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'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'
https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/cameron-clyne
Link to Senate Report http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca
https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board
Apart from the fact that there was, at one point, a page hosted on the Western Force team list for Montoya (as evidenced by a Google search) that no longer exists (as evidenced by following the link)
It is possible that is a coincidence I admit, however it's a pretty significant coincidence. I wonder what the actual situation is?
Perhaps it's just about a contract not being finalised in some way, or perhaps RA are arguing the toss about us having a hooker that (IMHO) toweled up anything Australia fielded in the Tri Nations series.
Or maybe my tinfoil hat is getting too tight.
C'mon the
I like bashing RA as much as the next person but in this case I think that tinfoil hat might be a bit too tight
'We should help out': McLennan wants giant-killing Pumas stars in Australian Super teams
Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan has thrown the doors open for more Argentinian players to join Australian Super Rugby clubs in the wake of the Pumas' historic win against the All Blacks ...
McLennan - who has previously spoken about his desire to bolster the strength of Super Rugby by bringing more foreign players into the fold - endorsed the Force's initiative.
"I applaud the Western Force for making those moves. We should help (Argentina) out and help create the world's best Super Rugby competition," McLennan told the Herald.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-u...16-p56f3q.html
here is the rest of that article for those behind the paywall..... Volvo - I hope you don't mind mate.
Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan has thrown the doors open for more Argentinian players to join Australian Super Rugby clubs in the wake of the Pumas' historic win against the All Blacks.
In the days after Argentina's emotional 25-15 win over New Zealand, talk has turned to the South American nation's future in southern hemisphere rugby.
International travel restrictions will see Australia and New Zealand play local Super Rugby for another year in 2021, and with South African teams heading north to play in the PRO14, the Jaguares are without a competition.
A healthy contingent of Mario Ledesma's side ply their trade for European clubs, but there is also a large group of Argentinian players who run the risk of playing no rugby until July's inbound Tests, or even the Rugby Championship thereafter.
The UAR advised Jaguares players earlier this year to take deals offshore if they could find them, and the Force have already signed star halfback Tomas Cubelli and Julian Montoya. And rival Australian Super Rugby clubs expect the Western Australian franchise to add more Argentinians to the fold in coming weeks.
McLennan - who has previously spoken about his desire to bolster the strength of Super Rugby by bringing more foreign players into the fold - endorsed the Force's initiative.
"I applaud the Western Force for making those moves. We should help (Argentina) out and help create the world's best Super Rugby competition," McLennan told the Herald.
"I spoke to Gus Pichot on Sunday, who was obviously thrilled (with Argentina's win on Saturday).
"He's a good man and he has gone to great lengths to support his players. We should support him."
McLennan also extended an olive branch to South Africa.
While a large chunk of the Springboks' World Cup winning squad now play in Europe, the remainder of the Super Rugby talent who do not wish to follow the five franchises to Europe's Pro14 competition are welcome in Australia.
"We offer (South African Rugby CEO) Jurie Roux the same courtesy," McLennan said.
"We will take some players from South Africa, if we can."
Rugby Australia's current foreign player rules are flexible for each Australian franchise.
Head office determine potential signings on a case-by-case basis. The Force are afforded the most leniency when applying to have foreign players feature in their Super Rugby squad, followed by the Brumbies and Rebels.
Traditional heartland states NSW and Queensland are not afforded the same luxury.
That's not currently a major concern for the Reds - who are understood to have already spent the majority of what will be a reduced salary cap next season - but sources have told the Herald the Waratahs are open to bringing Argentinian players to Sydney, given the exodus of experienced players from the club.
The Jaguares' favourite pit stop throughout Super Rugby is in Sydney - when they stay at Coogee's Crowne Plaza - and superstar forward Pablo Matera has previously spoken about his desire to one day play for the Waratahs.
"He loves being here, he loves surfing, he would love to play over here for the Waratahs," Ledesma said of Matera last year.
"He is going to Paris after the World Cup but I think he would love to play here.
"The dream is to play for Argentina, obviously, but if he had to choose a franchise it would be this one (Waratahs)."
But Waratahs fans desperate for a big signing shouldn't get too carried away. The Pumas skipper is contracted to the Paris based European giant Stade Francais until the end of 2022.
Copied and Pasted from SMH
Exile
Port Macquarie
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!" - Rocky Balboa
Argentina's second franchise gets cut as Jaguares find new home
Online Editors
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SUPER RUGBY AOTEAROA
JAGUARES
9:49am, 08 January 2021
Perhaps the biggest losers from the relatively sudden reformating of Super Rugby are Argentina and, more specifically, the Jaguares.
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Alongside Japan’s Sunwolves, the Jaguares joined Super Rugby in 2016 as the competition’s first Argentinian representation. While it took a couple of seasons for the players to adjust to Super Rugby, the Jaguares achieved a second-place finish in 2019, highlighting the obvious potential the Americas have to offer the rugby world.
In the post-COVID world, however, the Jaguares suddenly found themselves without a home.
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In 2022, New Zealand and Australia will join forces to create a new competition which will see the 10 Australiasian sides joined by Moana Pasifika and a Fiji XV.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s four Super Rugby teams will compete with the best sides from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy in a revised PRO14 competition, with the inaugural event coined the Rainbow Cup.
Before COVID reared its head, SANZAAR had already announced the culling of the Sunwolves while the Cheetahs and Kings, who were cut from Super Rugby following 2017, are the other casualties of the new competition structures in the Southern Hemisphere, with their places in the PRO14 being ceded to the stronger South African teams.
It’s the loss of the Jaguares that will have most rugby stakeholders across the world shaking their heads, however. Having made the World Cup knockout stages on three consecutive occasions from 2007 to 2015, the Jaguares’ addition to Super Rugby was long overdue and after finally starting to realise their potential, their future was suddenly stolen from them.
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It’s not all doom and gloom for the Argentinians, however, with the side now set to compete in the Super Liga Americana de Rugby, as reported by A Pleno Rugby.
The SLAR was set to kick-off their inaugural season in 2020 right when the severity of the coronavirus pandemic became apparent, and just one round of the South American competition was able to be completed.
The Jaguares will now compete alongside teams from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay under the guise of the Jaguares XV – the same team that went undefeated in South Africa’s Currie Cup Division 1 in 2019.
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While it’s good news for the Jaguares brand, it’s a disappointing turn of events for Los Ceibos, the Cordoba-based Argentinian side who were a part of last year’s competition, who have been replaced.
The level of competitiveness is also naturally a step down from Super Rugby and many of the Jaguares players have signed for overseas clubs. Captain Jeronimo de la Fuente, as well as Emiliano Boffelli, Bautista Delguy, Marcos Kremer and Guido Petti, have shifted to France while Agustin Creevy, Santiago Carreras, Matias Orlando and Matias Moroni will play their rugby in England.
There will still be some Argentinian representation in Super Rugby, however, with Julian Montoya, Santiago Medrano, Tomas Lezana, Tomas Cubeli and Domingo Miotti putting pen to paper for the Western Force.
The Force were brought into 2020’s Super Rugby AU competition, alongside Australia’s four existing Super clubs, and will again compete in the 2021 iteration.
Believe there was a prob with an Argie hooker’s wife’s visa. We may not be seeing Montoya in the squad.
If anyone can post it, at the end of today's story in the Sunday Times about our new CEO there is something about Montoya and a visa problem and Kearney's arrival possibly delayed because he is in quarantine in Brisbane.
It's on the West website