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Super Rugby Americas

Upcoming season or competition: 2024 Super Rugby Americas season
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	2019; 5 years ago (2019)
First season	2020
No. of teams	8
Countries	Argentina (3 teams)  Brazil (1 team)  Chile (1 team)  Paraguay (1 team)  United States (1 team)  Uruguay (1 team)
Confederation	Sudamérica Rugby
Most recent champion(s)	Dogos XV (2024)
Most titles	Peñarol Rugby (2)
Official website	Super Rugby Americas

Super Rugby Americas (SRA) is a franchise rugby union tournament format in the Americas that began its first season in February 2023 after efforts by World Rugby. It is organized and led by Sudamérica Rugby, the highest rugby entity in South America.

The tournament includes seven teams through franchises. The holding of this tournament in the Americas has the precedent of the extinct Superliga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) (English: American Rugby Superleague), a precursor competition.

The name Super Rugby Americas was proposed by World Rugby to draw a parallel with Super Rugby Pacific, a competition made up of franchises from Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand.

History

SLAR (2020–2022)

SLAR was first announced in April 2019, with plans of forming between six and eight professional franchises, two each in Uruguay and Brazil, meanwhile Argentina and Chile were to 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 changed to a league of seven clubs, two each in Brazil and Uruguay with one team each in Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay. Officially sanctioned by Sudamérica Rugby, which is consequently part of World Rugby, the league was officially launched in November 29, 2019.

At the official announcement, SLAR confirmed the number of the teams for the 2020 season was set at five for the regular season due to the economic issues but SLAR was expected to be expanded at some point in the future, possibly in 2021. Cafeteros Pro (Colombia) joined 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.

The tournament could be played without problems in 2021 and 2022. During 2022, there were already ideas to carry out a joint competition between the franchises that contested the SLAR and teams from North America. During the season, the Challenge Cup of the Americas, a friendly rugby cup, was played on an experimental way.

SRA (since 2023)

As it is a competition with franchises, the impact of the SLAR was in doubt. According to South American specialists, the success achieved by the tournament was relative but after various requests from institutions to join and participate in a larger tournament, World Rugby requested the expansion of the format towards a more ambitious and regional competition.

Once the news was released, Wenceslao Tejerina, High Performance Manager for Chile, announced that they were working on a new tournament. After the announcement of the new contest, the Uruguayan Sebastián Piñeyrúa, director of the South American entity, issued the following statement: "Due to the success obtained in the American Rugby Super League in the two full seasons of 2021 and 2022, from South America Rugby, SLAR organizers, we are in the middle of negotiations with national unions in North and Central America, to plan the future growth of Rugby in the continent, for this reason, we are working with all the member unions and franchises participating in SLAR 2022, to plan and develop future competitions, by franchises and international. On October 27, the format will be presented and details of the new professional competition of the Americas will be given".

In this way, after efforts by Sudamérica Rugby and World Rugby, the emergence of Super Rugby Americas was announced in October 2022, a tournament that will also be organized by USA Rugby and Rugby Canada, which will include most of the clubs that competed in SLAR 2022 with the addition of franchises from the United States and Canada.

According to the High Performance Manager of South America Rugby, Daniel Hourcade, the Unión Argentina de Rugby will also incorporate more franchises in the next editions of the new league.

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 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. The top four teams would qualify for the championship playoffs to determine a season champion. 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, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Like Super Rugby, Major League Rugby, and the United Rugby Championship, the Super Rugby Americas has no promotion and relegation.

Teams

Current teams

There are seven teams that played in the 2024 season.

Country	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity	Joined	Coach	Former names
ARG	Dogos XV	Córdoba	Tala Rugby Club	6,000	2020	Nicolás Galatro	Ceibos (2020)
ARG	Pampas	Buenos Aires	CASI	5,000	2023	Ignacio Fernández Lobbe	–
ARG	Tarucas	San Miguel de Tucumán	Lawn Tennis	tbd	2025	tbd	–
BRA	Cobras	São Paulo	Estádio Nicolau Alayon	9,660	2020	Josh Reeves	Corinthians (2020)
CHI	Selknam	Santiago	Estadio Municipal de La Pintana	5,000	2020	Nicolás Bruzzone	—
PAR	Yacare XV	Asunción	Estadio Héroes de Curupayty	3,000	2020	Ricardo Le Fort	Olimpia Lions (2020–22)
URU	Peñarol	Montevideo	Estadio Charrúa	14,000	2020	Pablo Bouza	–

• Notes:

1. Cordoba Team joined Superliga in 2020 as Ceibos. However they departed the competition at the start of the 2021 season, before rejoining the competition for Super Rugby Americas in 2023.

Timeline

Expansion teams

On 10 November 2020, Colombia formalized professional rugby. The South American nation’s first professional rugby team was Cafeteros Pro. The team entered the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) in 2021.

On 6 January 2021, UAR replaced the Córdoba based team Ceibos with the Jaguares XV, following the Jaguares' departure from Super Rugby.

On 4 February 2021, the Brazilian side in the competition was renamed Cobras Brasil XV, dropping their affiliation with the Corinthians multi-sport club.

On 13 December 2022, SLAR confirmed the replacement of Cafeteros Pro, with the reintroduction of Córdoba based team Dogos XV, in the past Ceibos.

On 22 December 2022, Super Rugby Americas confirmed more news; first the return of Argentine Pampas XV in substitution of Jaguares XV, second the participation of American Raptors, third the rebranded of Paraguayan team from Olimpia Lions to Yakarés XV in order to indicate that relationship between the Paraguayan Rugby Union and the soccer team Club Olimpia is ended.

On 1 October 2024, it was confirmed that Tarucas will be joining in 2025 as the third Argentinian franchise, based in Tucumán, and representing Northwest Argentina in order to replace American Raptors.

Expansion candidates

At the initial announcement, Brazil and Uruguay were originally slated to have two teams each, but instead one team each (Corinthians and Peñarol) went on to play in the 2020 season, meaning it may be possible for the two countries to expand in the future (Club Nacional de Football was hinted at as a possibility in Uruguay) besides a possible Mexican team or a second Chilean team. 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. In November 2020, another new team was proposed for 2021, with Sudamérica Rugby officially expressing interest in the inclusion of a second Argentine Buenos Aires–based team in the 2021 SLAR. However, a second Argentine team did not play in 2021 and most Argentine players would leave the team either for overseas, or to enter the draft for the 2021 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby season. In October 2022, it was confirmed that the Argentine team Tucumán would replace the Colombian team Cafeteros Pro and that two North American franchises, the Canadian Pacific Pride and U.S. American Raptors, were going to participate in this new tournament renamed Super Rugby Americas. In June 2023, after losing its bid for 2022, Tucumán, plus Salta and Santiago del Estero, renewed their request to enter the tournament in order to have 3 Argentine franchises in the future. Los Naranjas could be a new team in Super Rugby Americas 2025. A Mexican franchise could also be considered for the future. A hypothetical fourth Argentine Franchise, named Litoral, a combination of following Unions regional Entre Rios, Rosario and Santa Fe is expected to enter in the tournament for the 2026 season.

Former teams

Nat.	Team	City	Stadium	Joined	Left
	Ceibos	Córdoba	Tala Rugby Club Stadium	2020	2021
	Jaguares XV	Buenos Aires	José Amalfitani	2021	2022
	Corinthians	São Paulo	(none)	2020	2021
	Cafeteros Pro	Medellín	(none)	2020	2022
	Olímpia Lions	Asunción	Estadio Héroes de Curupayty	2020	2022
USA	American Raptors	Glendale, CO	Infinity Park	2023	2024

Notes

1. ^ Pre-season.
2. Post-season.

Champions

Tournament names

• 2020–22: Súper Liga Americana
• 2023–: Super Rugby Americas

Ed.	Season	Winners		Score	Runners-up		Venue	City	Attend.
		Nation	Team		Nation	Team
1	2020	(Not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
2	2021	ARG	Jaguares XV	36–28	URU	Peñarol	Estadio Charrúa	Montevideo	0
3	2022	URU	Peñarol	24–13	CHI	Selknam	Estadio Charrúa	Montevideo	—
4	2023	URU	Peñarol	23–17	UAR	Dogos	Estadio Charrúa	Montevideo	10,000
5	2024	ARG	Dogos	37–23	UAR	Pampas	C.A. San Isidro Stadium	Buenos Aires

Titles by team

Nat.	Team	Titles	Years won
URU	Peñarol	2	2022, 2023
ARG	Jaguares XV	1	2021
ARG	Dogos	1	2024

See also

• South American Rugby Championship
• Americas Rugby Championship
• Major League Rugby
• Super Rugby
• United Rugby Championship

References

1. "SLAR Officially Changes to Super Rugby Americas and American Raptors Join | Goff Rugby Report". www.goffrugbyreport.com. 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
2. "Super Rugby Americas to launch without Pride or Jaguares". Americas Rugby News. 2022-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
3. NACE SÚPER RUGBY AMÉRICAS: LA NUEVA COMPETENCIA CONTINENTAL TRAERÁ EL ‘MEJOR RUGBY DE AMÉRICA’
4. Qué es el Súper Rugby Américas, el novedoso torneo que jugará Selknam y que reemplazará a la Superliga Americana de rugby
5. "Nace Súper Rugby Américas, la nueva competencia continental". ESPN. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
6. La SLAR que se viene será una nueva liga (Súper Rugby Américas), con equipos de Estados Unidos y Canadá y, casi con seguridad, una nueva franquicia argentina en reemplazo de Cafeteros Pro.
7. "TV, contratos, jugadores: los siguientes pasos de la Liga profesional de rugby". El Observador. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
8. ^ "The Latest On the Súper Liga Americana". Americas Rugby News. 2019-11-08. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
9. "La Superliga Americana de Rugby tiene fixture". Sudamérica Rugby (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-01-18.
10. "Sudamérica tendrá competencia, se viene la Liga, primer torneo profesional". Diario El Ciudadano y la Región (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2019-12-08.
11. [ https://www.elciudadanoweb.com/a-dias-de-la-presentacion-oficial-de-super-rugby-americas-el-nuevo-nombre-de-la-superliga/ "En sus dos ediciones y media La Superliga Americana no tuvo un éxito rotundo por diferentes razones, pero si generó efectos secundarios"]
12. "...adelantó que se trabaja la transformación de la Superliga Americana en un nuevo torneo..."
13. El Ciudadano Web
14. "...informó que el próximo 27 de octubre se conocerían los detalles de la nueva liga. Una que promete ir más allá de las fronteras de la región y llegar hasta el norte del continente (...) «Estamos trabajando e intentando sumar franquicias del norte y viendo con Argentina para que sume una franquicia el año que viene y otras más los años siguientes"
15. ^ La Superliga Americana va tomando forma by Gabriel Sarquis Marca, 29 Dec 2019
16. Nace la Superliga Americana, un impulso vital para el rugby regional by Alejo Miranda La Nación, 1 Dec 2019
17. "Sudamérica Rugby: La Súper Liga Americana de Rugby comenzará en 2020". Chile Rugby (in European Spanish). 2019-04-28. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
18. "La Superliga Americana de rugby se suspende hasta 2021". SLAR (in European Spanish). 2020-03-17. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
19. "South American SuperLiga launched in Montevideo". Americas Rugby News. 2019-11-30. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
20. ^ "Colombia formalized professional rugby". Americas Rugby News. 2020-11-10. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
21. ^ "Jaguares to play in Súper Liga Americana de Rugby".
22. @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.
23. "Cobras Brasil XV replace Corinthians in 2021 SLAR". Americas Rugby News. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
24. "Córdoba to join rebranded SLAR – Super Rugby Americas". Americas Rugby News. 2022-12-13. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
25. "Super Rugby Americas to launch without Pride or Jaguares". Americas Rugby News. 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
26. Súper Rugby Américas: Tarucas, la nueva franquicia del rugby argentino
28. "Hernández backs Súper Liga Americana for Argentina". Americas Rugby News. 2020-09-12. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
29. "Súper Liga Americana Expansion". Americas Rugby News. 2020-09-27. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
30. "Jaguares in 2021: Australia, South Africa or South America". Americas Rugby News. 2020-07-26. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
31. "Super Rugby set to return to 12 teams without Jaguares". Americas Rugby News. 2020-11-04. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
32. Sudamérica Rugby has expressed interest in including Los Jaguares in the 2021 SLAR competition
33. "Jaguares to be drafted into SLAR teams". Americas Rugby News. 19 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
34. "SLAR set to add North American teams in 2023". Americas Rugby News. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
35. "Volver Atrás Sudamérica confirmó cambios en la SLAR". A Pleno Rugby (in Spanish). 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
36. "El NOA quiere su franquicia". A Pleno Rugby (in Spanish). 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
37. "Tucumán player development and move towards Super Rugby Americas". Americas Rugby news. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
38. "Top Backing for Tucumán To Join Super Rugby Americas". Americas Rugby news. 6 June 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
39. "México apunta a MLR y SR Américas". A Pleno Rugby (in Spanish). 26 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
40. "Litoral Postpones Joining Super Rugby Americas Until 2026". Americas Rugby News. 28 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.

• Super Rugby Americas