Superliga Americana de Rugby (SLAR), a pro rugby union league based in South America, will have its second season start in less than a month. SLAR is one of two current pro rugby union leagues in the Americas with the other one being Major League Rugby (MLR).
The Superliga Americana de Rugby Season starts in March
Estádios confirmados! 🏟️ 👏🏼
A SLAR será jogada em📍 Valparaíso 🇨🇱 📍Santiago (La Pintana) 🇨🇱 📍Montevidéu 🇺🇾
Saiba de mais detalhes aqui 👉🏼 https://t.co/zG0G5KnYSM#ORugbyNosUne pic.twitter.com/0QDEN45pHv
— SUPERLIGA AMERICANA DE RUGBY (@SLARugby) February 25, 2021
Santiago, Valparaíso, and Montevideo will be the hosts of the 2021 Superliga Americana de Rugby Season according to Americas Rugby News. The two Chilean venues will be Estadio Municipal de La Pintana in Santiago and Estadio Elias Figueroa in Valparaíso. These two venues will be for the first and second sections of the SLAR season. The third will be played at Montevideo’s Estadio Charrúa in Uruguay. This same venue will also be used for the SLAR playoffs.
There are also three new teams to SLAR. Los Cafeteros Pro will be Colombia’s first-ever professional rugby union team. Furthermore, Cobras (Brazil) will replace fellow Brazilian side Corinthians Rugby. There is also the Jaguares XV who will replace Los Ceibos as Argentina’s lone team in the league.
These changes mean the number of teams increase to six teams in 2021. The 2020 SLAR season had five teams but had to cut the season short because of COVID-19. There is also one team each from Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Overview of Confirmation of the 2021 Superliga Americana de Rugby Season
This is big news for the professional rugby union in South America. The fact that both MLR and SLAR are having a season this year should be commended. It is not an easy thing to do in a pandemic, especially for leagues as young as MLR and SLAR. For example, the National Lacrosse League (NLL), which has been around since 1986 decided to cancel their entire 2020-21 season. This is according to David Giles of Global News.
It also shows how serious both leagues are in growing the game in the Americas. It might also mean in the future collaboration between the two leagues as they both grow up together in the Americas.
Nicolás Freitas 🗣️ | "Seremos parte de la historia de la SLAR" 💬
Bienvenido a la historia, Nico 💥 ¡Un gusto que seas parte! 😎
Lee la nota completa con el jugador de @CAP__Rugby acá 👉🏼 https://t.co/DZ90lqhX5i
O en la #App 📲 de Sudamérica Rugby#PasiónSinLímites pic.twitter.com/Jrzhhw4Qq6
— SUPERLIGA AMERICANA DE RUGBY (@SLARugby) February 26, 2021
According to slar.rugby, Nicolás Freitas (pictured above) plans to play for Uruguay team Peñarol this year. He is excited about the prospects of the league and hopes to play a part in growing the game of professional rugby union in South America.
The SLAR schedule will be released on March 5 according to Americas Rugby News. Not long afterwards, the 2021 SLAR season will start on March 16.
