Canada race to top of Americas champs
However, Canada raced to the top of the standings, after they opened their tournament with a convincing 33-17 win over Uruguay.
The Americans powered their way to a 35-28 lead in the 75th minute on back-to-back tries by Cam Dolan and prop Eric Fry, but just three minutes later Argentina's Tomas Carrió scampered over to level at 35-35.
James Bird had a chance to give the USA the lead again but his penalty in the 80th minute drifted wide.
Argentina also missed a last-gasp penalty from replacement Juan Novillo when his long-range attempt dropped agonizingly short as the teams shared the points in front of 10,241 spectators at Houston's BBVA Compass Stadium.
"It was a good starting point," said former All Blacks coach Mitchell, who recently signed a four-year deal to take over as head coach of the Eagles.
"But a draw is not always something that you enjoy and also you don't experience too many of them in your career."
The Americas Rugby Championship, a second-tier version of Europe's Six Nations tournament for top North and South American rugby union teams, kicked off Saturday with three contests.
The tournament will be played over five weeks with a champion decided on March 5.
While not a fully powered Pumas squad, fifth-ranked Argentina did boast rising young talent from the same developmental system that has made the South American nation a force in the sport.
Canada opened their tournament with a convincing 33-17 win over Uruguay.
Dan Moor scored a pair of tries while Phil Mackenzie, Nick Blevins and Alistair Clark also scored tries in front of a crowd of 1,123 at Westhills Stadium.
"We worked together and came up as a team," interim head coach Francois Ratier said. "That's the spirit we want. I am pleased for the boys."
Canada led 19-7 at halftime and added two more second half tries while holding off a determined Uruguayan side.
Left winger Italo Zunino and centre Francisco de la Fuente scored first half tries as Chile held on to edge Brazil 25-22 in a surprisingly close match in Santiago.
Jose Ignacio Larenas capped the scoring for Chile in the second half with a breakaway try to make it 25-12. Outside centre Matias Nordenflycht broke the line to start the play and then offloaded to Leonardo Montoya who found a wide open Larenas.
Nordenflycht opened the scoring early in the first half by giving Chile a 3-0 lead with the first of his two penalties.
Scorers and scorers:
Canada 33-17 Uruguay
Scorers:
For Canada:
Tries: Moor 2, Blevins, Mackenzie, Clark
Cons: McRorie 4
For Uruguay:
Tries: Penalty try, Nieto, Leivas
Con: Silva
Teams:
Canada: 15 Pat Parfrey, 14 Phil Mackenzie, 13 Mozac Samson, 12 Nick Blevins, 11 Dan Moor, 10 Gradyn Bowd, 9 Gordon McRorie, 8 Clay Panga, 7 Lucas Rumball, 6 Kyle Gilmour, 5 Callum Morrison, 4 Paul Ciulini, 3 Jake Ilnicki, 2 Ray Barkwill, 1 Hubert Buydens (captain).
Replacements:16 Eric Howard, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Rob Brouwer, 19 Kyle Baillie, 20 Alistair Clark, 21 Michael Hamson, 22 Andrew Ferguson, 23 Duncan Maguire.
Uruguay: 15 Santiago Martinez, 14 Leandro Leivas, 13 Andrés Vilaseca, 12 Alberto Román, 11 Gastón Mieres, 10 Rodrigo Silva, 9 Guillermo Lijtenstein, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 7 Matías Beer, 6 Juan Gaminara (captain), 5 Franco Lamanna, 4 Diego Magno, 3 Juan Echeverría, 2 Carlos Arboleya, 1 Mateo Sanguinetti.
Replacemets: 16 Germán Kessler, 17 Facundo Gattas, 18 Rafaél Mones, 19 Rodolfo De Mula, 20 Mathias Palomeque, 21 Gonzalo Soto, 22 Santiago Arata, 23 Pedro Deal.
Referee: Juan Sylvestre (Argentina)
Assistant referees: Dave Smortchevsky (Canada), Harry Mason (Canada)
United States 35-35 Argentina
The scorers:
For the United States:
Tries: Ngwenya, Clever, Dolan, Fry
Cons: Bird 3
Pens: Bird 3
For Argentina:
Tries: Carrió 2, Báez, Paz, Bertranou
Cons: Miotti 5
Yellow card: Juan Cappiello (Argentina)
Teams:
United States Eagles: 15 Blaine Scully (captain), 14 Takudzwa Ngwenya, 13 Chad London, 12 Lemoto Filikitonga, 11 Kingsley McGowan, 10 James Bird, 9 Niku Kruge, 8 David Tameilau, 7 Todd Clever, 6 Cam Dolan, 5 Greg Peterson, 4 Brodie Orth, 3 Chris Baumann, 2 Joseph Taufete'e, 1 Eric Fry.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sosene-Feagai, 17 Olive Kilifi, 18 James Hilterbrand, 19 Ben Landry, 20 Alec Gletzer, 21 JP Eloff, 22 Mike Te'o, 23 Jake Anderson.
Argentina: 15 Ramiro Moyano, 14 Matías Orlando, 13 Juan Cappiello, 12 Joaquín Paz, 11 Tomás Carrió, 10 Domingo Miotti, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Santiago Montagner, 7 Lautaro Bavaro, 6 Rodrigo Báez (captain), 5 Ignacio Larrague, 4 Marcos Kremer, 3 Felipe Arregui, 2 Santiago Iglesias, 1 Roberto Tejerizo.
Replacements: 16 Franco Brarda, 17 Gaspar Baldunciel, 18 Cristian Bartoloni, 19 Pedro Ortega, 20 José Deheza, 21 Lautaro Bazán Vélez, 22 Juan Novillo, 23 Juan Pablo Estellés.
Referee: Chris Assmus (Canada)
Chile 25-22 Brazil
Scorers:
Not available
Teams:
Not available
Referee: Joaquín Montes (Uruguay)
Table (played, won, drawn, lost, points for, points against, bonus points, total points):
1. Canada 1 1 0 0 33 17 1 6
2. Chile 1 1 0 0 25 22 0 4
3. Argentina 1 0 1 0 35 35 1 3
4. United States 1 0 1 0 35 35 1 3
5. Brazil 1 0 0 1 22 25 1 1
6. Uruguay 1 0 0 1 17 33 0 0
