Torneo de la URBA

Torneo de la URBA
Sport Rugby union
Formerly known as River Plate Rugby Championship
Inaugural season 1899 (1899)
Number of teams 24 (Grupo I)
Region Buenos Aires Province (URBA)
Current champion Hindú (2017)
Most titles CA San Isidro (33 titles)
Website urba.org.ar
Broadcast partner ESPN, DirecTV
Related competition Nacional de Clubes

The Torneo de la URBA (named Top 12) 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),[1] the Top 12 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 April to November.[2][3]

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

History

The River Plate Rugby Union was established in Buenos Aires on 10 April 1899, being its founding members Buenos Aires F.C., Belgrano A.C. and Lomas A.C. from Buenos Aires, and Rosario A.C. from Rosario. The first president of the body was Leslie Corry Smith.[1]

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).[1]

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".[4] 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.[5][6]

In 1998, the URBA introduced the playoff system, with a final match in a neutral venue to determine a unique champion of the season.[7] 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".[8] 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.[9] 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).[10]

As a result of those changes, the Buenos Aires league system was divided into six tiers.[11] 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.[7]

Clubs

Current

Teams competing at Top 12 in the 2018 season are:[12]

Club City Estab. Titles
AlumiTortuguitas19515
BelgranoBelgrano189611
C.A. San IsidroSan Isidro190233
HindúDon Torcuato191910
LomasLomas de Zamora18912
NewmanBenavídez19790
PucaráBurzaco19432
RegatasBella Vista18950
San Isidro ClubBoulogne193525
San LuisLa Plata19610
San MartínSáenz Peña19080
UniversitarioVilla de Mayo191814

Former clubs

Disaffiliated or defunct clubs:

Club City Estab. Period Titles
FloresCaballito189318990
Buenos Aires F.C.Palermo18861899–1951 [note 1]8
Old GeorgianQuilmes19081936–19973

Champions

Club Atlético San Isidro has won the most titles with 33 championships, followed by its arch-rival San Isidro Club with 25 titles. The complete list of champions is detailed below:[4][13]

Season Champion/s Runner-up Score
1899Lomas––
1900Buenos Aires FC [note 2]––
1901Buenos Aires FC––
1902Buenos Aires FC––
1903Buenos Aires FC––
1904Buenos Aires FC––
1905Atlético del Rosario––
1906Atlético del Rosario––
1907Belgrano A.C.––
1908Buenos Aires FC––
1909Buenos Aires FC––
1910Belgrano A.C.––
1911Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA)––
1912Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA)––
1913Lomas––
1914Belgrano A.C.––
1915Buenos Aires FC––
1916
(No tournament held)
1917CA San Isidro––
1918CA San Isidro––
1919
(No tournament held)
1920CA San Isidro––
1921CA San Isidro – Belgrano A.C. [note 3]––
1922CA San Isidro––
1923CA San Isidro––
1924CA San Isidro––
1925CA San Isidro––
1926CA San Isidro––
1927CA San Isidro––
1928CA San Isidro––
1929CA San Isidro––
1930CA San Isidro––
1931Universitario (BA)––
1932Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA)––
1933CA San Isidro––
1934CA San Isidro––
1935Atlético del Rosario––
1936Belgrano A.C.––
1937Old Georgian––
1938Old Georgian––
1939Old Georgian – Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA)––
1940Belgrano A.C. – Olivos [note 3]––
1941San Isidro Club––
1942Universitario (BA)––
1943CA San Isidro––
1944Universitario (BA)––
1945Universitario (BA)––
1946Pucará––
1947Universitario (BA)––
1948San Isidro Club––
1949CA San Isidro – Universitario (BA) [note 3]––
1950Universitario (BA) – Pucará [note 3]––
1951Universitario (BA)––
1952Universitario (BA)––
1953Obras––
1954CA San Isidro––
1955CA San Isidro––
1956CA San Isidro––
1957CA San Isidro––
1958Buenos Aires CRC [note 4]––
1959Buenos Aires CRC [note 4]––
1960CA San Isidro––
1961CA San Isidro––
1962CA San Isidro––
1963Belgrano A.C.––
1964CA San Isidro––
1965Universitario (BA)––
1966Belgrano A.C.––
1967Belgrano A.C.––
1968Belgrano A.C. – Universitario (BA) [note 3]––
1969Universitario (BA)––
1970Universitario (BA) – San Isidro Club [note 3]––
1971San Isidro Club––
1972San Isidro Club––
1973San Isidro Club––
1974CA San Isidro––
1975CA San Isidro––
1976CA San Isidro––
1977San Isidro Club––
1978San Isidro Club––
1979San Isidro Club––
1980San Isidro Club––
1981CA San Isidro––
1982CA San Isidro––
1983CA San Isidro––
1984CA San Isidro––
1985CA San Isidro––
1986San Isidro Club – Banco Nación [note 3]––
1987San Isidro Club––
1988San Isidro Club––
1989Alumni – Banco Nación [note 3]––
1990Alumni––
1991Alumni––
1992Alumni––
1993San Isidro Club––
1994San Isidro Club––
1995La Plata––
1996Hindú – Atlético del Rosario––
1997San Isidro Club––
1998HindúSan Isidro Club38–12 [note 5]
1999San Isidro ClubAtlético del Rosario14–9
2000Atlético del RosarioCA San Isidro35–32
2001Alumni
(No final held)[note 6]
2002San Isidro ClubRegatas16–10
2003San Isidro ClubCA San Isidro20–9
2004San Isidro ClubAlumni36–16
2005CA San IsidroSan Isidro Club18–17
2006HindúAlumni20–5
2007HindúAlumni9–6
2008HindúNewman22–10
2009HindúCA San Isidro31–22
2010San Isidro ClubLa Plata30–22
2011San Isidro ClubAlumni14–11
2012HindúLa Plata15–9
2013Universitario (BA)Hindú11–9
2014HindúUniversitario (BA)29–17
2015HindúUniversitario (BA)24–0
2016Belgrano A.C.Hindú25–10
2017HindúAlumni27–20

Titles by club

Team Titles Years won
CA San Isidro331917, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1928, 1930, 1933, 1934, 1943, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1967, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1985, 2005
San Isidro Club251939, 1941, 1948, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011
Universitario (BA)141931, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 2013
Belgrano A.C.111907, 1910, 1914, 1921, 1936, 1940, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968, 2016
Hindú101996, 1998, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017
Buenos Aires F.C. [note 2]81900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1908, 1909, 1915
Alumni51989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2001
Atlético del Rosario51905, 1906, 1935, 1996, 2000
Gimnasia y Esgrima (BA)41911, 1912, 1932, 1939
Old Georgian31937, 1938, 1939
Lomas21899, 1913
Pucará21946, 1950
Buenos Aires CRC [note 4]21958, 1959
Banco Nación21986, 1989
Olivos11940
Obras Sanitarias11953
La Plata11995

Broadcasters Rights

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).

Notes

  1. ↑ Merged with Buenos Aires Cricket Club in 1951
  2. 1 2 The Buenos Aires F.C. was an institution with rugby union as its exclusive sport by those years. It would merge to Buenos Aires Cricket Club in 1951.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Title shared.
  4. 1 2 3 The rugby section of the Buenos Aires Cricket Club was former Buenos Aires F.C. team that had merged to the institution in 1951.
  5. ↑ Since this year, a final match in a neutral venue is played to determine a unique champion of the season.
  6. ↑ Alumni crowned champion during the regular season, more precisely in the 11th. fixture when the team defeated CA San Isidro by 16-13.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Hechos históricos de la Unión" at UAR website Archived 19 February 2013 at Archive.is
  2. ↑ El Top 12 tiene fixture, Rugbyfun, 21 Dec 2016
  3. ↑ Fixtures Top 12, Primera, Segunda y Tercera División 2017 on URBA website
  4. 1 2 "Historia de la Unión" at URBA website
  5. ↑ "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
  6. ↑ "Alumni: un campeón con el sacrificio como principal aliado" by Diego Mazzei on La Nación, 16 Sep 2001
  7. 1 2 El torneo de la URBA da un abrupto giro a partir de 2017, La Nación, 20 May 2016
  8. ↑ "Se realizó el lanzamiento del URBA TOP 14", 19 May 2014
  9. ↑ La Voz - La UAR anunció el nuevo formato para el Torneo Nacional de Clubes, La Voz, 16 May 2014
  10. ↑ El Torneo de la URBA se renueva: arranca el Top 12, con una mayor competitividad y grandes partidos, La Nación, 29 Apr 2017
  11. ↑ Cambios en la URBA para los torneos de 2017, ESPN Scrum, 19 May 2016
  12. ↑ URBA Top 12 Copa DIRECTV: fixture del torneo on ESPN Scrum
  13. ↑ URBA: Todos los campeones – "A Pleno Rugby" website
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