The Buenos Aires Rugby Union (), usually referred as URBA, is the Argentine governing body that organises and controls rugby union in the Buenos Aires Province (including the main district, Buenos Aires Autonomous City and one team from Rosario, Santa Fe). The remaining clubs from the province are distributed amongst four other unions: Unión de Rugby del Oeste de Buenos Aires in the west, Unión de Rugby del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires in the centre, Unión de Rugby de Mar del Plata in the east, and Unión de Rugby del Sur in the south.

URBA is the largest union of Argentina, with 76 clubs directly affiliated and 15 competing as guests.Información de clubes on URBA website, 26 July 2019 Those teams compete in 7 competitions organised by the body, including the Top 13, the oldest competition in Argentina with the first championship being held in 1899.Fundación del River Plate Rugby Championship on Club Atlético del Rosario, 10 Apr 2019120 Aniversario UAR, p.6, Olé, 10 Apr 2019

The Union also controls its representative team, which was the most successful team of the defunct Campeonato Argentino with 37 titles.

History

The "River Plate Rugby Union" (RPRU) was established in 1899 in Buenos Aires by four clubs, Buenos Aires F.C., Belgrano A.C., Lomas A.C. and Rosario A.C. The body organized the first edition of the Buenos Aires' inter-club competition that same year, with Lomas being the first Argentine champion. In 1951, the change of name to Spanish "Unión Argentina de Rugby", was after a request by the Argentine Olympic committee and it continued at the same time to work as local federation of Buenos Aires clubs, and national federation, recognized by International Rugby Board.

As a result of a restructuring of the Argentine rugby in 1995, the "Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires" was created with the purpose of organising competitions in the city district and nearest towns like San Isidro and La Plata, while the remaining part of the Buenos Aires Province (including populous cities like Mar del Plata or Tandil) remained under other provincial unions. Therefore, the RPRU championship was renamed "Torneo de la URBA" and continued with the same format, while the Argentine Union (UAR) took over national teams only.

Competitions As of 2026, several competitions are organized by the URBA. The first division is the Top 14, contested by 14 clubs of the Buenos Aires area and also the oldest rugby competition in Argentina, with its first edition held in 1899.

The URBA league system completes with Primera A (unlike its name indicates, it is the second division), Primera B (third), Primera C (fourth), Segunda (fifth), Tercera (sixth) and Desarrollo (seven, the lowest level).Fixtures completos de los Torneos de División Superior para la Temporada 2026 at urba.org.ar

Primera A to Segunda have 14 teams competing in each division, while there are 11 teams in Tercera and 10 in Desarrollo.

Other competitions organized by the URBA are "Universitario" (with 15 university teams playing in two divisions)Universitario Top 8 - 2025, "Femenino" (18 women's teams in two divisions)Resultados y posiciones femenino 2025, and "Formativo" (21 teams in four divisions)Formativo - Campeonato A 2025. The URBA has also competitions for U19, U17, U16, and U15 teams.

URBA league system (2026)LevelCompetitionTeams 1 Top 14 14 2 Primera A 14 3 Primera B 14 4 Primera C 14 5 Segunda 14 6 Tercera 11 7 Desarrollo 10

Union team

The Buenos Aires team –nicknamed Las Águilas (The Eagles)– is the most successful within the provincial teams in Argentina, having won a record 37 Campeonato Argentino titles.

Titles Domestic Campeonato Argentino (37): 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016, 2017

International World Club Sevens (1): 2014

International friendly competition The URBA team has also played several international friendly matches against national teams that were touring Argentina, with several wins against some of them. Below is the list of matches played:

YearDateRivalScoreVenue 1972 28 OctL12–14 Ferro Carril Oeste 19731 SepD10–10 Ferro Carril Oeste 1974 16 JunL9–31 Ferro Carril Oeste 1976 16 OctL13–24 Ferro Carril Oeste 1977 11 JunL4–38 Ferro Carril Oeste 1979 20 Oct L 6–22 Ferro Carril Oeste 1981 23 May L 25–34 Ferro Carril Oeste 1985 15 JunL15–50 Ferro Carril Oeste 1985 19 OctL9–31 Ferro Carril Oeste 1988 11 JunL0–82 Vélez Sarsfield 1990 21 Jul W 26–23 Vélez Sarsfield 1991 22 Jul L9–37 Vélez Sarsfield 1992 20 Jun L 12–18 Vélez Sarsfield 1993 30 Oct W 28–27 Ferro Carril Oeste 199425 MayD24–24Ferro Carril Oeste 1996 15 Jun W 29–26 Estadio del CASI 1997 24 May W 23–21 BACRC Stadium 1997 5 Nov L 17–40 BACRC Stadium 1998 16 Jun W36–22 BACRC Stadium 1999 29 May W 31–29 BACRC Stadium

References

External links