Rugby Union: Cross-Border Clashes and Pro Possibilities

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: April 23, 2013

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Having eliminated the possibility of European rugby expanding to North America in my February interview with RaboDirect Pro 12 Director David Jordan, I sat down in March to talk with SANZAR's CEO Greg Peters to discuss his organization's plans concerning possible entry into the Americas. 

Mr Peters was clear that one of the important pre-requisites for such expansion would be the establishment of second- and third-tier competitions, which would develop the necessary talent across countries like Canada and the United States.

"We have found that for Super Rugby teams to be successful, you often need a third-tier competition like the Currie Cup in South Africa or the ITM Cup in New Zealand."

Such competitions are not entirely absent from the rugby scene in the Americas, as the Americas Rugby Championship (ARC) has repeatedly demonstrated.



But where can elite players in the Americas go to find high performance opportunities at a sub-national level?  Competitions like the Currie Cup, remember, are generally between regional representative teams, not national sides. 

Here too there is a working model already in place. 

In Canada, the Canadian Rugby Championship (CRC) has seen that country's four rugby regions compete against each other in a five-game round-robin tournament; a format that has seen numerous athletes identified and elevated to the national team.

In South America the The Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby (CONSUR) has been another effective development pathway; one which sees Argentinian provinces squaring off against the national sides of smaller South American rugby nations.

In May of 2012, The Ontario Blues, the reigning CRC champions were sent on a tour of the CONSUR nations and teams in South America, in part, to test where the Canadian competition measured against their South Hemisphere counterparts. The res...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union

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