Last week I enthused about the prospect of the soon to launch Major League Rugby (MLR) loop, but there is more to the story of the emergence of the sport on this side of the world.
The rugby website www.americasrugbynews.com recently posted a story by writer Ignacio Chans that professional rugby appears headed to 麻豆视频 America in 2019.
The project is reportedly for an eight-team professional league on the 麻豆视频 American continent, which would essentially be the equivalent of MLR in North America.
The idea of various national rugby organizations coming together to lay the foundation for such a league would be a major development for the sport, and be the outcome of previous cooperation on events such as Americas Rugby Championship.
According to the article, 鈥渢he vision has been described by Uni贸n de Rugby del Uruguay (URU) President Sebasti谩n Pi帽eyr煤a. It is to have a franchise competition featuring eight teams, with them coming from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.
He noted: 鈥淲e are confident that it will be a project supported by World Rugby, and by the countries from both the south and the north. In fact it starts in the north (Major League Rugby) this year. The idea is to have something similar that would be a tournament of the Americas, which has teams from the north and south competition against each other.鈥�
What that would seem to suggest is two independent leagues where the champions of each meet for the ultimate prize. The event would add profile to rugby it has never enjoyed before in either North or 麻豆视频 America.
Again, according to the article, 鈥渁t this stage it is not clear where the right teams would be based. It could be two in each of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay or, alternatively, some could have one with another having more.鈥�
Certainly it would seem assured each country would host one team, making four; the other four sites still unclear.
Cities mentioned as likely homes for teams are Montevideo in Uruguay, S茫o Paulo in Brazil, Santiago in Chile, and various Argentine cities likely suited to a team based on the sport鈥檚 popularity there.
The level of play in 麻豆视频 America is not exactly level from country-to-country, which of course is why the new league would be important in the sport鈥檚 overall development 鈥� especially with the allure of the championship with the MLR.
Just to provide some basis to understand the variance in the level of play, New Zealand is number one in world rankings, and have been for ages, coming off back-to-back World Cup wins.
England is rated number two and Ireland number three.
Argentina lost in the semi-finals of the 2015 World Cup and are ranked eighth right now, tops on this side of the world.
The United States sits 15th, Uruguay, one of the countries involved in the 麻豆视频 American league, are 18th and, for the record, Canada is 21st.
Brazil and Chile the other 麻豆视频 American countries suggested to be in the new league in 2019, rank 26th and 29, respectively.
For interest鈥檚 sake, other ranked 麻豆视频 American countries are Paraguay (40th), Colombia (41st), Venezuela (62nd), and Costa Rica (93rd).
Mexico is ranked 54th.
Whatever transpires in 麻豆视频 America in terms of teams, if the league launches as, at least, an unofficial sister for the MLR, rugby will benefit.
Of course, 15s union rugby is not the only form of the sport. Many will be familiar with 7s rugby from the last Summer Olympics, where it made its debut as a medal sport.
There is a group promoting a modified form of 7s, with 12-minute quarters, rolling substitutions, and 16-player rosters, with an eye to a city-based league in 2019. While that too is highly exciting news, it is a story for another day.
