, who last won the Classic in 2015, are the only unbeaten side in the six-team competition and will face champions Argentina Legends today at North Field, National Sports Centre.

A day after France Classic XV stunned Argentina, the Lions triumphed 38-25 over Classic Canada to hand the Canadians their first defeat at the 38th edition.

With their wins coming with a bonus point, the Lions sit comfortably on top of the table with ten points.

Lions captain Niall Scannell was relieved to hold off a determined Canadian side to go into the decisive day in a commanding position.

“We’re really happy to be going into Friday with a chance of winning it,” Scannell told The Royal Gazette.

“Canada were really tough and we’re happy to come away with a win. They were unbelievably physical and we had to put in a really big defensive performance and in fairness the lads did that tonight.

“Our set piece was good again and we defended really well. But to be honest I thought our backs moved us around the park really well.

“We attacked the wide channels incredibly well and we took our opportunities when they were on. We did put ourselves under a tiny bit of pressure in the first half with a few penalties.

“But other than that once we got our discipline a bit better halfway through the first half, I thought we were really physical in defence after that.

“We had a lot of line speed, put a lot of good contacts in and when we got the ball I thought our backs did a really good job of moving us down the pitch.”

With the physical toll of playing 180 minutes of rugby in a week taking effect, the former Ireland hooker is hoping to have fit enough bodies when they face Argentina.

“We got a few injuries so we’re going to have to regroup and get ready to play Argentina on Friday,” the Lions captain said.

“We knew that coming out here that we'd have three really physical games in a week basically. It just is what it is, it’s not ideal but we’ve just got to go recover.

“We’re really happy with how we’ve done. We’ve trained really well because we’ve had a really limited time together.

“We’re the only team in the tournament where we're not all from the same country so some of us haven't even met each other before.

“I think we’ve done really well to gel as a team and our training really paid off against Canada in terms of us starting to look a lot more cohesive.

“We’re really happy with how we’re trending and we hope we put our best performance in the tournament so far out there on Friday night.”

Argentina, who suffered a setback when they lost to France, will be motivated after defeating the same opponents 24-12 to win the sevens title on Wednesday.

Classic Eagles and France set the ball rolling at 6.15pm, before Canada and Italian Classic XV take to the field at 7.30pm.

Canada had put themselves in a great position to win the competition for the first time by beating Classic Eagles on the opening night, leaving captain Andrew Crow frustrated by the loss to the Lions.

“I think we put a really good effort forward, but I think the British Lions were a little bit more dynamic than us,” Crow said.

“Obviously great competition, wish we could play them again. I’m proud of what the boys accomplished but we were hoping for the win against the Lions.

“The tournament is not over, we’re going to rest and get prepared. We are very excited to play against Italy and hope to finish off strong.”

Canada have brought in extra players as cover for injuries heading into their last match.

“We’ve had a couple injuries,” the Canada captain added.

“We actually had wing Jordan Tanner fly in from Toronto and he played against the Lions. No major injuries though, just a couple niggles here and there.

“I think we have a good chance to win on Friday. Italy’s looking good though, they beat Classic Eagles by more than we did, so it’s going to be a good competition.”