French will release Pumas

keo.co.za - Thursday, September 17, 2009 12:40 PM

Previously there were suggestions that the Pacific Islands, comprised of players from Samoa, Fiji and Tonga, and/or Japan could be added to the southern hemisphere showpiece.

ANDY Marinos says the French Top 14 clubs have given SANZAR a concrete undertaking to release their premier Argentine players for the new Four Nations tournament starting in 2012.

After careful consideration, SANZAR announced on Monday that it had conditionally invited the Pumas to participate in the expanded tournament.

The primary criteria is that they are able to field their strongest side – which has been the obstacle to their inclusion in the past given that the Top 14, where the vast majority of their premier players participate, is in full swing during the period in which the Tri-Nations runs.

Many of the Pumas’ elite players are on lucrative deals with French clubs, who were in the past closed to the idea of losing them for an extended period of time.

However, Marinos, SA Rugby acting MD and CEO of SANZAR, was confident that an agreement has been reached and that Argentina would be able to meet the stipulated criteria.

‘We would never have committed to their inclusion if they couldn’t meet the primary criteria for the inclusion, that being the availability of their premier players,’ Marinos told keo.co.za.

‘Via Agustin Pichot [former Argentina captain and now member of the UAR High Performance Board and a member of Four Nations project team] we’ve engaged the French clubs about the issue of releasing the Argentine players for the tournament and we’ve got an undertaking from them that they will.

"We’re confident they’ll honour that undertaking.

"The other consideration when inviting Argentina to participate was their commercial viability and sustainability.

"We’re extremely [positive that they will be an asset to the tournament in that regard."

Argentina's inclusion will no doubt freshen up a tournament which has become stale recently.

The tournament will now feature home and away matches, meaning six matches per team, with the tournament running from mid-August to mid-October.

Previously there were suggestions that the Pacific Islands, comprised of players from Samoa, Fiji and Tonga, and/or Japan could be added to the southern hemisphere showpiece.

Marinos said consideration had been given given to the inclusion of other countries, but ultimately their level of competitiveness prevented their inclusion.

'We did have a focus on other countries and we did consider them. But we had to make a good rugby decision and not detract from providing the best possible product to the consumers,' he said.

'That meant that we had to pay due consideration to how they would stack up on the field. I don't think there's any doubt that a full strength Argentina side will be tremendously competitive.

“You only need to reflect on the 2007 World Cup [Argentina finished third after losing to the Springboks in the semi-final] to know that they are a wonderfully gifted side, who will add great value to this tournament.’

Meanwhile, Argentina captain Felipe Contepomi said that while he foresaw a settling-in period, he was confident Argentina would soon be toppling South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

‘In the beginning, it’s going to be hard to get results, because we’ll have to adapt to the [Tri-Nations] game and speed,’ Contepomi, who plays for Toulon, wrote in his column for Argentine newspaper La Nacion.

"But as matches go by, the Pumas are going to be able to beat the Springboks, the All Blacks and the Wallabies."