Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Paraguay has officially started a High Performance Plan for rugby. The project will see both men’s and women’s players both at senior and youth levels utilize the national Paraguayan Olympic (COP) training center.
Paraguayan rugby has received the support of the National Secretary of Sport to use the COP. The COP has a capacity for 80 athletes and will be made available free-of-charge to Paraguay’s rugby players.
Paraguay competes in Sudamérica Rugby competitions. The senior men’s side is ranked 7th in the Americas. In South America Los Yakarés are 5th behind Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil.
Looking to catch Paraguay is Colombia. Los Tucanes are ranked 8th in the Americas and 6th in South America. The two countries played in repechage in late 2016 with Paraguay coming out on top. It saw Paraguay qualifying for the South American ‘A’ Championship.
Both Paraguay and Colombia are leading contenders to compete in the potential Americas Rugby Championship ‘B’ competition. Paraguay’s exclusion from the existing tournament was controversial due to rankings at the time and history. Brazil was included despite being behind the Paraguayans.
After two editions of the competition Brazil has proven to be competitive. Wins over Canada, Chile and the USA have solidified the country’s place in the competition. They have also significantly contributed to the improvement of Brazil as evidenced by the 57-6 win over Paraguay earlier this year.
Paraguay’s heavy loss against Brazil underlined the growing gap between the countries. It is a stark turn around after Paraguay had been the stronger team at the start of the decade. The exposure to a High Performance environment has enabled Brazil’s progress. Paraguay is now looking to catch up with the use of COP facilities being a crucial step in the process.
