The Brazilian Rugby Union Confederation (CBRu) announced this Wednesday (22), the lowering of Armstrong Dragons from Natal/RN due to uneven scaling of athletes in five matches of the Super 10 2014. With this decision, the RN state team had ended the first stage in seventh place, fell to the tenth and last place and is demoted to Taça Tupi (Brazilian 2nd division league) in 2015, as well as the ninth-placed Niterói. The Band-Sarries climbs up to seventh place, freeing up from the playoffs against the winner of the Taça Tupi, which now face the Rio Branco, current eighth in the Super 10 for the last place in Super 8 2015, as in the next season the first division league of Brazilian rugby will change from 10 to 8 teams, being named Super 8.
The permanence of the Band-Sarries in the Brazilian top of Brazilian rugby lives up to the last match played, which ended the qualifying round with a convincing win over teh local rivals Pasteur by 67 to 25. With the team free from the relegation, the management and the coaching staff begins to plan the next season. “Despite the third place in the Paulista A, Bandeirantes Saracens lived an atypical year, with a squad renewal when we had to use several newcomers athletes from our base categories and still had to see many of our top players leave due to injuries, but those where all situations that are part of sport. With great effort and union we overcome all those obstacles,” said the CEO of Band-Sarries, Antonio Martoni.