The schedule for the 2018 RAN U19 Championship panned out perfectly last week in Mexico City, as the two undefeated teams—USA South and Mexico—faced each other in the final match to determine the champion. 

This year the tournament was played as a round-robin style competition, instead of like past years in which two pools would provide a finalist.

In the end, it was the host team Mexico that came away with the title in a 47-15 over USA South on Friday.

The Panthers had a chance to watch Mexico in their matches against Jamaica and Cayman and saw that Mexico had outscored USA South against the same opponents.

“I knew we were in some trouble, our guys needed to play the game of their lives to come away with a win,” Panthers head coach Mark Williams. “I recognized guys from their team that had played in this tournament for years.”

In the final game of the tournament, Mexico ran hard lines and recycled the ball quickly to force USA South to realign its defense quickly. 

"They were seconds ahead of us," Williams said. 

The loose forwards for Mexico beat the American forwards to the rucks consistently. On offense, the hustling Mexican forwards cleared the way for quick ball and on defense they disrupted multi-phase attack opportunities. 

“If you were watching the match you could get an immediate understanding of Mexico’s game plan,” added Daan Pretorius, USA South's forwards coach. “You couldn’t see that with our boys.”

By halftime, the score was 35-0 to Mexico.

Panthers Play to Win 

The USA South team were the two-time defending champions, and with only a half remaining, it was clear the Panthers would not three-peat. The coaches spoke about playing for pride, but fullback Alex Chura had other thoughts. 

“I don’t play for pride, I play to win,” said Chura, who was coming off a Midwest RCT win with his Celtic Ohio team. And those words sparked the Panthers.

After halftime, USA South scored quickly and felt the momentum boost. Soon after the Panthers lost Colby Pearl to a red card and the momentum was lost. USA South had to make adjustments to their lineup that would spread its backline too thin for the speedy Mexico substitutions.

Indiscipline In Defeat

The Panthers received a red card in all three matches of the tournament. 

"These aren't bad people; these are young kids making poor decisions," Williams said. "Going forward [indiscipline] is something we will have to take into account during selections because indiscipline isn't just avoiding cards but getting set on defense."

USA South outscored Mexico in the second half, a testament to the Panthers' pride, but it was not enough to overcome the massive Mexico lead. The red card simply confirmed the inevitable as the Los Serpientes won the 2018 RAN U19 Championship in front of their fans with a 47-15 defeat of the South.

Gracious Hosts

Mexico City made for a smoother tournament than past years mainly due to the perfect weather conditions compared to the lightning delays of Miami in 2016 and 2017. Many of the players and coaches in both the men and women’s tournament highlighted the quality of the pitch and Mexican crowd.

USA South had several players kept from the team from parental fear of security risks. 

“We had parents calling for our security plan,” Williams said. “We had the boys go out in groups, but never did I feel threatened or that it was any different than any big American city.”

Pretorius added: “Credit needs to be given to Mexico Rugby Federation and Rugby Americas North for not only the first class execution of logistics but for growing rugby in this region of the world. Our coaches and players felt we all left with a piece of Mexico in our hearts.” 

As the USA South Panthers waited for their bus in disappointment, several Mexican players came to shake hands and swap respect and team kit.