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Paraguay is to play in the Campeonato Argentino, it was confirmed on Monday by the Union de Rugby del Paraguay (Paraguayan Rugby Union – URP).
The Paraguayan national men’s team, Los Yakarés will play in Argentina’s national provincial championship, the Campeonato Argentino. The players of tomorrow will likewise compete, doing so in the junior division.
URP President Rubén González Retamozo commented that “we have received the great news that this year Paraguay will play in the Campeonato Argentino. It will be in Zone C and while the fixtures are yet to be determined what is important is that our senior and junior representative sides will play in the competition and this will help us improve out level of play“.
Zone C is equal to that which Uruguay participated in in late 2015. Uruguay finished second after winning four and losing one match. The result keeps Uruguay in the same division for 2016. In 2015 the Uruguayans faced Lagos, San Juan, Chubut, Oeste and Sur.
The addition of Paraguay follows the 2015 addition of Uruguay. Argentina’s eastern neighbors joined in a bilateral effort to bolster Uruguayan rugby by giving wider roster members opportunities. Those playing were doing so not as Los Teros but as the Uruguay XV, the country’s official ‘A’ side.
Paraguay’s involvement is to be different as the level of the senior and junior athletes are inferior to that of Uruguay’s. In addition to competing at Rugby World Cup 2015 the country’s under 20 side, Los Teritos performed strongly at the World Rugby Junior Trophy, finishing third overall.
At the tournament Los Teritos defeated Fiji’s under 20 side, which lays a blueprint for future development after Fiji was far too strong for Los Teros at their Pool A World Cup match in Milton Keynes.
Los Teros are now a month away from the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship, a Six Nations competition bringing together the six strongest countries from the region over a sustained period in recent years. Brazil and Chile join World Cup competitors Argentina, Canada, Uruguay and the USA while Paraguay miss out.
Paraguay’s exclusion, though is by no means permanent as organizers have made no secret of their objective to establish a second division whose winner would earn promotion to the Americas Rugby Championship, trading places with the bottom side. With Los Yakarés having beaten Brazil twice in as many years there is a clear pathway forward for Paraguay.
Such an initiative awaits confirmation though it has been alluded to that it would possibly come about in 2019. Efforts underway will lay the framework for future success and Paraguay having the opportunity to play in Argentina’s National Provincial Championship will go a very long way to establishing and encouraging sustainable development.
