photo credit: João Neto / FotoJump / CBRu

Brazil Seeks Place in Super Rugby in 2019

Rugby in Brazil has been expanding rapidly in recent years and is showing no signs of slowing down. This acceleration has now reached the point that Brazil seeks a place in Super Rugby in 2019.

The country’s largest rugby-dedicated website, Portal do Rugby has confirmed that Agustín Danza, Confederação Brasileira de Rugby CEO outlined a 2017-2023 plan yesterday. In it Danza included the creation of a Brazilian Super Rugby franchise starting in 2019.

The website also confirms that Danza intends to present his idea to SANZAAR. His presentation held on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro pointed out the growing market within Brazil. Today the country has 3,2 million people interested in rugby. In addition there are 60,000 people actively playing the sport, of which 11,000 are registered to official leagues.

Joining Super Rugby would see further changes to the competition. The 2016 edition of the competition involved 18 teams – one each from Argentina and Japan joined 6 from South Africa and five from each of Australia and New Zealand.

The Argentine and Japanese teams travelled vastly further distances than the others. In the event that the competition is further expanded a conference may be plausible in South America. A second Argentine franchise has previously been discussed and Agustín Pichot has raised the possibility of Uruguay.

An additional point raised by Danza is increasing Brazil’s international participation. The CBRu president intends on having a calendar featuring 13 matches per year for the test team. Three international events are also sought to be played in the country before 2023.

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Formally created in June 2015, this website's goal is to increase media exposure of the Tier 2 rugby nations, and create a hub with a focus on the stories of rugby in the Americas - North, Central and South.

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