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Torneo de la URBA

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Top 12
Organising body
  • URBA (1995–Present)
  • UAR (1899–1994)
Founded1899; 125 years ago (1899)
RegionBuenos Aires Province
Rosario
Number of teams12
Qualifier forNacional de Clubes
Related competitionsTorneo del Interior
Current championsAlumni (2024)
Most successful club(s)C.A. San Isidro
(33 titles)
Television broadcastersESPN
Websiteurba.org.ar/top-12

The URBA Top 12 (formerly "Torneo de la URBA")[1] is an Argentine rugby union club competition organised by the Buenos Aires Rugby Union (URBA). It is the top division of the Argentine rugby league system. Created on 10 April 1899 by the "River Plate Rugby Union" (current Argentine Rugby Union – UAR),[2] the Top 13 is the oldest rugby competition in South America and one of the oldest club competitions in the world.

Top 12 is one of the country's two main club competitions, along with Torneo del Interior, where clubs from the rest of the Provinces of Argentina take part. The championship runs from March to October.[3]

Despite being from the city of Rosario in Santa Fe Province, Atlético del Rosario take part in Top 12 as founding member of the UAR. The other clubs from Rosario compete in tournaments organised by the Rosario governing body.

History

[edit]
The first trophy awarded to the winning team. It debuted in 1899

The River Plate Rugby Union was established in Buenos Aires on 10 April 1899, being its founding members Buenos Aires, Belgrano, Lomas and Flores[4] from Buenos Aires, and Rosario A.C. from Rosario. The first president of the body was Leslie Corry Smith.[2]

That same year, the RPRU organised the first edition of the Buenos Aires' inter-club competition, which inaugural winner team was Lomas. In 1931 the union name was translated into Spanish "Unión de Rugby del Río de la Plata", that remained until 1951 when the union took the definitive "Unión Argentina de Rugby" (UAR).[2]

The first trophy awarded to champions was acquired to British goldsmith Elkington & Son through their representatives in Argentina, C.R. Simons & Co., for a price of guinea 100. Built with Greek style, the trophy displayed a scene of a rugby match, with the legends "River Plate Rugby Union Championship" and "1899". The cup was mounted on an ebony base with little silver badges, where the name of the champion would be engraved year-by-year. Most of the money for its acquisition came from the Rosario A.C. members.[4]

As a result of a reorganization of the UAR in 1995, the Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires was created to take over the tournament, being named "Torneo de la URBA".[5] From then on, the UAR focused only on national teams while the URBA took over club competitions.

Until 1997 a league system was used, if two or more clubs finished with the same number of points they would share the title. This happened several times, including in 1939 when a record 3 clubs had to share the title. To remedy this, a play-off system leading to a grand final was instaured in 1998. This new system has been in use since then, except in 2001.[6][7]

In 1998, the URBA introduced the playoff system, with a final match in a neutral venue to determine a unique champion of the season.[8] New changes to the rules were added in 2008, when the fourteen best placed teams at the end of the regular season were eligible to play a second stage, named "Top 14".[9] Every club played each other only once in a single-robin championship (either home or away). At the end of this phase, the first 4 clubs qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament, with the first ranked team meeting the fourth and the second meeting the third. Both semi-finals took place on the same weekend on neutral ground (usually the Club Atlético San Isidro stadium). The winner was crowned URBA champion. This system has remained (with minor changes) since then. The rest of the clubs played in a promotion and relegation competition named "Torneo Reubicación".

Both the URBA winner and runner-up qualified for the Nacional de Clubes semi-finals, where they met the winner and runner-up of Torneo del Interior.[10] The winner of that competition was declared Argentine champion.

In 2016, the URBA introduced changes in the tournament's format for the 2017 season, with the "Top 14" being reduced to 12 teams (therefore renamed "Top 12") and becoming an independent championship, with all of the teams playing each other in a double round-robin tournament (home and away games).[11]

As a result of those changes, the Buenos Aires league system was divided into six tiers.[12] The new format also stated that the four best placed teams at the end of the season, would play the semifinals while the two worst placed would be relegated to the second division.[8]

Format

[edit]

The tournament will start on March 25, 2023, with the 12 participant teams playing a double round-robin tournament, which will end on October 15. The four best placed clubs will qualify to the semifinals (played as single matches in neutral venues) on October 29 and 30. Winners will play the final (also a single match) at Club Atlético San Isidro stadium, frecquent venue for URBA finals, on November 5, 2022.

The seven best placed teams in the general table will qualify for Torneo Nacional de Clubes, the main competition of Argentine rugby, which is made up of 9 teams from the rest of the provinces of Argentina and the seven from URBA. [1]

Clubs

[edit]

Teams competing at Top 12 in the 2024 seasons will be:[13]

Club Venue Estab. Titles
Alumni Tortuguitas
1951
7
Atlético del Rosario Rosario
1867
5
Buenos Aires San Fernando
1864
10 [n 1]
Belgrano Belgrano
1896
11
C.A. San Isidro San Isidro
1902
33
Champagnat Pilar
1956
0
Hindú Don Torcuato
1919
11
La Plata La Plata
1934
1
Newman Benavídez
1979
0
Regatas Bella Vista
1895
0
San Isidro Club Boulogne
1935
27
San Luis La Plata
1961
0
Universitario (BA) Villa de Mayo
1918
15

Former clubs

[edit]

Disaffiliated or defunct clubs:

Club Field Estab. Years Titles Fate
Flores A.C. Caballito 1893 1899
–
 Dissolved in 1907 [14]
Buenos Aires F.C. Palermo 1886 1899–1951
8
 Merged with Buenos Aires Cricket Club in 1951 [15]

Champions

[edit]

The complete list of champions is detailed below:[5][16]

Tournament names
  • 1899–1994: "River Plate Rugby Union Championship"
  • 1995–2008: "Torneo de la URBA"
  • 2009–2016: "Top 14"
  • 2017–2020: "Top 12"
Tournament format
  • 1900–1997: the team with most points earned was declared champion
  • 1899, 1995–present: final match to decide a champion
Key
Ed. Season Champion/s Score Runner-up
1
 1899 Lomas (1)
3–0
 Atlético del Rosario
2
 1900 Buenos Aires FC[n 2] (1) – –
3
 1901 Buenos Aires FC (2)
– [n 3]
–
4
 1902 Buenos Aires FC (3)
– [n 3]
–
5
 1903 Buenos Aires FC (4)
– [n 3]
–
6
 1904 Buenos Aires FC (5)
– [n 3]
–
7
 1905 Atlético del Rosario (1)
– [n 3]
–
8
 1906 Atlético del Rosario (2)
– [n 3]
–
9
 1907 Belgrano (1)
– [n 3]
–
10
 1908 Buenos Aires FC (6)
– [n 3]
–
11
 1909 Buenos Aires FC (7)
– [n 3]
–
12
 1910 Belgrano (2)
– [n 3]
–
13
 1911 Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA) (1)
– [n 3]
–
14
 1912 Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA) (2)
– [n 3]
–
15
 1913 Lomas (2)
– [n 3]
–
16
 1914 Belgrano (3)
– [n 3]
–
17
 1915 Buenos Aires FC (8)
– [n 3]
–
18
 1916 (No championship held)
19
 1917 CA San Isidro (1)
– [n 3]
–
20
 1918 CA San Isidro (2)
– [n 3]
–
21
 1919 (No championship held)
22
 1920 CA San Isidro (3)
– [n 3]
–
23
 1921 CA San Isidro (4)[n 4]
– [n 3]
–
Belgrano (4)[n 4]
24
 1922 CA San Isidro (5)
– [n 3]
–
25
 1923 CA San Isidro (6)
– [n 3]
–
26
 1924 CA San Isidro (7)
– [n 3]
–
27
 1925 CA San Isidro (8)
– [n 3]
–
28
 1926 CA San Isidro (9)
– [n 3]
–
29
 1927 CA San Isidro (10)
– [n 3]
–
30
 1928 CA San Isidro (11)
– [n 3]
–
31
 1929 CA San Isidro (12)
– [n 3]
–
32
 1930 CA San Isidro (13)
– [n 3]
–
33
 1931 CUBA (1)
– [n 3]
–
34
 1932 Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA) (3)
– [n 3]
–
35
 1933 CA San Isidro (14)
– [n 3]
–
36
 1934 CA San Isidro (15)
– [n 3]
–
37
 1935 Atlético del Rosario (3)
– [n 3]
–
38
 1936 Belgrano (5)
– [n 3]
–
39
 1937 Old Georgian (1)
– [n 3]
–
40
 1938 Old Georgian (2)
– [n 3]
–
41
 1939 Old Georgian (3)[n 4]
– [n 3]
–
Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA) (4)[n 4]
San Isidro Club (1)[n 4]
42
 1940 Belgrano (6)
– [n 3]
–
Olivos (1)
43
 1941 San Isidro Club (2)
– [n 3]
–
44
 1942 CUBA (2)
– [n 3]
–
45
 1943 CA San Isidro (16)
– [n 3]
–
46
 1944 CUBA (3)
– [n 3]
–
47
 1945 CUBA (4)
– [n 3]
–
48
 1946 Pucará (1)
– [n 3]
–
49
 1947 CUBA (5)
– [n 3]
–
50
 1948 San Isidro Club (3)
– [n 3]
–
51
 1949 CA San Isidro (17)[n 4]
– [n 3]
–
CUBA (6)[n 4]
52
 1950 CUBA (7)[n 4]
– [n 3]
–
Pucará (2)[n 4]
53
 1951 CUBA (8)
– [n 3]
–
54
 1952 CUBA (9)
– [n 3]
–
55
 1953 Obras (1)
– [n 3]
–
56
 1954 CA San Isidro (18)
– [n 3]
–
57
 1955 CA San Isidro (19)
– [n 3]
–
58
 1956 CA San Isidro (20)
– [n 3]
–
59
 1957 CA San Isidro (21)
– [n 3]
–
60
 1958 Buenos Aires CRC (1)[n 5] – –
61
 1959 Buenos Aires CRC (2)[n 5]
– [n 3]
–
62
 1960 CA San Isidro (22)
– [n 3]
–
63
 1961 CA San Isidro (23)
– [n 3]
–
64
 1962 CA San Isidro (24)
– [n 3]
–
65
 1963 Belgrano (7)
– [n 3]
–
66
 1964 CA San Isidro (25)
– [n 3]
–
67
 1965 CUBA (10)
– [n 3]
–
68
 1966 Belgrano (8)
– [n 3]
–
69
 1967 Belgrano (9)
– [n 3]
–
CA San Isidro (26)
70
 1968 Belgrano (10)[n 4]
– [n 3]
–
CUBA (11)[n 4]
71
 1969 CUBA (12)
– [n 3]
–
72
 1970 CUBA (13)[n 4]
– [n 3]
–
San Isidro Club (4)[n 4]
73
 1971 San Isidro Club (5)
– [n 3]
–
74
 1972 San Isidro Club (6)
– [n 3]
–
75
 1973 San Isidro Club (7)
– [n 3]
–
76
 1974 CA San Isidro (27)
– [n 3]
–
77
 1975 CA San Isidro (28)
– [n 3]
–
78
 1976 CA San Isidro (29)
– [n 3]
–
79
 1977 San Isidro Club (8)
– [n 3]
–
80
 1978 San Isidro Club (9)
– [n 3]
–
81
 1979 San Isidro Club (10)
– [n 3]
–
82
 1980 San Isidro Club (11)
– [n 3]
–
83
 1981 CA San Isidro (30)
– [n 3]
–
84
 1982 CA San Isidro (31)
– [n 3]
–
85
 1983 San Isidro Club (12)
– [n 3]
–
86
 1984 San Isidro Club (13)
– [n 3]
–
87
 1985 CA San Isidro (32)
– [n 3]
–
88
 1986 San Isidro Club (14)[n 4]
– [n 3]
–
Banco Nación (1)[n 4]
89
 1987 San Isidro Club (15)
– [n 3]
–
90
 1988 San Isidro Club (16)
– [n 3]
–
91
 1989 Alumni (1)[n 4]
– [n 3]
–
Banco Nación (2)[n 4]
92
 1990 Alumni (2)
– [n 3]
–
93
 1991 Alumni (3)
– [n 3]
–
94
 1992 Alumni (4)
– [n 3]
–
95
 1993 San Isidro Club (17)
– [n 3]
–
96
 1994 San Isidro Club (18) – –
97
 1995 La Plata (1)
– [n 3]
–
98
 1996 Hindú (1)[n 4]
– [n 3]
–
Atlético del Rosario (4)[n 4]
99
 1997 San Isidro Club (19)
– [n 3]
–
100
 1998 Hindú (2)
38–12
 San Isidro Club
101
 1999 San Isidro Club (20)
14–9
 Atlético del Rosario
102
 2000 Atlético del Rosario (5)
35–32
 CA San Isidro
103
 2001 Alumni (5) (No final held) [n 6]
104
 2002 San Isidro Club (21)
16–10
 Regatas
105
 2003 San Isidro Club (22)
20–9
 CA San Isidro
106
 2004 San Isidro Club (23)
36–16
 Alumni
107
 2005 CA San Isidro (33)
18–17
 San Isidro Club
108
 2006 Hindú (3)
20–5
 Alumni
109
 2007 Hindú (4)
9–6
 Alumni
110
 2008 Hindú (5)
22–10
 Newman
111
 2009 Hindú (6)
31–22
 CA San Isidro
112
 2010 San Isidro Club (24)
30–22
 La Plata
113
 2011 San Isidro Club (25)
14–11
 Alumni
114
 2012 Hindú (7)
15–9
 La Plata
115
 2013 CUBA (14)
11–9
 Hindú
116
 2014 Hindú (8)
29–17
 CUBA
117
 2015 Hindú (9)
24–0
 CUBA
118
 2016 Belgrano (11)
25–10
 Hindú
119
 2017 Hindú (10)
27–20
 Alumni
120
 2018 Alumni (6)
26–17
 Hindú
121
 2019 San Isidro Club (26)
22–19
 Belgrano
–
 2020
(not held because of the covid-19 pandemic)
122
 2021 CUBA (15)
10–9
 San Isidro Club
123
 2022 Hindú (11)
30–25
 San Isidro Club
124
 2023 San Isidro Club (27)
15–12
 Alumni
125
 2024 Alumni (7)
20–17 (a.s.d.e.t.)
 Belgrano
Notes
  1. ^ Eight of those titles were won by predecessor Buenos Aires F.C., which merged to the BACC in 1951 becoming the rugby section of the club.
  2. ^ Rugby union club founded in 1886. It merged to Buenos Aires Cricket Club in 1951, also becoming the rugby section of that institution.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co Played in a round-robin format, champion decided on points.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Title shared.
  5. ^ a b The rugby section of the Buenos Aires Cricket Club is the former Buenos Aires F.C. team that merged to the institution in 1951.
  6. ^ Alumni crowned champion during the regular season, more precisely in the 11th. fixture when the team defeated CA San Isidro by 16-13.

Titles by club

[edit]
Team Titles Years won
CA San Isidro
33
 1917, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1933, 1934, 1943, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1967, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1985, 2005
San Isidro Club
27
 1939, 1941, 1948, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2019, 2023
CUBA
15
 1931, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 2013, 2021
Belgrano A.C.
11
 1907, 1910, 1914, 1921, 1936, 1940, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968, 2016
Hindú
11
 1996, 1998, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2022
Buenos Aires F.C. [n2 1]
8
 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1908, 1909, 1915
Alumni
7
 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2001, 2018, 2024
Atlético del Rosario
5
 1905, 1906, 1935, 1996, 2000
Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA)
4
 1911, 1912, 1932, 1939
Old Georgian
3
 1937, 1938, 1939
Lomas
2
 1899, 1913
Pucará
2
 1946, 1950
Buenos Aires CRC [n2 2]
2
 1958, 1959
Banco Nación
2
 1986, 1989
Olivos
1
 1940
Obras Sanitarias
1
 1953
La Plata
1
 1995
Notes
  1. ^ The club merged to Buenos Aires CRC in 1951.
  2. ^ Buenos Aires CRC usually counts the titles won by the BAFC as their own, after both clubs merged in 1951.

Broadcasters Rights

[edit]

The exclusive rights of Torneo de la URBA are broadcast live on ESPN Extra Saturday at 13:15 and are broadcast delayed on ESPN 2 at 17:30. In the Scrum are broadcast highlights of match Saturday at 23:00 (local time of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay), 22:00 (local time of Chile) and 21:00 (local time of Peru).

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b El URBA Top 13 tiene fixture confirmado para la temporada 2022 on ESPN Argentina, Dec 2021
  2. ^ a b c "Hechos históricos de la Unión" at UAR website Archived 19 February 2013 at archive.today
  3. ^ La URBA presenta el fixture para el Top 12 del 2019, Marca, 7 Dec 2018
  4. ^ a b Fundación del River Plate Rugby Union Championship on Atlético del Rosario website, 18 Apr 2019
  5. ^ a b "Historia de la Unión" at URBA website
  6. ^ "11er partido (15 de septiembre): C.A.S.I. 13 – 16 Alumni" at Alumni official web Archived 29 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine, 15 Sep 2001
  7. ^ "Alumni: un campeón con el sacrificio como principal aliado" by Diego Mazzei on La Nación, 16 Sep 2001
  8. ^ a b El torneo de la URBA da un abrupto giro a partir de 2017, La Nación, 20 May 2016
  9. ^ "Se realizó el lanzamiento del URBA TOP 14", 19 May 2014
  10. ^ La Voz - La UAR anunció el nuevo formato para el Torneo Nacional de Clubes, La Voz, 16 May 2014
  11. ^ El Torneo de la URBA se renueva: arranca el Top 12, con una mayor competitividad y grandes partidos, La Nación, 29 Apr 2017
  12. ^ Cambios en la URBA para los torneos de 2017, ESPN Scrum, 19 May 2016
  13. ^ Todos los ascensos y descensos en las categorías de la URBA at ESPN, 18 Nov 2023
  14. ^ Una investigación sobre la Historia del Flores Athletic Club, Rubén Ayala, C.E.H.R., Buenos Aires (1997)
  15. ^ ""Historia del Club" – BACRC official site". Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  16. ^ URBA: Todos los campeones – "A Pleno Rugby" website
[edit]
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