growth of the sport. The decisions made at the conference regarding Los Pumas were: Starting in 2008, the Pumas will play more annual Tests, increasing from the previous six Tests per year to nine by 2010. By 2010, the team will play four Tests in the June Test window, three in November, and two during the Six Nations window in February and March. Between 2008 and 2012, Argentina will develop a professional structure within the country, with the goal of having the majority of Argentine professionals playing at home. Sometime around 2012, Los Pumas will then supposedly be "fully integrated into the Southern top-flight Rugby playing structure" (read "Tri Nations"). However, NZRU deputy chief executive Steve Tew subsequently expressed doubts that a professional domestic competition in Argentina would be sufficiently viable within the following 10 years to retain elite players in South America, despite all the good intentions and funding of the IRB. In December 2007 the 23 provincial delegates at an Extraordinary Meeting of the UAR voted unanimously to keep their domestic league amateur, although the Pumas selection pool would be centrally contracted as professionals to the UAR. This decision was almost instantly assailed by Pichot, who told The Daily Telegraph of London, The UAR, with considerable assistance from the IRB, continued to work towards building a professional structure in the country. Pichot, formerly critical of the UAR, accepted an invitation to join a "High Performance Board" to help the country achieve its ultimate goal of a place in a major international tournament. In September 2009, SANZAR announced that it had issued a provisional invitation to Argentina to join an expanded "Four Nations" tournament starting in 2012. The main condition for Argentine participation is that the UAR can ensure the availability of its top players for the Four Nations; the deal is also dependent on approval from broadcasters and financial considerations. Tew, skeptical of Argentina's ability to develop a professional structure only two years earlier, was impressed with the country's progress in 2009, stating "They have made a huge amount of progress in the past six months ... not long ago they were facing bankruptcy and they have come a long way." Argentina's increasing engagement with the Tri Nations was further cemented in December 2009, when the South African Rugby Union announced that an Argentine team would join the national developmental competition, the Vodacom Cup, starting in 2010. The