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Sebastián Pineyrúa has been ratified as the new Sudamérica Rugby President. The former President of the Unión de Rugby de Uruguay (URU – Uruguayan Rugby Union) replaced Marcelo Rodríguez who is now the President of the Unión Argentina de Rugby (UAR – Argentine Rugby Union).
Pineyrúa became in charge of the regional body on Wednesday March 28 doing so with unanimous approval. He did so following Rodríguez’ resignation to take over the reigns of the UAR. Piñeyrúa recently departed his post as President of the URU.
The Uruguayan will head Sudamérica Rugby on a two-year term (2018-2019). He is the first ever Uruguayan to become president of the organization. Moreover he is the first person not to be from Argentina to head Sudamérica Rugby.
The Piñeyrúa regime will begin in positive light. Under his leadership the URU successfully qualified for two Rugby World Cups. Additional work together with Agustín Pichot and World Rugby saw the arrival of the Americas Rugby Championship (ARC) and Esteban Meneses as Head Coach of Los Teros.
Future projects can now be looked at through the eyes of a leader from a lower tier country. Work is already underway to have a South American Professional competition and a means of it working together with Major League Rugby.
The new Americas Rugby Challenge and South American Rugby Championship formats are to greatly benefit the region. Piñeyrúa will oversee the inaugural competitions. The push to also see a second South American team join Super Rugby may well be on the agenda.
For Uruguay the election of Piñeyrúa means that for the first time in history the country will have a vote on the World Rugby Council.
