Can anyone translate please?
The Rugby League National Team With Hardly Any Support
They have to travel to the south of Chile to play the Panamerican competition and they can’t rely on public or private support. The accommodation is provided by the tournament organisers but they need to organise their own means of transport to get there. 19 days until it starts, your participation is at risk. Is the dream of going to the World Cup at risk?
The first Panamerican rugby league (competition) is coming, the variant of the sport that in Europe and Oceania is equal in popularity to Rugby Union, the traditional form of Rugby in Argentina. To do this, the Argentine Confederation relied on the Metropolitan Social Rugby, and so a team was assembled with the spirit of those who forged rugby league in England, which in its beginnings was for the low-income workers and miners of the North of the country.
In this way, coaches and players from the humblest teams in Buenos Aires, plus some from Entre Ríos, train to perfect themselves in this new sport on this continent. With preparations already advanced, amongst the pre-selected squad, the presence at the competition of this Argentine national team began to get complicated by not being able to get private or public support to travel. Even today they do not have transport to travel 30 hours by bus to get to Los Angeles, in the South of Chile, where that international tournament will be played on November 17 and 18. There are few resources needed, but it has been difficult to get them for this brand new Argentine team.
The Panamerican competition will have the local Chileans, Mexico, and Colombians competing alongside Argentina in a quadrangular series if Argentina are able to fund their attendance. The organisers are relying on the Albiceleste (name of the Argentina national team) and have assured them of accommodation. This tournament has RLIF Ranking Points on the line and each country is starting to think about developing the sport to the point of qualifying for a world cup. Mexico, a few years ago have setup a league of their own and Chile started a league this year and those two are the main candidates although Argentina’s Rugby Union pedigree gives them some prominence.
What is Rugby League?
It is played with 13 players a side and each side is allowed five possessions of the ball each. It compels teams to be more frontal in their attack. On the last play the ball is usually kicked in order to force the opponent back into their territory. There are no fixed formations at stoppages except for scrums which are a formality because there is no pushing from either side. Teams advance down the field one play at a time which makes for more spectacular plays and tackles – the very things that make the game popular in England and Oceania. In addition it has the old points format, four for a try, two for a conversation and penalty kicks. There are two halves of 40 minutes and the other basic rules are the same as Rugby Union, no forward passes, the general way of tackling and no knock-ons amongst others.