Argentina are hoping to compete in the 2011 Tri-Nations, the country's governing body confirmed on Sunday.
The Argentinian Rugby Union (UAR) have been seeking involvement in either the Six Nations or the Tri-Nations in recent years, and president Porfirio Carreras has revealed the southern hemisphere tournament currently involving South Africa, New Zealand and Australia is the most likely option.
‘The three unions that compete in the tournament have some contracts that run to until the end of 2010,’ Carreras told www.rugbytime.com.
‘Because of that, we hope the possibility for us to enter will be considered from then onwards.
‘However, there are a number of previous steps to take to make this project possible.
‘We need to change our structure, divide our rugby into amateur and professional and try to produce elite players through the high-performance centres.’
Last week, Carreras announced the UAR's structures would be adapted to meet the demands of professionalism and keep Argentina at the same level which took them to third place in last year's World Cup.
Rugby remains an amateur sport in Argentina but the Pumas players who compete in the local leagues are given some money for their participation.
‘We are not planning to turn the local leagues professional in Argentina,’ Carreras continued.
‘Players from the centres will form a team to compete abroad or in our country but not in the local leagues.
‘They will play other countries in tournaments such as the Churchill Cup, the Pan-American Games or a new tournament alongside the United States, Canada and Uruguay.
‘We want to give them around 15 matches initially.’
Carreras also gave a vote of confidence to the national team's coaching duo Santiago Phelan and Fabian Turnes, despite them recording one win and three defeats since replacing Marcelo Loffreda at the helm.
He added: ‘They arrived at a difficult time because the team finished third in the World Cup and a lot of big players retired.
‘They are committed to building a new squad and we must give them the necessary time. I have every confidence in them.’
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