Argentina steps towards professionalism
Argentina's Rugby Union has agreed to establish a sub-commission of professional rugby, after an historic council meeting of the union on August 27.
Argentina's Rugby Union has agreed to establish a sub-commission of professional rugby, after an historic council meeting of the union on August 27.
The sub-commission will be chaired by Ricardo GarcÃa Fernández, with Alejandro Cubelli, Ricardo Paganini and Pablo Gabellieri as members, and the players will be spoken for by former Puma legend and captain, scrum-half Agustin Pichot.
The sub-commission will seek to establish a professional league within the country, which has long been a staunch resistor of any professionalism in the game. It will also seek out a spot for Argentina in one of either the Six Nations or Tri-Nations, with the latter the preferred option.
Argentina has suffered from a lack of a domestic professional league for a long time, exporting numerous talented players to France and England but compromising international efforts as a result.
The IRB has maintained that Argentina must develop a professional domestic league before it can join into one of the desired competitions. One attempt to create such a league ended in political farce, with the national team players eventually striking against the union.