rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club, sometimes known simply as Buenos Aires, is an Argentine sports club based in San Fernando, Buenos Aires. Having set its official date of foundation on 8 December 1864, the club claims to be the oldest club sti ...

Torneo de la URBA The URBA Top 13 (formerly "Torneo de la URBA", named "Top 13" since the 2022 season)

History

The club was established on 10 June 1886 in the Buenos Aires English High School by a group of rugby enthusiasts who wanted their own place where they could practise the sport they loved. On 24 June the club played its first match against a team formed by employees of the

Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway The Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway (BAGS) ( es, Ferrocarril del Sud) was one of the ''Big Four'' Indian gauge, broad gauge, , British-owned companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The company was founded by Edward ...

("Ferrocarril del Sud"). Buenos Aires FC is regarded to have played the first inter-clubs rugby game in Argentina, when it faced Rosario AC in the city of

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

on 28 June 1886. On 12 July a second game was played between clubs, Buenos Aires FC being the winner. In 1899, along with club Belgrano,

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

,

Lomas Lomas (Spanish for "hills"), also called fog oases and mist oases, are areas of fog-watered vegetation in the coastal desert of Peru and northern Chile. About 100 lomas near the Pacific Ocean are identified between 5°S and 30°S latitude, a nort ...

and

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...

,Fundación del River Plate Rugby Union Championship
on Atlético del Rosario website, 18 Apr 2019 Buenos Aires became founding member of the "River Plate Rugby Championship", which would become today's Argentine Rugby Union. Buenos Aires would also open the first season of the recently created championship, playing

Lomas Lomas (Spanish for "hills"), also called fog oases and mist oases, are areas of fog-watered vegetation in the coastal desert of Peru and northern Chile. About 100 lomas near the Pacific Ocean are identified between 5°S and 30°S latitude, a nort ...

, which defeated Buenos Aires by 11-4. Lomas would finally win the first title at the end of the season. Buenos Aires later became one of the most successful clubs of Argentina, winning eight championships of 16 contested (five of them consecutively from 1900 to 1904). After a fire that destroyed the facilities both clubs shared, Buenos Aires FC merged with Buenos Aires Cricket Club in 1951 to form

Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club, sometimes known simply as Buenos Aires, is an Argentine sports club based in San Fernando, Buenos Aires. Having set its official date of foundation on 8 December 1864, the club claims to be the oldest club sti ...

.

Honours

Rugby union

* RPRU (8): :: 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1908, 1909, 1915

Clarification

Due to there were at least two more clubs named "Buenos Aires Football Club", the origins of those institutions must be cleared to avoid confusions: * The first

Buenos Aires Football Club The Buenos Aires Football Club (frequently abbreviated as "BAFC") was an Argentine association football club from Buenos Aires, considered the first football club not only in Argentina but in South America. Although BAFC was founded to play assoc ...

, established in 1867 and recognized as the first

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club not only in Argentina but in South America. Having adopted the association football rules at first, the club then switched to rugby union rules in 1874,''Historia del Fútbol Amateur en la Argentina'', by Jorge Iwanczuk. Published by Autores Editores (1992) - ''Historia de Fútbol de AFA: Orígenes 1891/1899'', by Carlos Yametti. Published by Edición del Autor (2011) - until it was dissolved in the 1880s.''El Origen Británico del Deporte Argentino'', by Víctor Raffo, published by Gráfica MPS (2004) - * In 1891, a third "Buenos Aires Football Club" took part of the first association football championship held in Argentina, being its only participation in an official competition. It is believed that the team was formed exclusively to play the tournament, with no further records about its activities in subsequent years. The team's jersey was red and white in vertical stripes.

Notes

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline
Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club
(successor of BAFC) b Rugby clubs established in 1886 1886 establishments in Argentina 1951 disestablishments in Argentina Rugby union clubs disestablished in 1951