The Argentine Rugby Union (, abbreviated "UAR") is the governing body for rugby union in Argentina. It is a member of

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

, with a seat on that body's Executive Council, and a founding member of

Sudamérica Rugby Sudamérica Rugby (previously known as Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby (abbreviated CONSUR) between 1988 and 2015),Senior (''Pumas''), U-20 (''Pumitas''), Argentina XV, Sevens and Women's squads and the franchise Jaguares that participates in

SANZAAR SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby; previously known as SANZAR) is the body which oversees Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship competitions in rugby union. SANZAAR meets annually and is composed of the CEOs fr ...

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

competition.

History

Origins

The first rugby match in Argentina was played in 1873, in the Buenos Aires Cricket Club Ground sited in

Palermo, Buenos Aires Palermo is a or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located in the north of the city, near the Río de la Plata. It has a total land area of 17.4 km2 and a population of 249,016. It is the only within the administrative division ...

. Only 24 players (all of them were English) could meet to contest the match. The teams were named ''Bancos'' ("Banks" in Spanish) and ''Ciudad'' ("City") and formed with 11 and 13 players respectively. That same year, another match was played on the Polo Field of Flores AC, part of land owned by the Unzué family. The teams were called ''Inglaterra'' ("England") and ''El Mundo'' ("The World"). The first team was formed by

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officers that were temporarily in Buenos Aires, with the addition of some English citizens who resided in Argentina. Its rival was formed by English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish people plus some Argentine-born players of English descent. On May 14, 1874, the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Human activity * The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power * Business rule, a rule pertaining to the structure or behavior internal to a business * School rule, a rule tha ...

were adopted to play rugby in Argentina. Those rules were used for the first time during the match contested at Buenos Aires Cricket Club between two teams from that institution. The teams were called ''El bando del Sr. Trench'' ("Mr. Trench's side"), and ''El bando del Sr. Hogg'' ("Mr. Hogg's side"). Nevertheless, other sources say that the first game under the rules of rugby was played on Thursday, 14 May 1874, at David Mathven's country house, in

Caballito, Buenos Aires Caballito (; Spanish for "little horse") is a ''barrio'' (neighborhood) of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It is the only ''barrio'' in the administrative division ''Comuna'' 6. It is located in the geographical centre of the city, limited ...

. Buenos Aires FC also played the first inter-provincial 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, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

, on 28 June 1886.

First championship organized

In 1899, clubs Belgrano,

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 ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

and

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Administratively, it forms the largest island in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The area is 14,250 km2. Including Komodo and Rinca islands ...

founded the "River Plate Rugby Union", naming Leslie William Corry-Smith as president. The body organized the first championship that same year, played by the five founding members. In the inaugural game, Lomas defeated Buenos Aires by 11–4. Lomas would be the first Argentine champion, winning the title at the end of the season. The sport requested affiliation with the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

(COI), who advised them to add Argentina to their name and so they became the "Unión Argentina de Rugby" on 29 November 1951. This body, one of the oldest rugby unions in the world, became a member of the International Rugby Board (IRB) after being invited to the inaugural

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

. When the rest of the

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

world went professional in 1995, the UAR decided to keep the game amateur. Also, the Buenos Aires clubs split off the UAR and formed the

Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires The Buenos Aires Rugby Union (), usually referred as URBA, is the Argentina, 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 ...

(URBA), which has the same status as other provincial unions. Argentine players who opt to go overseas to play professionally (historically in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, with an increasing number today playing in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

) remain eligible for national team selection (although this was not originally the case). As a result, the national team was heavily, though not exclusively, made up of European-based players. In 2016, the UAR formed the Jaguares team to compete in the

competition. Also, it established a policy of selecting Pumas players from Super Rugby teams only, thereby excluding players from European clubs.

National team

120px, Former logo of UAR, used until 2023 The first national team (under the name "The River Plate Rugby Football Union") made its debut against the British Lions (named "Combined British") when they toured Argentina in 1910 as part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the

Revolución de Mayo The May Revolution () was a week-long series of events that took place from 18 to 25 May 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, ...

. The match was played on 12 June and the Argentina side lost 28–3."De festejo también, pero por el Centenario" by Jorge Búsico
''La Nación'', 27 May 2010

The Rugby Championship

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

officially joined

The Rugby Championship The Rugby Championship, formerly known as the Tri Nations Series (1996–2011), is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are traditionally the four highest ran ...

following a meeting in

on November 23, 2011. They became a full member of

, the body which operates

and

competitions in rugby union, from the start of 2016.

Names

The Union had different names over the years. Them are detailed below: * River Plate Rugby Union (1899–31) * Unión de Rugby del Río de la Plata (1931–51) * Unión Argentina de Rugby (1951–present)

Structure

Regional Unions affiliated to Unión Argentina:

Ranking

References

External links

* {{Sports governing bodies in Argentina A U National members of World Rugby Sports organizations established in 1899 1899 establishments in Argentina