Súper Liga Americana Expansion

The COVID-19 pandemic ended the inaugural Súper Liga Americana (SLAR) season early. What had been scheduled to be a ten week regular season was ended before competing week two. Only one team was able to play two league matches.

The suspended season was a five team league. It had teams from as many countries. Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay had Corinthians, Olímpia Lions and Peñarol respectively. Rugby thus had professional teams playing under leading soccer club brands. Chile had a new brand in Selknam as did Argentina with Los Ceibos.

The five teams were to be joined by a sixth, Los Cafeteros Pro. The Colombian team was to be an exhibition side that would face the team that missed out on the Semi Finals. COVID-19 means that the team is yet to take to the field, though Colombia was not absent from SLAR. Three Tucanes were recruited: second-rower Danny Giraldo, flanker Diver Ceballos, and center Geovanny Carvajal.

Colombia also has players in other leagues. Among them are Julio Giraldo (Rugby United New York) and Andrés Zafra (Agen). They were part of the 50-man roster identified for RWC 2023 qualifiers. Many on the roster are set to be recruited by Los Cafeteros Pro for the 2021 SLAR season.

The debut of Los Cafeteros Pro will mark the beginning of Súper Liga Americana expansion. Is it the only team joining the league in 2021? A definitive answer to this question is not possible at the present time.

Disruptions to professional rugby see Los Jaguares stranded without a competition. Officially the Argentine side may return for 2022, but it will not in 2021. Perhaps there will not be a 2022 return either. Will South Africa leave permanently and play in the Pro 14?

Playing in a South African competition is among the possibilities for Los Jaguares. This could be the Currie Cup or a domestic Super Rugby competition. The latter could be followed by play-off’s against teams from the Australian and New Zealand conferences. This would ensure elite level competition, albeit it would come with a price tag of a US$20 million loss for Argentina.

Playing in South Africa in 2021 would mean no home matches for Los Jaguares. It would be the same if Los Jaguares were to play in either one of the Australian or New Zealand Super Rugby conferences.

A further option that was speculated was to play in Major League Rugby. However, the recent announcement of the 2021 season confirmed 13 teams, all of which are North American.

An alternative is for Los Jaguares to play in SLAR. This could take one of three forms. First, Los Jaguares join as a Buenos Aires side, thereby setting up a rivalry with Córdoba’s Los Ceibos. Second, the players could be spread around all SLAR teams. Third, a combination of the first two options.

The third option may be the smartest. It would also be a lot cheaper than being based abroad. It would provide more players with game time, boost the league’s standards overall, and it may slowdown the player exodus. In short, there is reason to believe that there could be two Argentine teams in the 2021 SLAR.

An additional project has been put on hold. Chile Rugby President Cristian Rudloff has confirmed that plans for a second Chilean side have changed. Expansion was planned for 2021. Instead, Rudloff clarified that he has every reason to believe that Chile will have two teams for the 2022 SLAR season.

Uruguay may also have a second team for 2022. The original plans were for Uruguay to have two teams for 2020. A combination of the URU wanting to ensure it was competitive and Nacional requesting additional time meant that Peñarol was Uruguay’s one team in 2020.

Another possibility that has been previously brought up is Mexico. The test side, Las Serpientes, has come a long way in recent years. Strong relations and market possibilities mean that there is interest in Mexico joining SLAR. When that may be cannot be answered. It should be noted that Mexico was penciled down to host a SLAR vs MLR Americas Champions Final this year.