"Venimos a aprender del rugby argentino”

You can read the rest of this article at  http://www.losandes.com.ar/notas/2008/6/17/deportes-364603.asp

English translation is below...

Los Andes

“We have come to learn Argetina’s rugby” 

Sent by their Irish Club, 3 young men arrived in our province to learn and live the amateur “Criollos” (Argentinian way of life!) 

They have just landed in Mendoza and they still can’t say a few words in Spanish:  at best, they try to prononounce, with difficulty, the welcoming words, ask the cost of something and say thanks. 

However, Michael, Conor and Kevin, three young irish men playing rugby in our province, as part of an interchange, do not have problems communicating and being understood.  

Their wish is to get to know Argentina, learn the customs and experience  first hand, our amateur “criollo” Rugby, which requires them to relate with their team colleagues, with the city people and places they travel to, in order to make new friends through sports and culture. 

It is not an accident that the rugby trio of Celtic origin have landed in Mendoza and play for Liceo.

Tthe young sportsmen come from Bective Rangers, Dublin, the club from where they were selected from the under 21 squad.  Leinster visited our pronvince for the world championship of this category that took place in 2005. 

As a result, an excellent relationship was born between John O'Hagan and the link representative of trebol (clover) in Mendoza, claudio “goro” piña, which has been forged into a friendship that surpasses time and distance. 

Rugby has created affective ties, much more than the sports angle, and the ambience of the oval Argentinian sport, based on pure amateurs, seduced the irish, so that their young people do not forget a way of life and feel for this noble sport. 

The idea developed a while ago, though it materialised in France during the third play of the game between Los Pumas and Ireland, during the 2007 world cup, when we met with John O'Hagan “we then decided that some players from Bective should come and play at the club” said piña, first liner of the upper group of the Liceo. 

Thanks to the good relationship with the Carrodilla club, when it was the seat of the training for the m-21 celt, the Bective first, who participated in the amateur league of irish clubs, visited the Clavos in 2006. 

They appreciate our rugby and consider the idiosincrasies and culture of the Argentinian clubs as a special form of playing and living the sport:  it’s like a plus towards the formation of the players who are so successful in Europe and can be appreciated with professionalisms has lost its mysticism.  For this reason, they decided to send young players so that they can learn first hand our concept of rugby and take it back to their club and put into practice, “GOEO” explained, who has guided and helped the visitors to insert themselves into this new context. 

Conor O’Raghallaigh and Kevin Byrne play in minors of 23 and have made their debut with the tricolour shirts:  while Michael Cuddy, the oldest, arrived two weeks ago and is training with his fellow countrymen:  Byrne also competes in m-19 of the Carrodilla club. 

Michael, the eldest of the three, said he felt happy in Mendoza and would like to learn as much as possible until mid august when the interchange comes to an end;  he enjoys the scrum training because they consider it far more important than in his own country. 

Also, the rugby players, who are staying at the winkas hostal, situated in the city centre, coincide in saying that this is an enriching experience in every way, not only for rugby, but on a personal level, together with the added bonus of living various months in another country. 

Argentinian rugby not only exports players but also places them in the professional world:  it is also a source of inspiration and passion, model and philosophy of amateurs that the old continent wishes to recapture.