Rugby union in Argentina is a hugely popular team sport. The first rugby match played in the country dates back to 1873, as the game was introduced by the British. The Argentina national team, sometimes referred to as the Pumas, have competed at the Rugby World Cup, and are considered a tier one nation by the sport's governing body, World Rugby.
Governing body
The Argentine Rugby Union (UAR) was formed in 1899 as the "River Plate Rugby Union", 26 years after the first rugby match had been played. It was affiliated to the English Rugby Football Union until 1932.Encyclopedia of Rugby Football by J.R. Jones (Robert Hale, London, 1966 )
The union is a member of World Rugby with two seats and three votes on that body's Executive Council. The UAR is one of the oldest rugby unions in the world. The union became a member of the International Rugby Football Board, later known as the International Rugby Board and now as World Rugby, after being invited to the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987.
Popularity Rugby enjoys widespread popularity in Argentina, most especially in the Greater Buenos Aires urban area, which boasts more than eighty rugby clubs, and Tucumán Province.
While rugby in Argentina is still largely amateur, there are many professional players. Prior to the country's entry into Super Rugby in 2016, most national team members played professionally in Europe, mainly in England and France. Today, most members of the national team play on the country's Super Rugby side, the Jaguares and others play in either of the two teams now playing in the Super Rugby Americas championship.
Attendances
The Argentine rugby union club with the highest average home attendance per year:
Season League Best club Best club average 2017 Super Rugby Jaguares 8,989 2016 Super Rugby Jaguares 12,836
Source: League page on Wikipedia
History
Rugby union began to be played in Argentina in 1873, exclusively by the resident British people to begin with.Orígenes de los deportes británicos en el Río de La Plata, Buenos Aires, 1932 The first rugby union match in Argentina was played that same year in the Buenos Aires Cricket Club Ground, located in the Palermo neighbourhood, where the Galileo Galilei planetarium is located today. Both teams (called "Bancos" and "Ciudad" for the occasion) were formed by members of the BACC and they play a mix between association and rugby football. Bancos field 11 players while Ciudad fielded 13.Historia del Rugby en la Argentina by James McGough – The Souvenir Publishing Co., Buenos Aires, 1927 On 24 June 1873, another match was contested in Flores, Buenos Aires, between "Inglaterra" and "El Mundo". After three hours of play, the game ended in a scoreless tie.
The first rugby match under the laws of rugby union was played on 14 May 1874 between the Buenos Aires Football Club (formed in 1867 and regarded as the first club in Argentina to practise any form of football). Teams were unnamed and chronicles referred to them as "team of Mr. Trench" and "team of Mr. Hogg".
Another Buenos Aires F.C., formed in 1886 to play rugby exclusively and predecessor of current Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club, played its first match on 24 June v a team of Ferrocarril del Sud at the Flores Old Ground. It was won by the railway team by a goal, a try and 3 "touch downs" to one try.
On 29 June 1886, it is recorded that Buenos Aires F.C. and Rosario A.C. played the first inter-clubs match in Plaza Jewell, Rosario.The Complete Book of Rugby by Richard Bath (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997. ) The line-ups were: Rosario: C.E. Baines, W. Graham, A. Musgrove, A. Williamson, R.C. Baines (captain), A. Dickenson, Boland, Geary, E.D. Graham, Hall, Hanckel, Parry, Smyth, Topping, Towse. Buenos Aires: G.E. Gunson, F.J. Bennett, W.R. S. Baikie (captain), J.C. Hutchings, J. Nisbet, A. H. Scott, W.P. Drabble, J. Earnshaw, A. Lace, R. Barton, J. Paterson, A. Hughes, J.P. Simpson, R.W. Anderson, W.H. Stuart. The match was won by Rosario by 3–0 with a try scored by A. Dickenson."Rugby: A 123 años del primer partido en la Argentina", Atlético del Rosario website, 28 Jun 2009
It is believed that Lomas A.C. and Flores A.C. were the following clubs to form their own rugby teams, while Quilmes A.C. formed its squad in early 1900s.
Early rugby was not immune to political problems either. An 1890 game in Buenos Aires resulted in both teams, and all 2,500 spectators being arrested.The Book of Rugby Disasters & Bizarre Records by Frank Cotton and Chris Rhys (Century Publishing, London, 1984. ) National president Juárez Celman was particularly paranoid after the Revolution of the Park in the city earlier in the year, and the police had suspected that the match was in fact a political meeting.
In 1899, four clubs from Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires, Belgrano, FloresFundación del River Plate Rugby Championship on Club Atlético del Rosario, 10 Apr 2019 and Lomas) and one from Rosario (Rosario A.C.) got together to form "The River Plate Rugby Union".120 Aniversario UAR, p.6, Olé, 10 Apr 2019 That same year the Union organised the first club championship (currently Torneo de la URBA), which was won by Lomas.
This body, one of the oldest rugby unions in the world, later became known as the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR), which became a member of the International Rugby Board (IRB) only after being invited to the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987.
From the founding date until 1903, the only teams taking part in tournaments had been founded by English natives or their descendants. Only they knew the rules of the game and their families were from the high society. It was only in 1904 when the first team formed by "criollos" made its appearance, named "Centro de Estudiantes de la Facultad de Ingeniería". Some players of that team were the Newbery Brothers, Martín Miguens, Alberto Lagos, Luis Duhau, Mariano Paunero and Germán Dates.
Although rugby went professional in the mid-1990s, the domestic competition in Argentina has largely remained amateur. That has ensured large numbers of Argentines playing overseas, particularly in European competitions, though these players are still eligible for the national team, and make up a large amount of the side.
It was originally dominated by the British community in Argentina, but unlike certain other regions, it became successfully transplanted to the local population. For example, in its early days the River Plate Rugby Union (the ancestor of today's national organisation), had a membership whose surnames portrayed their English and Scottish origins - such as Anderson, Baikie, Bellamy, Brodie, Corry-Smith, Elliot, Jacobs, Leicht, Taylor, Thurn.
Away from Buenos Aires, where the game's background is traditionally somewhat refined, Tucuman is a heartland for the sport, where supporters are passionate, and often burn the opposition's flag on the terraces. This is a region has been known to produce many of Argentina's forwards.
One of Argentina's main problems has been its geographical isolation, and despite Chile, Uruguay and to a much lesser extent, Brazil playing the game, Argentina towers above them, and has not had a reasonable match on the continent. Its first contact with a team outside the continent was in 1910, when the British and Irish Lions led by J. Raphael toured Argentina, winning all six matches, scoring 213 points, and conceding a mere 31. 1910 South Africa & Argentina at BritishLions website The British Lions returned to Argentina in 1927, that time led by David MacMyn, playing 9 matches, 4 of them against the Argentina national team. Other rivals of the Lions during the tour included CA San Isidro, Buenos Aires FC, and Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires. The Lions would make a third tour on Argentina in 1936, playing 10 matches.
Other team that toured on Argentina were the Junior Springboks in 1932, that won all eight matches played.
During the post-War period, the France national team toured Argentina in 1954 playing several matches v. local clubs and combined teams and even the Argentine side. A total of 14 matches were played by France in the country, winning all of them.
The national team also turned its sights overseas, touring South Africa in 1965, and despite an underwhelming performance, they contacted Izak van Heerden, the Natal coaching genius who would revolutionize Argentine rugby in the late 1960s. Argentina also saw the emergence of Hugo Porta, who is widely considered one of the greatest Argentine player of all time.
In the 1970s, major Argentine rugby clubs included Rosario A.C., Buenos Aires, Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires and both teams from San Isidro, C.A. San Isidro ("CASI"), and San Isidro Club (mostly known for their acronyms, "CASI" and "SIC" respectively).
Argentina has long been seen as the biggest power outside the Six Nations and the Tri Nations; between 1981 and 1990 in four tests, England won only two out of four, and Scotland lost both tests on their 1994 tour.
Competitions Club rugby Argentina is divided into 24 provincial unions which all organise their own provincial club competitions. Since the 1990s, some provincial unions have started organising regional club competitions with neighbouring unions in order to raise the standards of rugby and make their clubs more competitive. An example of this is the Torneo del Litoral, which is organised by the unions of Rosario, Santa Fe and Entre Ríos.
Historically, club rugby in Argentina has been dominated by clubs from the powerful Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires (URBA) and the URBA championship was seen as the strongest club competition in the country. In recent years however, clubs from outside Buenos Aires have closed the gap with URBA clubs. To reflect this the Nacional de Clubes was created in 1993. Originally the competition involved 16 clubs from all over the country but the formula was modified in 2009.
That year a new competition was created, the Torneo del Interior. This competition involves the best ranked clubs from all regional tournaments outside of Buenos Aires. With the creation of this tournament, the Nacional de Clubes was overhauled. From 2009 on, only 4 clubs qualify for the Nacional - instead of 16 - and the competitions starts directly at the semi-finals stage. The 4 clubs qualifying for the Nacional's semi-finals are the two finalists of both the Interior and URBA tournaments, with the URBA winner meeting the Interior runner-up and vice versa. The first winner of the new and improved Nacional de Clubes was Rosario's Duendes Rugby Club, who beat Buenos Aires' Hindú Club in the final.
Representative rugby The Campeonato Argentino is contested by representative teams of the 24 unions that exist within the UAR. It is divided into two competitions, the 8-team Zona Campeonato and the 16-team Zona Ascenso. The winner of the Zona Ascenso earns a place in the following years' Zona Campeonato, replacing the last-placed team of the latter competition.
International rugby