The URBA Top 13 (formerly "Torneo de la URBA", named "Top 13" since the 2022 season)El URBA Top 13 tiene fixture confirmado para la temporada 2022
on ESPN Argentina, Dec 2021 is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

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 The Argentine Rugby Union ( es, Unión Argentina de Rugby, abbreviated "UAR") is the governing body for rugby union in Argentina. It is a member of World Rugby, with a seat on that body's Executive Council, and a founding member of Sudamérica Ru ...

– UAR), the Top 13 is the oldest rugby competition in South America and one of the oldest club competitions in the world. Top 13 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 Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three federated states called provinces ( es, provincias, singular ''provincia'') and one called the autonomous city (''ciudad autónoma'') of Buenos Aires, which is the federal capital of the republic ( e ...

take part. The championship runs from March to October. Despite being from the city of

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most p ...

Santa Fe Province The Province of Santa Fe ( es, Provincia de Santa Fe, ) is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco (divided by the 28th parallel south), Corrientes, Entre R� ...

, Atlético del Rosario has taken part of Top 12 as founding member of the UAR. The other clubs from Rosario compete in tournaments organised by the Rosario governing body.

History

The River Plate Rugby Union was established in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

on 10 April 1899, being its founding members

, Belgrano,

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and

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and t ...

from

, and Rosario A.C. from

. The first president of the body was Leslie Corry Smith."Hechos históricos de la Unión" at UAR website
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). 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

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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.Fundación del River Plate Rugby Union Championship
on Atlético del Rosario website, 18 Apr 2019 As a result of a reorganization of the UAR in 1995, the

Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires The Buenos Aires Rugby Union ( es, "Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires"), usually referred as URBA, is the Argentina, Argentine governing body that organises and controls the rugby union in the Buenos Aires Province (including the main district, Bue ...

was created to take over the tournament, being named "Torneo de la URBA"."Historia de la Unión" at URBA website
/ref> 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. In 1998, the URBA introduced the playoff system, with a final match in a neutral venue to determine a unique champion of the season. 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". 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 The Club Atlético de San Isidro (mostly known for its acronym CASI) is an Argentine sports club based in the city of San Isidro in Greater Buenos Aires. Originally established as a football club, San Isidro has gained recognition for its rug ...

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 In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues ...

competition named "Torneo Reubicación". Both the URBA winner and runner-up qualified for the

Nacional de Clubes The Torneo Nacional de Clubes is a club rugby union competition in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR). The Nacional de Clubes is the main club competition in Argentine rugby, being contested by a total of 16 teams, 8 from Buen ...

semi-finals, where they met the winner and runner-up of Torneo del Interior.La Voz - La UAR anunció el nuevo formato para el Torneo Nacional de Clubes
La Voz, 16 May 2014 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). As a result of those changes, the Buenos Aires league system was divided into six tiers. 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.El torneo de la URBA da un abrupto giro a partir de 2017
''La Nación'', 20 May 2016

Format

The tournament will start on March 19, 2022, with the 13 participant teams playing a double

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & C. Me ...

, 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

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 Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three federated states called provinces ( es, provincias, singular ''provincia'') and one called the autonomous city (''ciudad autónoma'') of Buenos Aires, which is the federal capital of the republic ( e ...

and the seven from URBA.

Clubs

Current (2022)

Teams competing at Top 13 in the 2022 seasons are:

Former clubs

Disaffiliated or defunct clubs:

Champions

The complete list of champions is detailed below:URBA: Todos los campeones – "A Pleno Rugby" website
/ref> Starting in 1998, a final match in a neutral venue is played to determine a unique champion of the season. ;Notes

Titles by club

;Notes

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).

References

External links

* {{Southern Hemisphere Provincial Rugby Competitions * Rugby union tournaments for clubs Sports leagues established in 1899 1899 establishments in Argentina