Why Argentina can’t grow if only play in South America.

This week was the Under 19 South American rugby tournament.
The results speak for themselves.

Argentina 62 Uruguay 0
Argentina 78 Chile 0
Argentina 174 Paraguay 0

As can be seen there is too much difference in level.
This type of tournaments do not contribute anything to the growth of Argentine rugby, so, for us, is very important to participate in tournaments like the TRC.

174-0???

That's got to be a record!

Scores this lop-sided really are no favour to anyone involved. Maybe it's time for Argentina to create a solid club level league? The talent Argentina has playing outside the country is notable - Mieres was looking very much on form in the AP this weekend.

This could see great grass roots level in LatAm countries, consolidate most domestic talent at home, and grow the fan base.

Hands off Nacho, he's ours!

A pro club league would take decades to grow. Argentine rugby for the most part is still amateur and there isn't enough finance to really get a good comp going with top players.
They could start some kind of youth development comp but they sort of have that already and they would still be playing against the weaker South American teams.

The only way i can see Argentine's competing in an elite pro comp is if Super rugby spreads there, the US has a pro domestic league, the US and Canda has a pro league or if rugby suddenly takes off in Brazil.

Those three games only tell me that the ref as obviously giving the 50/50 decisions to the Argentinians

But on a more serious note...why didn't/don't Argentina link up with Canada and USA in a kind of Tri-Nations tournament every year (with a youth competition running in tandem)? Surely Canada and USA would provide firmer opposition and allow for better development amongst all.

SecretFly wrote:Those three games only tell me that the ref as obviously giving the 50/50 decisions to the Argentinians

But on a more serious note...why didn't/don't Argentina link up with Canada and USA in a kind of Tri-Nations tournament every year (with a youth competition running in tandem)? Surely Canada and USA would provide firmer opposition and allow for better development amongst all.

They have that already

http://www.americasrugbychampionship.com/leagues/front_pageARC.cfm?leagueID=6921&clientID=2581

They probably can't afford to have a youth competition though, the IRB is already paying for this

gowales wrote:

SecretFly wrote:Those three games only tell me that the ref as obviously giving the 50/50 decisions to the Argentinians

But on a more serious note...why didn't/don't Argentina link up with Canada and USA in a kind of Tri-Nations tournament every year (with a youth competition running in tandem)? Surely Canada and USA would provide firmer opposition and allow for better development amongst all.

They have that already

http://www.americasrugbychampionship.com/leagues/front_pageARC.cfm?leagueID=6921&clientID=2581

They probably can't afford to have a youth competition though, the IRB is already paying for this

So Argentina now plays two Inter National Competitions yearly, the Americas one and the SH Championship (4N).

RDW_Scotland wrote:174-0???

That's got to be a record!

Its funny to see the score, remember under 19 play time is 35' + 35'.

Score:
1' try (c)
4' try (c)
7' try (c)
10' try (c)
13' try (c)
18' try (c)
21' try (c)
23' try (c)
25' try (c)
27' try (c)
30' try (c)
33' try (c)
35' try (c)

First half: Argentina 91 Paraguay 0

1' try
3' try (c)
5' try (c)
7' try
10' try (c)
14' try
18' try (c)
20' try (c)
21' try (c)
26' try
27' try (c)
30' try (c)
31' try (c)
35' try (c)

Second half: Argentina 83 Paraguay 0
Final: Argentina 174 Paraguay 0
It really is an scandalous match, that's not rugby, there is no penalties, nor drops, just tries every 3 or 4 minutes.

Why is there not an u20s competition that goes with the 4N like in the 6N it can't be hard to book another 30 places on the plane and have it as a pre match game before the test matches

We're not all as rich as you NH folk Brendan. We just can't afford to have that many people traveling / getting paid to play rugby.

Brendan wrote:Why is there not an u20s competition that goes with the 4N like in the 6N it can't be hard to book another 30 places on the plane and have it as a pre match game before the test matches

In europe everything is easier, Europe is very small, and the Europeans have a distorted notion of distance.

London - Paris 400 kmts 1 hour flight
London - Edinburgh 650 Kmts 1 hour flight
Paris - Rome 1100 Kmts 2 hour flight
In the southern hemisphere:
Auckland - Cape Town 11,800 kmt 14 hour flight.
Buenos Aires - Sydney 11,800 kmts 14 hour flight.

In Europe, a team can move and back to another city on the same day of the match.
In the southern hemisphere, if we add flight hours, waiting times at airports, etc, are about 24 hours, to this we must add jet-lag, give the time zone difference, you can not play next day, it takes 3 or 4 days minimum (experts recommend one day per hour of time zone change, which would be 12 days of acclimatization). Definitely a match, means a minimum of one week trip, with all that means spending (flight, hotels, food, etc.).

Argie Fan, what do you think needs to happen?

On one hand, you say the u20 results with neighbouring countries do not contribute to growth, but on the other hand the travel distance between countries further away is too far.

So what is the solution? what would you change?

I know distances are big in the SH. Sure the longest distance in each 4N country is more then we have to travel. But to put an extra 25-30 people onto the travel plan does seem to bad. Also they could just simple have it all in the one place.

What ever the solution Aus and the Argies need and U20s. the other two don't as their players play in the Currie and ITM cup. And I think till they all want an U20s it wont happen.

What could be a solution is that an U-20's Tournie being hosted my one country in 4 years. Play 2 games per match day and allow fans to pre buy one ticket that allows access for all the games that is competitively priced and charge say $10 on the gate on the day. It'll take 15 days to play that way, they are all in the one location, use an intimate ground with a capicity circa 20K so if not too full it isnt a funeral home either and the costs should be low enough, host Union keeps what left after the away teams flights are covered. The Big airlines will doubtless be willing to do a good deal on the block booked seats and the television coverage wont make you money but the event should have enough value to ensure it is at least a break even event, which is all you want from an Age grade tournie aimed at development.

Of course there are logistical issues within this, but nothing too difficult to surmount, imho.

The problem is there's not enough of an upside for it for NZ. Small country, small population, no money. Young players already have the U20's WC and ITM cup opportunities as well as development squads and wider training groups for the Super teams.
We can't afford to keep many players already so any event we want to add to the calendar has to do more than break even - its got to make some money.

And don't even worry talking about the long flights the SH teams face. Even the domestic flights can be long enough. Think Sydney to Perth which is about a 4 hour flight or even Dunedin to Auckland which is about 2 hours.