Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Following the history making Bronze Medal winning performance at the Pan American Games in Toronto the country’s rugby community is buzzing with excitement. Those close to the players themselves gathered to welcome them home from their return flight from Toronto while social media was red-hot with excitement.
Those unfamiliar with the sport were given a Monday morning introduction. The tradition of reading through newspapers and focusing on sports’ pages remains very much alive in Brazil and to the delight of the rugby community there was an article of note. Brazil’s largest circulating printed newspaper, ‘O Estado de São Paulo’ or ‘O Estadão’ featured the Bronze Medalists on the second page of the sports’ section.
Like the New York Times what is posted tends to filter down into other publications. Put differently if something appears in the Estadão it is certain to be published by others and therefore be exposed to a substantially large number of readers.
Such coverage has been dreamed of in year’s gone by but with the growing popularity of rugby throughout Brazil and the sport now a part of the Olympic Games large media outlets are increasingly taking notice.
The sport is, nevertheless very much in its infancy in Brazil with playing numbers and money invested in the sport being a mere shadow of what is possible. The hard working administrators, volunteers and, indeed, players are fighting every day for any possible media exposure which makes the medal all the more significant to all involved.
Played over Saturday and Sunday the Rugby Sevens and the ongoing Pan American Games were not broadcast at all in Brazil and nor was it available via stream. Fans therefore followed largely on social media and watched limited highlights which became available online.
Notwithstanding rugby is enjoying a rising profile in Brazil with ESPN broadcasting live international rugby in addition to matches from the European Rugby Champions Cup, Aviva Premiership and Super Rugby. Other channels also broadcast matches with Sportv doing so for the Brazilian test team and national finals and Bandsports featuring Rugby Sevens.
The proposed Americas Six Nations is to see the Brazilian men’s senior side joining Argentina, Canada, the USA, Uruguay and Chile in a new competition. Central to Brazil’s inclusion is market size with ESPN being directly involved. Indeed Agustín Pichot has made the importance of Brazil known in defending the size of the tournament and would be participants.
Pichot’s country is, by rugby standards, enormous. With a population of 43 million it is the seventh largest out of twenty participants at this year’s World Cup. It is also one of the world’s ten largest countries in terms of geographical size. Both Brazil and Colombia have larger populations as do Mexico and the USA making it the fifth largest in the Americas.
Compared to Brazil Argentina is notably smaller with Brazil having 203 million and São Paulo state having a comparable population to Argentina. The state is the economic heart of Brazil and it is where rugby is strongest in the country. Pichot knows this all too well and hopes to unearth substantial opportunities for the region. Quite simply the Americas Six Nations could unearth a sleeping giant.
Brazil’s third placed finish has already been deemed to be the most significant result in the history of rugby in the country. The team defeated Argentina, Colombia and Mexico cleanly but was out classed by the gold and silver winning teams from Canada and the USA.
Although the men’s campaign did not involve a medal it was nonetheless successful with clear progress having been made. Brazil lost 19-7 and 26-14 against Argentina and Canada on the opening day but outclassed Guyana 31-5. On day two they defeated Mexico 14-7 and lost by one try against both Uruguay and Chile.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will compete at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. Both the men’s and women’s divisions will feature twelve teams. The Americas has confirmed participants in the men’s competition from Argentina, Brazil and the USA while Canada, Colombia and the USA all currently join the host nation in the women’s tournament.
