The Tucuman Rugby Union ( es, Unión de Rugby de Tucumán) or URT is the organisational body that controls the game of

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 ...

in the province of Tucumán,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

History

Rugby was first played in Tucumán in 1915, when British enthusiasts that worked at the local sugarmills meet to play the game in the city of

San Miguel de Tucumán San Miguel de Tucumán (; usually called simply Tucumán) is the capital and largest city of Tucumán Province, located in northern Argentina from Buenos Aires. It is the fifth-largest city of Argentina after Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Rosario an ...

. Nevertheless, the first official rugby team in the province –from the

Club Natación y Gimnasia Club Natación y Gimnasia is a rugby union and field hockey club from San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina. Founded in 1930 as a multi-sports club, Natación y Gimnasia is registered with the Unión de Rugby de Tucumán. Despite its name, swimming (s ...

– would not be formed in 1936. Six years later

Tucumán Rugby Club Tucumán Rugby Club, is an Argentina, Argentine sports club based in the city of Yerba Buena, Tucumán, Yerba Buena in Tucumán Province. Although other sports (such as tennis and field hockey) are practised in the institution, Tucumán is mostly k ...

was founded, followed by

Universitario Rugby Club de Tucumán Universitario Rugby Club is an Argentine sports institution for women's field hockey and men's Rugby union, rugby based in the city of San Miguel de Tucumán. As a rugby team, it is a member of the Unión de Rugby de Tucumán, which in turn belon ...

in 1943 and * Cardenales in 1944. Those four clubs would go on to found the "Unión de Rugby del Norte" on 29 February 1944.Tucumán respira rugby
on UAR, 14 Oct 2020 Although the URN was based in

Tucumán Province Tucumán () is the most densely populated, and the second-smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina. Located in the northwest of the country, the province has the capital of San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neigh ...

it also dealt with fledgling clubs from the neighbouring provinces of

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...

Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in Argentine Northwest, northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Depa ...

and

Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surf ...

. Later these provinces would go on to form their own unions: Unión de Rugby de Salta in 1951, Unión Jujeña de Rugby in 1966 and Unión Santiagueña de Rugby in 1968. After that the Unión de Rugby del Norte became simply known as the Unión de Rugby de Tucumán and only dealt with clubs from Tucumán Province.

Provincial side

The URT was represented by its own team in

Campeonato Argentino The Campeonato Argentino de Mayores (also known as Campeonato Argentino) was an annual rugby union competition held in Argentina for provincial teams. The Campeonato Argentino was strictly amateur, and only players from local clubs were allowed ...

, a now defunct competition in which each of the 24 unions that make up the

Argentine Rugby Union The Argentine Rugby Union ( es, Unión Argentina de Rugby, abbreviated "UAR") is the governing body for rugby union in Argentina. It is a member of World Rugby, with a seat on that body's Executive Council, and a founding member of Sudamérica Rug ...

(UAR) participated.

Titles

(11): 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 2005, 2010, 2013, 2014

Club competitions

Eleven member clubs are affiliated with the Union and take part in the union's provincial competitions. They also compete in the annual Torneo del Norte, a regional competition that also includes teams from the neighboring unions of Salta, Santiago del Estero and Jujuy. Clubs from Tucumán have enjoyed some success in the national club tournament with

reaching the final twice in 1993 and 2007, and

Los Tarcos Rugby Club Los Tarcos Rugby Club, is a rugby union team from San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina. The rugby union team is member of the Unión de Rugby de Tucumán and one of the most successful teams in the province, having won the provincial title 12 times ...

once in 2004.

Torneo del Noroeste

Tucumán clubs take part in the Torneo del Noroeste (or simply Torneo del NOA), along with teams from Salta, Jujuy and Santiago del Estero. The Noroeste tournament has traditionally been dominated by clubs from Tucumán, clubs from the other 3 provinces have yet to win a title. The most successful teams are

Universitario Club Universitario de Deportes, popularly known as Universitario or simply as La "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of S ...

and

with 21 and 20 titles respectively. Every year, the best ranked teams from the Noroeste go on to play in the annual

Torneo del Interior The Torneo del Interior A is an annual rugby union competition in Argentina. The competition involves clubs from all provincial unions outside Buenos Aires. Teams qualify from different tournaments along the provinces of Argentina, such as Litora ...

, where they meet teams from the country's other regional tournaments:

Litoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...

, Centro, Noreste, Pampeana, Oeste and Patagónico. The two finalists of the Interior then go on to meet the two finalists of the Buenos Aires League in the

Nacional de Clubes The Torneo Nacional de Clubes is a club rugby union competition in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR). The Nacional de Clubes is the main club competition in Argentine rugby, being contested by a total of 16 teams, 8 from Bue ...

competition. So far, two clubs from Tucumán have reached the final of the Nacional: Tucumán RC in 1993 and 2007 and Los Tarcos in 2004. However, both clubs lost and a Tucumán club has yet to win the national title.

Local competitions

Like all other provincial unions, the URT organises local competitions for underage and reserve teams.

Member clubs

* Aguara Guazú * Bajo Fondo * Cardenales * Coipu (Famaillá) * Corsarios * Huirapuca * Jockey Club * Lince * La Querencia * San Isidro RC (Lules) * Tafí Viejo * Los Tarcos * Natación y Gimnasia * Tucumán Lawn Tennis * Tucumán RC * Universitario de Tucumán

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Union de Rugby de Tucuman Tuc Sport in Tucumán Province Sports organizations established in 1944 1944 establishments in Argentina