Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
The hot topic of professional expansion continues. In South America Super Rugby Americas it is no exception. New Argentine teams are on the horizon. Writing for El Ciudadano, Lisandro Olearo confirms that Litoral have postponed joining Super Rugby Americas from 2025 to 2026.
Litoral is the combination of three unions (Uniones de Rugby de Rosario, Santa Fé and Entre Ríos). They are a subregion of the Litoral argentino. The Litoral argentino is the Mesopotamia region which consists of the Misiones, Corrientes and Entre Ríos provinces in addition to the provinces of Chaco, Formosa and Santa Fe. Rosario is the largest city in the region and the third largest in Argentina.
The cities of Rosario and Santa Fé hosted the 2019 World Rugby u20 Championship. Both have also played host to international rugby with Los Pumas set to face Australia in Santa Fé in the 2024 Rugby Championship.
Olearo reports that the Unión de Rugby de Rosario decided that they need more time to address technical aspects. Litoral’s project has thus been postponed by one year. The region will instead have a professional team in Super Rugby Americas 2026. Tucumán will be the new Argentine franchise entering the league in 2025. Olearo adds that Tucumán is fully ready to enter in 2025.
Litoral has opted not to rush debuting. The management are patient and will make sure that they have everything in order before committing to compete in Super Rugby Americas. Both Rosario’ city government and Santa Fé’s provincial government have agreed to invest in carrying out the project.
A delegation of representatives from the province and the municipality visited the UAR headquarters. Olearo notes that it left very positive impressions for the future.
The trust has already been established by the rugby leadership, with which the economy and financial health of the Uniones de Rugby de Rosario, Santa Fé and Entre Ríos would not be at risk. This comes without the amateur game being put at risk.
Local businessmen Carlos Fertonani is to be involved. Fertonani’s Santa Fe Producciones will provide the project with solid financial foundations.
The Racecourse Stadium has been identified as the home venue. It hosted the World Rugby u20 Championship Final. The municipality plans to complete the requirement improvements in order for the synthetic grass surface to again meet World Rugby approval. Upgrading the Racecourse Stadium will also require lighting. Super Rugby Americas matches are predominantly played at night.
The region is an important area for Argentine rugby. Rosario, Santa Fé and Entre Ríos contributed seven players to Argentina’s roster for Rugby World Cup 2023: Mayco Vivas and Pedro Rubiolo (Círculo Rafaelino, Rafaela), Marcos Kremer (Salto Grande, Concórdia), Santiago Chocobares (Pampas, Rufino), Emiliano Boffelli, and Jerónimo de la Fuente and Juan Imhoff (Duendes, Rosario).
