South American Rugby Championship
South American Rugby Championship| Sport |
Rugby union |
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| Founded |
1951 |
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| No. of teams |
12 |
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| Continent |
South America |
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| Most recent champion(s) |
 Argentina |
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The South American Rugby Championship is a four-tiered, annual rugby union competition that features teams from South America. The tournament began in 1951 with Uruguay as the host, which saw Argentina win the title. It wasn't until 2005 when the first official Division B tournament was held, which was eventually won by Brazil. In 2012, a C Division was added, and was won by Costa Rica. In 2014, an addition competition was added, CONSUR Cup, which is contested by Argentina and the top two sides of the A Division the previous year.
As of 2013, all tournaments have been won by Argentina with the exception of the 1981 edition, in which Argentina did not participate, which was won by Uruguay.
Format
The South American Rugby Championship is a round-robin tournament, with each team playing each other once at a designated host stadium. From 1951 to 1998, only Argentina, Chile and Uruguay were the core teams in the tournament. They competed alongside occasional additions of Brazil, Paraguay and Peru, with the winner being decided on which team finishes with the most table points. In 2000, a second division was added, which meant the bottom placed team of the A division had a play-off match with the top placed team of the B division, although this did not apply to every tournament due to the Rugby World Cup qualification formats. In 2012, a third Division was added, which meant up until 2014, the bottom placed team of the B division would play a play-off match against the top placed C Division team. Although like A and B, this did not apply to every tournament due to the Rugby World Cup qualification format. In 2014, the tournament became a four-tiered competition, with Argentina no longer competing as a regular. However, the tournament would keep the same format for promotion and relegation. The top placed team from Division C will play a play-off match against the bottom placed team from Division B to determine which Division those teams are in for the succeeding tournament. The winner of the play-off match will earn a place in Division B for the succeeding tournament, the loser plays in Division C the following year. This works in the same way for Division A and B. The top placed team of Division B will play a play-off match against the bottom placed team from Division A to determine which divisions those teams will play in for the succeeding tournament. The winner of the play-off match will earn a place in Division A for the succeeding tournament, while the loser plays in Division B the following year. However, the top two teams of Division A will compete for the CONSUR Cup, alongside Argentina, the following year regardless of their positions of that year.
Current divisions (2015)
Results
Past Tournaments 1951–1998
Past Tournaments 2000–2012
Division A
Division B
Division C
Past Tournaments 2013–Present
CONSUR Cup
Division A
Notes:
- Argentina did not participate in the 2014 tournament.
Division B
Division C
See also
- CONSUR
- Rugby union in 2008
References
External links
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| | | | Worldwide | |
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| | Multi-sport events | |
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| | Intercontinental | |
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| Asia | |
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| Europe | |
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| Oceania | |
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| Americas | |
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| | Defunct | |
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| | First Division | |
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| | Second Division | |
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| | Third Division | |
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Uruguay 
Chile 
Paraguay 
Venezuela 
Brazil 
Peru 
Colombia 
Costa Rica
Guatemala 
Ecuador 
El Salvador
Panama