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TL: DR Kearns is saying silly things and the Jaguares strong performance is good for international rugby.
Yea, it's pretty poor form in my opinion by Kearns. The whole idea of bringing the Jaguares into Super Rugby (in my view) was firstly, new market revenues, and secondly and the more important point for me, to provide Argentina with a high quality tournament for them to develop their talent which they haven't had in the past. A strong Argentina is very important for the growth of the game and for the sport's growth in South America. With players heading into Europe, it was key that they had something to keep their players together for a certain period of time and instill a culture or way of playing nationally and ensure that the next generation of players remained high quality. For example, SA has a lot of players going overseas, but the ones that come back to play for the Boks generally slot in quite well.
One thing that sticks out in my memory was the post-match interview of the 3/4th place World Cup match (Argentina beat France). In the post match-interview, the French captain made a point to say the following (the interviewer basically ended the interview and he specifically wanted to make this point):
"Just one thing, I just want to say to the Pumas they have to enjoy this win, it was a massive performance for them from the World Cup, I'm not sure they have such a generation for the future and I'll tell you from the French point of view, we will prepare for the next France Argentina (game)"
I wasn't a fan of that comment (clearly it stuck in my head for over 12 years), but the point was clear. We have a good structure to develop future talent and be strong moving forward, you don't. It was a special generation and prior to that Argentina had at best made it to the quarter finals. There was an expectation from some that this was it and they would become an easy win for others again. For the past nine years they have played NZ, Aus and SA multiple times a year which has definitely strengthened them. As a South African I am incredibly wary of any Springbok/Stormers away match to Argentina. Instead of disappearing, they have remained a quality force in World Rugby and are a real threat to any team in this year's World Cup. Sure, outside the Rugby Championship last year the results weren't great, but most games were fairly close and they are always in the game.
We don't want to be in cricket's position where a World Cup is only ten teams, with maybe 6 being viable winners. If we want to keep the game competitive we need to develop additional nations. Argentina was a quick win in that regard.
Reference for interview: Around the 2h02m20s mark.
Yea, it's pretty poor form in my opinion by Kearns. The whole idea of bringing the Jaguares into Super Rugby (in my view) was firstly, new market revenues, and secondly and the more important point for me, to provide Argentina with a high quality tournament for them to develop their talent which they haven't had in the past. A strong Argentina is very important for the growth of the game and for the sport's growth in South America. With players heading into Europe, it was key that they had something to keep their players together for a certain period of time and instill a culture or way of playing nationally and ensure that the next generation of players remained high quality. For example, SA has a lot of players going overseas, but the ones that come back to play for the Boks generally slot in quite well.
One thing that sticks out in my memory was the post-match interview of the 3/4th place World Cup match (Argentina beat France). In the post match-interview, the French captain made a point to say the following (the interviewer basically ended the interview and he specifically wanted to make this point):
"Just one thing, I just want to say to the Pumas they have to enjoy this win, it was a massive performance for them from the World Cup, I'm not sure they have such a generation for the future and I'll tell you from the French point of view, we will prepare for the next France Argentina (game)"
I wasn't a fan of that comment (clearly it stuck in my head for over 12 years), but the point was clear. We have a good structure to develop future talent and be strong moving forward, you don't. It was a special generation and prior to that Argentina had at best made it to the quarter finals. There was an expectation from some that this was it and they would become an easy win for others again. For the past nine years they have played NZ, Aus and SA multiple times a year which has definitely strengthened them. As a South African I am incredibly wary of any Springbok/Stormers away match to Argentina. Instead of disappearing, they have remained a quality force in World Rugby and are a real threat to any team in this year's World Cup. Sure, outside the Rugby Championship last year the results weren't great, but most games were fairly close and they are always in the game.
We don't want to be in cricket's position where a World Cup is only ten teams, with maybe 6 being viable winners. If we want to keep the game competitive we need to develop additional nations. Argentina was a quick win in that regard.
Reference for interview: Around the 2h02m20s mark.