Torneo de la URBA

The Torneo de la Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires, or simply Torneo de la URBA, is a rugby union competition in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Created in 1899, it is the oldest rugby competition in South America and one of the oldest club competitions in the world.

History

The precursor of both the Unión Argentina de Rugby and today's Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires, the River Plate Rugby Union, was founded in Buenos Aires, in 1899, by four clubs: Buenos Aires FC, Belgrano and Lomas from Buenos Aires, and Club Atlético from Rosario.

That same year, the R.P.R.U. organised the first edition of the Buenos Aires' inter-club competition that is known today as the Torneo de la URBA. The inaugural winners were Lomas Athletic Club.

Today the URBA is Argentina's most powerful provincial union and the Torneo de la URBA the strongest club competition in the country, with 82 clubs playing in 4 divisions.

Formula

The Torneo de la URBA is open to all clubs from the province of Buenos Aires. As a founding member of the R.P.R.U. Atlético Rosario are also authorised to participate, even though the club is from Rosario in Santa Fe province (other Rosario clubs take part in the Torneo del Litoral).

The tournament is one of the country's two main club competitions; the other being the tournament dedicated to the clubs from the provinces (i.e. not from Buenos Aires): the Torneo del Interior.

The URBA tournament's formula has changed many times since 1899. The most recent inception is 82 clubs playing in 4 divisions: 24 clubs in the first division, 24 in the second, 16 in the third and 18 in the fourth division.

First division

The first division (officially called "Torneo de la URBA - Grupo 1") involves 24 clubs divided into 2 zones of 12 teams. Each team play against its 11 opponents in the zone only once (either home or away). At the end of the first phase the best 14 clubs (7 and 6 clubs per zone) qualify to the "Top 14" phase of the competition, while the other 10 clubs meet the 14 best qualified clubs of the second division in a promotion/relegation competition.

The Top 14 phase takes place over 13 weeks, with every club playing each of their opponents only once (either home or away). At the end of this phase, the first 4 clubs qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament, with the 1st ranked team meeting the 4th and the 2nd meeting the 3rd. Both semi-finals take place on the same weekend on neutral ground. The final usually takes place a week later and the winner of this game is crowned "Campeón de la URBA".

Both the URBA winner and runner-up qualify for the Nacional de Clubes semi-finals, where they meet the winner and runner-up of the Torneo del Interior. The winner of that competition is declared Argentine champion.

Other divisions

The lower divisions of the URBA tournament follow a similar system with 2 phases. The best ranked teams from the 1st phase entering a promotion competition, and the lowest ranked teams entering a salvation competition.

Titles

The most successful teams are Club Atlético San Isidro (CASI) and San Isidro Club (SIC) with 33 and 25 titles respectively. These are all the champions since then:

* shared title

Up 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 time, including in 1939 when a record 3 clubs had to share the URBA title. To remedy this, a play-off system leading to a grand final was instaured in 1998. This new system has been in used since then, except in 2001.

Below is the list of the Torneo de la URBA finals since 1998:

Champions

• 33 titles
  • Club Atlético San Isidro: 1917, 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
• 25 titles
  • San Isidro Club: 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
• 13 titles
  • Club Universitario de Buenos Aires: 1931, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970
• 10 titles
  • Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club: 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1908, 1909, 1915, 1958, 1959
  • Belgrano Athletic Club: 1907, 1910, 1914, 1921, 1936, 1940, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968
• 6 titles
  • Hindú Club: 1996, 1998, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
• 5 titles
  • Asociación Alumni: 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2001
  • Club Atlético del Rosario: 1905, 1906, 1935, 1996, 2000
• 4 titles
  • Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires: 1911, 1912, 1932, 1939
• 3 titles
  • Old Georgian Club: 1937, 1938, 1939
• 2 titles
  • Lomas Athletic Club: 1899, 1913
  • Club Pucará: 1946, 1950
  • Club Atlético Banco de la Nación Argentina: 1986, 1989
• 1 title
  • Olivos Rugby Club: 1940
  • Club Atlético Obras Sanitarias de la Nación: 1953
  • La Plata Rugby Club: 1995

External links

• Official Site (Spanish)
• Provincial Tournament History at UAR
• URBA Rugby Pictures
• URBA History (Spanish)