Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
A new annual competition for Americas nations outside the Americas Rugby Championship will begin in August 2018. As initially reported in August of this year, the new tournament will provide regular fixtures for developing nations outside their regular regional competitions.
World Rugby Vice-Chairman and Americas Rugby President Agustin Pichot confirmed the news in World Rugby release.
“The Americas Rugby Championship is going from strength to strength. It is a high-quality, exciting and important competition for the Americas, combining with the Americas Pacific Challenge to deliver a platform that is paying dividends on the world stage for participating teams.
“These are important and exciting times for rugby in the Americas and in August we will be launching the second tier Americas Challenge, ensuring a strong, meaningful and competitive annual competition pathway for North and South American unions.”
While the competing teams are yet to be officially confirmed, the initial structure is thought to include four teams. Colombia, Paraguay, and Mexico are certainties with Trinidad & Tobago tipped to be the fourth though there are other possibilities.
Venezuela and Peru have competed regularly alongside Colombia in the Sudamérica B division while Guyana and the Cayman Islands have achieved significant recent victories in the Rugby Americas North competition. Guyana defeated Trinidad & Tobago on June 10 and the Caymans upset Mexico a week later.
Paraguay and Colombia will compete in the newly revamped Sudamérica 6 Naciones A in 2018 along with Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, and the Argentina XV. Mexico is currently one of the strongest sides in the Rugby Americas North competition.
The Americas Rugby Championship has proved an immensely positive competition since its re-launch in 2016. Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay in particular have shown marked improvement. The new Americas tournament will provide compelling match-ups as well as accelerating the development of the next tier of Americas nations.
