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In a special feature Americas Rugby News is extremely pleased to offer our readers a special look into Colombian rugby. Joining us in this guest editorial is Sergio Pulgarín.
It has been a great year for Colombian rugby so far. The Tucanes won their fifth Sudamericano B title, the seven-a-side team had an incredible and historic performance at the South American Sevens Circuit in Montevideo and Viña del Mar, finishing in sixth position in both tournaments and earning huge victories against Brazil, Canada and the United States, and our awesome girls played for the first time in the qualification stage of Hong Kong Sevens, after finishing third in the South American Tournament.
But the most important milestone for Colombian rugby was the decision that the Sudamérica Rugby executive committee took, promoting Colombia to the top tier of South American rugby. This means that Colombia will play on a yearly basis with continental powerhouses, improving national rugby by playing with better rivals, and being able to compete directly for a place in future Rugby World Cups, being now two steps ahead in the qualification to France 2023 than that of the qualification process for Japan 2019.
The fact that Colombia has been eligible for promotion, is an unmistakable sign of the growth of the sport in the country. Colombia ranks highly among the countries who invest the most in capacitation programs for coaches and players, and this has been reflected in the results that Colombia has obtained in every category, since the women qualified for the Rio Olympic Games, and to the fourth consecutive title in Sudamericano B tournaments. Moreover, Colombia has a golden generation of rugby players, who have been playing together and facing each other locally for a long time, so they know how to play with each other by heart. Last but not least, Colombia has a really important potential on its youngsters. Colombia has won three out of the last four Sudamericano Juvenil B events, and in the last one they finished second, after an extremely close match against Paraguay, so the future of Colombian rugby is assured.
Next year, due to the competition format of the Sudamericano 6 Naciones A, Los Tucanes will play against Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. It would be a little bit unrealistic to think that Colombia will win all three games in the tournament, because there are rivals who may outclass Colombia, such as Uruguay and Brazil. But in the short term, I think that our goal is to beat Paraguay for the first time in history.
Despite the great wins that women have had against Yacarés, none of our men XV teams have been able to seal a victory. But nowadays, the feeling here is that we are now capable of doing so. In the last published rankings by World Rugby, Colombia (42) is just two positions behind Paraguay (40). If Colombia wins against them, Los Tucanes would overtake Paraguay for the first time in the rankings.
Even though Yacarés have won every match against Colombia, the gap has been closing notably. At a similar level now, it will be tough, but anything can happen. In the years to come, I think it is reasonable to dream of victories against stronger sides, such as Brazil, Chile or Uruguay. Why not?
In the second half of the year, Colombia will play in the Americas Rugby Championship B, against Paraguay, Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago. Colombia will aim to win the first edition of the championship, no doubt about it. It is a tournament in which Colombia is expected to perform well in even though its rivals are of a similar level.
Other important goals for Colombian rugby are round the corner. Five days from now, both the men’s and women’s national sevens teams will compete in the Bolivarian Games in Santa Marta, Colombia.
The Women will look to repeat their wonderful performance from the last games, where they claimed gold.
The Men will aim for gold as well, after the silver medal obtained in Trujillo 2013. Then, there will be the Pan-American Games in Lima (2019), where both Colombian teams will try to obtain a medal. And then, of course, the qualification process for Olympic Games in Tokyo, in 2020, and the American qualification process to RWC France 2023.
Colombia has been growing a lot during these past years. But the best is yet to come for our rugby.
Sergio Pulgarín writes about rugby for Bitácora Deportes. Follow Sergio on twitter @pulgacho18 and follow Bitácora Rugby @bitacorarugby
