X MENU
Deportes
In the spring of 1997, after a group of enthusiastic athletes founded the Peruvian Rugby Federation, the idea of having an own field to promote their discipline seemed like a really distant dream. In fact, it was already difficult to capture players in order to make the sport known. However, the Lima 2019 Organizing Committee made their dream come true a few days ago.
Due to the absence of training fields, many young players gave up. However, after the delivery of the stadium and the auxiliary field that Lima 2019 built for the Peruvian Rugby Federation at the Villa María del Triunfo Sports Center, they are now ready for the kick-off. The challenge now is to capitalize on the investment to be competitive in the medium term.
Rosemary Quesada is the most experienced player in the women’s team and, as her, hundreds of young athletes that practice rugby had to travel for hours to play in suitable training fields far away from Lima. But it was worth the wait. The enthusiasm and expectation are growing now there is a proper stadium and it is the first time the women’s team will participate in the Pan American Games.
“When I was invited to play rugby, I didn’t even know what it was about. But after two training sessions, the solidarity and bonding in the team I was convinced me. A few months later, I was called to the Peruvian team and nobody could stop me. Just like me, many kept going, and now we’re close to represent our country in a big event,” indicated Quesada, the team’s captain.
The first test of the stage will be the women’s pre-Olympic tournament that will be held during the first week of June in Lima. The 10 South American teams will seek their pass to Tokyo 2020 and it will be the perfect opportunity to show their skills at the rugby-7 stadium, capturing a new group of fans.
“We’re working to get close to the South American top teams. The most important thing is to get new assets for the teams and to make them fall in love with tis sport, so that they can maintain the Peruvian team in the future. Peru will become an attractive offer for top level events,” mentioned the Federation President, Néstor Corbetto.
COMPETITION SYSTEM
The rugby tournament will take place between July 26 and July 28, and as host the women’s team is automatically qualified. Among their rivals will be Brazil, Argentina, Canada, United States, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago. Besides, an eighth qualified team from South America will be added.
Meanwhile, the men’s team “Los Tumis” is seeking their qualification in the pre-Olympic tournament that will be held in June in Chile. The seven teams that are already confirmed for Lima 2019 are Canada (two-time Pan American champion), Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, United States, Jamaica, and Guyana.
THIS IS HOW YOU PLAY RUGBY
Rugby-7 will be have women’s and men’s categories, with two groups of four teams each. Then, they will compete in the quarterfinals, based on the team ranking in the first stage, to define the four semifinalists. On the last day, the two best teams will compete for the gold.
As opposed to rugby union (15 players), this version is played in two halves of 7 minutes, with a break of 2 minutes. If scores are still tied, a sudden death extra time will be given in 5-minute periods. Therefore, the competition will only last three days, and each team will compete in two matches per day.
