SLAR can be a 'gold rush' for forward-thinking rugby clubs
Whilst the Super Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) is an unknown quantity at this point in time, it is potentially a hotbed of player recruitment for professional clubs in Europe.
The competition, which begins its inaugural season this week, is attempting to establish club rugby in South America, with Argentina the only nation on the continent to have previously played host to a professional side.
SLAR consists of six teams, with five of those sides – from Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay and Brazil – competing in a regular season that, upon its conclusion, the top four sides will go into the playoffs. The fifth-placed side will enter the Challenge Trophy with Cafeteros Pro, a club from Medellín in Colombia who are not a full participant for the debut season.
The five full participants are Ceibos from Córdoba (Arg), Peñarol from Montevideo (Uru), Corinthians from São Paulo (Bra), Selknam from Santiago (Chi) and Olimpia Lions from Asunción (Par).
The squads vary in their makeup, although all four non-Argentine sides are built around the cores of their respective nations’ national teams. Peñarol, Corinthians and Selknam are particularly close to international sides, Olimpia Lions have a Paraguayan international core mixed in with Namibian, Fijian, Argentine and South African players, whilst Ceibos boasts two full Argentinean internationals, but are built much more around a younger group who will have their eyes on spots with the Jaguares in the seasons to come.
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Former Clermont and Lyon star Napolioni Nalaga will be calling Paraguay home for the season, as will Pumas wing Manuel Montero and Namibia Rugby World Cup pair Damian Stevens and Max Katjijeko. Namibian hooker Obert Nortje and Tongan full-back Afa Pakalani will be turning out for Peñarol, whilst Rodrigo Bruni and Latiume Fosita will be based in Santiago with Selknam.
Some of those names will catch the eye for their former accolades or their recent showings at the Rugby World Cup, but it’s the local players where the potential for gems to be found really lies for European clubs. These are largely unscouted rugby territories, where agents are few and far between due to the lack of opportunities for these players to play professionally.
One of the biggest barriers to recruitment for rugby clubs in the UK specifically is the issue of obtaining visas. Ancestral or spousal visas are relatively simple affairs, but if a player doesn’t qualify for those, the requirements become more stringent.
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One route to a visa is if a player has played 75% of the games they were available for over the past two years in a major club competition such as the Gallagher Premiership, Guinness PRO14 or Super Rugby. This does not include the Mitre 10 Cup in New Zealand, the Currie Cup in South Africa, Major League Rugby in the US or, as stands, the SLAR in South America. The other route is via international caps, with one Tier 1 cap, three Tier 2 caps or three Tier 3 caps (+ a minimum of 10 full caps overall) in the last 24 months for their respective nations enough to qualify players for a visa.
This is where the majority of the SLAR clubs being national sides in all but name comes in handy for Premiership and PRO14 clubs hungry to find some affordable depth with plenty of upside for their squads.
In the context of the SLAR, Argentine players will need one international cap in the past two years, Urguayan players will need three international caps in the past two years and Paraguayan, Chilean, Brazilian and Colombian players will need three international caps in the past two years and at least 10 overall caps to qualify for visas. The Argentine pool is limited, with the majority of internationals playing abroad or for the Jaguares, but there is talent to be found in the other five nations.
Done deal ??https://t.co/SFByqsvf0I
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From Matteo Sanguinetti, Manuel Ardao and Santiago Civetta in the pack to the exciting back line talents of Santiago Arata, Juan Manuel Cat and Felipe Echeverry, the Peñarol club is loaded with eligible players who could make a difference in European leagues if given the opportunity. Maybe a club will take a look at some of the Brazilian front row that have been going viral on social media in recent years or the Sancery twins in the nation’s back line?
If a club looks at some of these players, brings them in and they are a success, the club will be hailed as forward-thinking and a trend-setter within professional rugby. If they come in and it doesn’t pan out the way the club would have hoped for, it’s a minimal cost relative to the figures that get thrown at far more high-profile flops from established rugby nations.
The value for money lies at the tier below Super Rugby in the southern hemisphere, but unless those players have an ancestral or spousal claim on a visa, they remain out of the reach of UK clubs. There is an abundance of talent in Japan, too, but the incentive to leave good money and a relatively kind playing schedule is limited.
Newcastle Falcons back three prospect Josh Hodge was one of the stars of England’s U20 campaign last season and is featuring again prominently this campaign. https://t.co/YYK7OuJ1Uo
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Major League Rugby is beginning to show its value in the US as a steppingstone to Europe and there should be optimism that the SLAR can follow in its footsteps. As with the rapidly expanding MLR, there is already talk of second teams in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay for subsequent seasons of the SLAR, should the initial season prove to be a success. If it can establish itself, professional domestic rugby competitions will exist in all continents, something which can only be good for the game moving forward.
A stronger global game creates a bigger and more talented player pool, and the clubs that spearhead this ‘gold rush’ to new territories will be the ones to reap the biggest rewards of all.
In an age where every club is looking to gain a competitive advantage over their rivals, particularly those in leagues that operate a salary cap, the SLAR is as exciting an opportunity for recruitment as it is for rugby in South America.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments