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Uruguay Closing in on Hosting Junior World Trophy, reports Ignacio Chans from Montevideo. The Unión de Rugby del Uruguay (Uruguayan Rugby Union – URU) has received notable praise in recent days from none other than World Rugby.
The global governing body is looking at Uruguay as the host nation for the World Rugby Under 20 Trophy (Junior World Championship B). This follows tender interest from the URU over recent days to bring the tournament to the Americas.
The competition is organized on a rotational system. In 2014 it was played in Hong Kong, 2015 went to Portugal and 2016 was played in Zimbabwe. With 2016 being the turn of the Americas the tournament is expected to go to either Uruguay or the USA.
Chans suggests that it is Uruguay which has the advantage. The reason being that the USA has already been allocated hosting rights to the Rugby Sevens World Cup in 2018. Moreover the USA hosted the Junior World Championship in 2012.
Costs
Hosting the Junior World Championship is an expensive exercise. But with World Rugby funding it becomes entirely plausible. World Rugby provides around US$1 million which means means hotels and transfers are, effectively, covered. The URU would be required to pay for the rest. In order to do so negotiations are underway between the URU, World Rugby and the Uruguayan government.
Hotels are required to be 3 or 4 stars and be equipped with swimming pools and gyms either within or close to the accommodation.
Venues
URU President Sebastián Piñeyrúa pointed out that the idea is to centralize the competition in Montevideo. “Charrúa Stadium would obviously host games, and there would be a second alternative. The option of having matches in Colonia del Sacramento or Maldonado appears more distant as it would double the costs.”
Format
The Junior World Trophy is an annual competition involving a total of eight participants from every continent. It has previously been played in the Americas on three occasions – in 2008 and 2013 in Chile and in 2012 in the USA.
In 2013 Chile was supposed to host the tournament in the northern city of Antofagasta. Complications saw it moved shortly before the start of the competition to be played in the southern city of Temuco. This late change severely damaged relations between FERUCHI (Chile Rugby) and World Rugby.
The Junior World Trophy has two phases. In the initial phase the eight teams are divided into two pools of four. Teams are then seeded according to their pool placements and compete in the play-off’s for their final placings.
