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Andrés Zafra becomes Colombia’s first to play in France, it was confirmed today. The 19 year old will be breaking new ground in ten days time when he joins Fédérale 3 club Givors, located near Lyon.
Zafra is to join the French side from his Colombian club Los Carboneros from the city of Cúcuta. Curiously the city is not located in the Colombian heartland of Antioquia but, rather, in the Norte de Santander department on the eastern border with Venezuela.
The player has the physique to develop and have a successful career. In weighing 115kg and standing at 1.97 metres tall Zafra has the backing of Los Carboneros President William Léon who stated “he already has the international stature”.
“He was South American Champion in 2014 and 2015, he has enormous potential. If he progresses well we can plan on going up a division” added Jean-Baptiste Ozanne, president of Rugby French Flair,an associatrion of former international players who scout for players of notable potential.
It was in October of 2015 that Andrés Zafra was identified in Cúcuta playing in a mission organized by Rugby French Flair which was led by Cédric Desbrosse who played for both Toulouse and France and is now the coach of Givors.
“We are going to give him three or four months to see if it words, if he is also able to adapt to the cold. If other clubs are interested in signing him it is up to him. He has potential”, confirmed Desbrosse. The former French international also made it known that Zafra will require French classes in order to be able to resume his studies.
The change from Colombia to France will be extensive for the player but for his country he is to be a true pioneer. It comes at a time when rugby is experiencing an explosion, both in terms of participation and popularity, in men’s and women’s rugby. In 1993 there were 50 players in Colombia while in 2014 the Federación Colombiana de Rugby (FRC) said there were over 15,000 people playing the sport.
The number of spectators has also risen with 12,000 Colombian rugby players tuning in to watch the Rugby World Cup 2015 Quarter Final match between Argentina and Ireland. With Los Pumas’ popularitry encouraging more Colombians to play rugby Zafra’s move to France could open doors for others to do so.
