Súper Liga Americana de Rugby

The Superliga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for many countries in South America. In the 2020 season it will be contested by five teams with a team each from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay with a future team from Colombia joining in 2021 after playing an exhibition series against the 5th-placed team at the end of the season later in May 2020.[1] Officially sanctioned by Sudamérica Rugby, which is consequently part of World Rugby, the league was officially launched in November 29, 2019.[2]

Superliga Americana de Rugby
Upcoming season or competition:
2021 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby season
SportRugby union
Founded2019 (2019)
Inaugural season2020
No. of teams6
Countries
ConfederationSudamérica Rugby

Starting in 2020, SLAR will be held in parallel with Major League Rugby (in United States and Canada) in the spring in order to provide quality competition in the Americas for the sport of rugby union, with MLR as the "northern conference" meanwhile SLAR will be the "southern conference" of the Americas Rugby.

History

SLAR was first announced in April 2019,[3] with in mind of forming between six and eight professional franchises, two each in Uruguay and Brazil meanwhile Argentina and Chile will get a franchise each with plans to add two teams in 2021 with an additional team in Argentina and one from Paraguay. In November, SLAR's plans are changing, as they are expecting a league of seven clubs, two each in Brazil and Uruguay with one team each in Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay.[4]

At the official announcement, SLAR confirmed the number of the teams for the 2020 season will be set at five[5] for the regular season due to the economical issues but SLAR is expected to be expanded at some point in the future, possibly in 2021 when the Cafeteros Pro (Colombia) will join at the end of the regular season to play a home and away series against the 5th-place finisher in the 2020 season before joining the league full-time.

Competition Format

In 2020, Superliga Americana de Rugby was to span four months from February through May. For the first season, five of the six clubs Ceibos , Corinthians, Selknam, Olímpia Lions, and Peñarol[6] planned to take part in a double round-robin regular season, playing twice against each other team, once at home and once away, for a total of eight games.[7] The top four teams would qualify for the championship playoffs to determine a season champion.[8] The fifth place regular season team would have played a series against Los Cafeteros Pro to determine the fifth-place team. However, on March 17, 2020, the season was postponed until 2021[9], as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Like Super Rugby, Major League Rugby, and the Pro14, this league has no promotion and relegation.

Teams
Location of teams of the 2021 Superliga Americana de Rugby.

Current teams

There are six teams confirmed for the 2021 Superliga Americana de Rugby season.[1][6]

Team City Country Stadium Capacity Joined Coach
Cafeteros ProMedellínColombiaTBATBA2021Rodolfo Ambrosio
CobrasSanto AndréBrazilEstádio Bruno José Daniel11,4402020Emiliano Bergamaschi
Jaguares XVBuenos AiresArgentinaTBCTBC2021Ignacio Fernández Lobbe
Olímpia LionsAsunciónParaguayEstadio Héroes de Curupayty3,0002020Raúl Pérez
PeñarolMontevideoUruguayEstadio Charrúa14,0002020Pablo Bouza
SelknamSantiagoChileEstadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos40,0002020Nicolás Bruzzone

Expansion teams

On 10 November 2020, Colombia has formalized professional rugby. The South American country’s first professional rugby team will be Cafeteros Pro. The team will enter the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) in 2021.[10] On 6 January 2021, UAR replaced the Córdoba based team Ceibos with the Jaguares XV, following the Jaguares departure from Super Rugby.[11][12] On 4 February 2021, the Brazilian side of the competition was renamed Cobras Brasil XV, dropping their affiliation with the Corinthians multi-sport club.[13]

Expansion candidates

At the initial announcement, Brazil and Uruguay originally would have two team each, but instead one team each (Corinthians and Peñarol) will play in 2020 season, meaning it may be possible for the two countries to expand in the future by placing a team in Florianópolis and a team to become Club Nacional de Football in Uruguay [4] besides a possible Mexican team or a second Chilean team.[14][15] With the possible change of Super Rugby to a Trans-Tasman (Australasian) competition, Argentina could add a second team, the Jaguares, based in Buenos Aires, in 2021.[16][17][10] In November 2020, another new team proposed for 2021 with official expression of interest by Sudamérica Rugby for the inclusion of a second Argentine Buenos Aires based team in the 2021 SLAR,[18] but in December 2021 a second Argentine team won't play in 2021 and most Argentine players will depart the team either overseas, or enter the draft for the 2021 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby season.[19]

Speculations talk also for participations of teams from Spain, Portugal, and Mexico.

Former teams
TeamLocationCountryStadiumJoinedLeft
CeibosCórdobaArgentinaTala Rugby Club20202021 (pre-season)[11]

See also

Notes

    References
    1. "South American SuperLiga launched in Montevideo". Americas Rugby News. 2019-11-30. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
    2. https://sudamerica.rugby/espanol/la-superliga-americana-de-rugby-tiene-fixture-3?nid=306
    3. Observador, El. "TV, contratos, jugadores: los siguientes pasos de la Liga profesional de rugby". El Observador. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
    4. "The Latest On the Súper Liga Americana". Americas Rugby News. 2019-11-08. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
    5. "Sudamérica tendrá competencia, se viene la Liga, primer torneo profesional". Diario El Ciudadano y la Región (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-12-08.
    6. La Superliga Americana va tomando forma by Gabriel Sarquis Marca, 29 Dec 2019
    7. Nace la Superliga Americana, un impulso vital para el rugby regional by Alejo Miranda La Nación, 1 Dec 2019
    8. "Sudamérica Rugby: La Súper Liga Americana de Rugby comenzará en 2020". Chile Rugby (in Spanish). 2019-04-28. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
    9. "La Superliga Americana de rugby se suspende hasta 2021". SLAR (in Spanish). 2020-03-17. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
    10. http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2020/11/10/colombia-formalized-professional-rugby/
    11. "Jaguares to play in Súper Liga Americana de Rugby".
    12. @JaguaresARG (23 January 2021). "¡Vuelve #JaguaresXV, vuelve el rugby a la región! El equipo participará en la @SLARugby junto a las franquicias de Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay y Uruguay en el certamen continental que se disputará, entre el 16 de marzo y el 15 de mayo, en dos sedes fijas a definir" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 January 2021 – via Twitter.
    13. "Cobras Brasil XV replace Corinthians in 2021 SLAR". Americas Rugby News. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
    14. http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2020/09/12/hernandez-backs-super-liga-americana-for-argentina/
    15. http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2020/09/27/super-liga-americana-expansion/
    16. http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2020/07/26/jaguares-in-2021-australia-south-africa-or-south-america/
    17. http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2020/11/04/super-rugby-set-to-return-to-12-teams-without-jaguares/
    18. Sudamérica Rugby has expressed interest in including Los Jaguares in the 2021 SLAR competition
    19. "Jaguares to be drafted into SLAR teams". Americas Rugby News. 19 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.