I appreciate the need for professional rugby in­ Argentina, and yes they could be great. But just­ because people follow and support their country at a­ rugby world cup doesnt mean there is that appetite for­ the game, which is proven by their only one­ professional club their. Yes bringing a franchise to­ the the country would improve the game greatly, but as­ SANZAR said 12months ago, they need to build their game­ at home first, as it doesnt exsist. In that dream world­ it would be there. but Boca Juniors & River Plate­ are Rugby's problem, unless you could persuade a­ link up with one of the football clubs its impossible­ right now.

A franchise is going to happen, If its in­ NZ it weakens the Crusaders, In SA its gonna ruin­ atleast two teams directly. Those two countries cant­ sustain another team yet. Australia as poor as they are­ domestically, have an ace in Melbourne as its an­ amazing sporting city. and as your for an Argentinian­ team or to promote the growth their, the numbers add up­ so much it could even help reduce the domination of­ Rugby League in Australia, which would improve the­ Union side.

My personal opinion is the Baa-Baa's­ will stay and the Lions will go.. purely because of the­ policy of southern hemisphere players not being able to­ play internationals when they come north. Its their­ chance to play at the highest level again. I love­ watching them play, running with the ball from anywhere­ is my opinion of how the game should be played, being a­ Scarlet I witness it all the time.

As for Argentina­ though, their players are at that level to compete­ internationally, no matter where they play.­ International competition on a regular basis needs to­ come first, and as 99% of their players are in europe,­ it rules out the tri-nations, which would then rule out­ super rugby due to the schedules. Its just one vicious­ cycle, unless theyre gonna be able to fund £7m on­ players wages a year to start, The UAR is broke, it­ just doesnt work.

There's talk about an Argentinian team joining the­ Currie Cup. A stadium would be allocated for them,­ investments, etc... and if they are successful or any­ good, would eventually join the super 14.
Google it!

bealds6
Totally appreciate what youre saying, money­ makes the world go round, I know, but as I said, its­ all just hypothetical thinking and­ 'what-would-happen-in-an-ideal-world' etc­ etc
Take the Barbarians for example, I cant see them­ lasting for another 10 years. Clubs are gettin more and­ more belligerent with their players, robbin us of dream­ rugby matches, that everyone, no matter who you­ support, should want to watch
I cant see the oint, as I­ said, of another Aussie Franchise. Th current teams are­ mid-table at best, with the exception of the NSW­ wara' and Brumbies. Another team would just dilute­ the quality players available, affectin the National­ Team.
I still think an Argetinian Team would be­ perfect, even if they finished last for a few years.­ Experience is worth its weight in gold. Get more ppl­ interested in rugby, the player pool goes up, and they­ will unearth another J M hernandez or similar
Sergio­ Parisse and Castrogiovanni could have played for­ Argentina for crying out loud, but couldnt get­ proffesional rugby there!

Moggie,....

Like your thinking... I cant see the­ benefit of another Kiwi, Aussie or Saffa team. Dilute­ the talent pools in the struggling teams even more??­ Just talk to any QLD Reds,Highlanders,Lions or Cheetahs­ supporters..They need a more even distribution of the­ money to the smaller SUPER unions. Soon as they develop­ a player the larger­ Blues,Crusaders,Sharks,Bulls,Brumbies etc snap the­ talent up.

Having a SUPER franchaise team would­ benefit Argentine,Island,Americas and encourage some­ decent European players into the Super Rugby set up.­
Think its time the SANZAR unions thought outside the­ box for a change.

I will give you one simple reason why the Pacific­ Islanders and Argentina wll not have a Franchise­ anytime soon.. MONEY!
Pacific Islands monetry­ resources nearly all come from tourism, and They would­ leave for NZ and Europe just as quickly as theyd earn­ three times more away from the Islands.
Argentina only­ have ONE professional team, which should be enough to­ tell anybody that it's gonna take 20years before­ they can get a franchise together due to the game being­ so small their.
The World Club Cup will not work for­ one simple reason, When our season ends Internationals­ are played and they're in their season, When theres­ ends Internationals are played and we're already in­ our season. Their will never be a gap to play the­ match, Its been proposed and discounted in the past­ because unlike Rugby League where it works, our seasons­ will always collide. ITS A NON STARTER!

Aussie Rugby­ is thin, but the best chance of a successful franchise­ is Melbourne, there is a large rugby fan base, and if­ you want to get Argentines in Super Rugby, Melbourne is­ the best place as it has a large Argentine population!

Moggie2727, I love the sound of that. I'd pay 10­ years of Sky contract up-front to have a front row seat­ on my sofa for those fixtures. The idea of Argentina in­ the competition must make sense to their federation. It­ would eventually bring all their best players back down­ south so they could then chip in to the Tri-Nations­ (which is on a different timetable to Northern hemi­ rugby).

But yes there is probably some old farts at­ the IRB fretting that this competition endangers the­ World Cup.

I would love to see an Argentina Super Franchise
See a­ new generation of Portas, Hernandezs, Lobbes, Contepomi­ brothers, Leguizamon, Albacete, Roncero, Pichot, need i­ go on ??
The Australians are spread thin enough as it­ is, a new team wouldnt bring through new stars, it­ would dilute the already mediocre sides. South Africa­ dont need another side, theyve already got the Lions,­ Cheetahs and stormers bringin up the rear, and New­ Zealand have already got most of their provinces­ represented anyway.
My plan to reinviger the Super 1? ­ tournament, would be to get rid of the Western Force,­ redistribute their players (which is happenein thru­ transfers anyway) which wud make their other sides more­ competitive.
Establish an Argentina , Buenos Aires­ based club, that pulls the best 22 players from all the­ domestic leagues and set up an Islanders team, that­ would draw from Tonga, Fiji, Samoa etc. this would­ encourage the Islanders to play for their own country,­ and stop the New Zealanders snappin up so much talent.­ which would benefit the All Blacks eventyually, because­ they wud have more home-grown talent playing for­ them.
A lid would then be kept on 15 teams to prevent­ further expansion of the already taxin rugby­ calendar.
Also. i would endeavour to get a World Club­ Cup game established, between the Super 15 champions­ and Heineken Cup Champions, hold it annually between­ the Northern and Southern Hemisphere (Cardiff 2010,­ Jo'burg 2011 etc) this would pull capacity crowds­ and get each hemisphere a chance to see club games that­ would never be seen otherwise. Imagine a Crusaders vs­ Toulouse game, or a Blue Bulls Munster epic.
All a far­ off dream of course, the money-men would never approve

What is the matter with these people ? They can't­ fill their stadiums now except for semis and finals. If­ it's going to be meaningful they need Samoa, Tonga,­ Fiji and Argentina. Travelling to Argentina is no worse­ than SA going to Sydney or NZ to Cape Town. It's­ popularity is now falling behind the Heineken Cup.