Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Argentina’s win over New Zealand on Saturday was celebrated well beyond the borders of the República Argentina. The win carried meaning to Super Rugby Americas. Two Dogos players featured in Los Pumas’ win over the All Blacks in the New Zealand capital.
 SUPER RUGBY AMERICAS |
Los Dogos won Super Rugby Americas 2024. The Córdoba side defeated Los Pampas in an all-Argentine final. Prior finals involved teams from Uruguay and Chile with Peñarol crowns champions in 2022 and 2023.
Peñarol was critical in Uruguay building a team that could compete at Rugby World Cup 2023. Uruguay came away with a win over Namibia and had solid performances in losses against France and Italy.
Selknam was front-and-center as part of Chile’s road to debuting at the Rugby World Cup. The Super Rugby Americas team gave players a level of rugby that was previously unavailable. With it, Chile was able to lift their game to get past both Canada and the USA in qualifiers.
What is good for Argentina is good for it neighbors. This is regularly spoken within South American rugby circles. This is built on a position that it will be good for Argentina to have stronger opposition in the long-term.
Efforts are being directed now at getting there. Both Uruguay and Chile faced Tier 1 opposition the past July. Both had performances that they could be proud of against Scotland. Uruguay gave the Scots a competitive match while Chile had their moments in front of a record attendance. July 2025 will see Chile vs Argentina.
 FROM SUPER RUGBY AMERICAS TO LOS PUMAS |
Franco Molina made the step up from Super Rugby Americas to start for Argentina the year. He made his test debut against France in Mendoza and retained his spot in the wins over France in Buenos Aires and Uruguay in Punta del Este.
Molina previously also played for Selknam. He was one of two Dogos who defeated the All Blacks in Wellington. The other was Efraín Elías who made his test debut as a replacement. Elías led Argentina at the World Rugby u20 Championship this year and has signed for Toulouse.
The selection of Molina and Elías came with Tomás Lavanini on the bench and ahead of Matías Alemanno, Guido Petti, and Lucas Paulos. In other words, two Dogos second-rowers started while Clermont, Gloucester, Bordeaux and Bayonne players did not.
Elías will join Juan Cruz Mallía and Santiago Chocobares at Toulouse next season. Pedro Rubiolo, who started alongside Molina, was also previously signed from Super Rugby Americas to Europe. Juan Martín González, Santiago Chocobares, Martín Bogado, Tomás Albornoz, Joaquín Oviedo, Joel Sclavi, Mayco Vivas and Ignacio Ruiz are also former Super Rugby America players.
| SUPER RUGBY AMERICAS FUTURE |
Moves are advanced for new Argentina teams in Super Rugby Americas. This is expect to mean at least one new Argentine franchise for Super Rugby Americas 2025. Tucumán and Santa Fé are two options that are officially on the table and there are others. A decision is expected in September.
