# Rugby Americas North

Rugby Americas North (RAN) is the governing body for rugby union in the North American continental region. Rugby Americas North operates under the authority of World Rugby, and is one of six regional unions represented within it.
Prior to 2016, the organisation was known as NACRA – the North America Caribbean Rugby Association. The preceding body before 2010 was NAWIRA – the North America and West Indies Rugby Association.
The main objective of RAN is the promotion and development of rugby in North America and the Caribbean. The association unveiled a four-year plan during the 2011 Annual General Meeting to grow rugby within its membership unions through promotion, media output and competition.
World Rugby's 40-member executive council includes two seats for RAN representatives, two seats for Canada, and one for the United States. By contrast to RAN's five votes on the World Rugby executive council, European countries have 16 votes.

## Competitions

RAN oversees regional competitions, such as regional qualifiers for Pan Am Games and Rugby World Cups including:
Senior
* RAN Sevens
* RAN Women's Sevens
* RAN Rugby Championship
* RAN Women's Rugby Championship
Youth
* RAN Under-19 Championship

## Governance

RAN is governed by a board of five executives. The United States, Canada and Mexico are fixed representatives, while the Caribbean countries elect two nations for delegation. In November 2021 RAN announced changes to its executive committee following its 2021 Annual General Meeting in Miami. George Nicholson was appointed as the new president and Dr. Araba Chintoh and Miguel Carner as vice presidents.

## Player registration

As of 2010, there were 128,828 rugby players within North America: with the largest number of players from:
* United States (88,151)
* Canada (23,853)
* Trinidad and Tobago (5,060)
* Mexico (3,454)
As of 2016, RAN reported 160,769 total registered players and 1,595,565 non-registered players.
* USA – 119,682
* Canada – 27,512
* Mexico – 6,168
* Martinique – 3,500
* St. Vincent & The Grenadines – 1,806
* Jamaica – 1,518
* Trinidad & Tobago – 1,403
* Bermuda – 794
* Dominican Republic – 600
* Bahamas – 529
* Guyana – 522
* Barbados – 425
* Cayman – 410
* St. Lucia – 292
* Turks and Caicos – 200
* British Virgin Islands – 117
* Curacao – 104
As of the 2019 Rugby Americas North Review there were 134,300 participants reported, 69,500 males and 65,000 females.

## Member unions

As of August 2024 Rugby Americas North has 13 full members and 4 associate members and 2 recognized regional development unions:
* Bahamas
* Barbados
* Bermuda
* British Virgin Islands
* Canada
* Cayman Islands
* Curaçao
* Dominican Republic
* French Guiana $^,$
* Guadeloupe
* Guyana
* Jamaica
* Martinique $^,$
* Mexico
* St. Lucia
* St. Vincent & the Grenadines
* Trinidad and Tobago
* Turks and Caicos Islands
* United States
Regional unions (including former affiliates) without current RAN recognition:
* St. Kitts and Nevis
Notes:
^a Denotes associate member of RAN not affiliated with World Rugby.
^b The governing body is the French Rugby Federation which has territorial committees for overseas departments and territories.

## World Rugby Rankings

Men's World Rugby Rankings (as of 2 January 2023) :
| North America* | World Rugby | +/- | National Team | Points |
| 1 | 19 | | United States | 65.92 |
| 2 | 23 | | Canada | 60.46 |
| 3 | 51 | 8 | Mexico | 45.83 |
| 4 | 52 | | Trinidad and Tobago | 45.51 |
| 5 | 54 | 4 | Cayman Islands | 44.37 |
| 6 | 58 | 1 | Guyana | 42.86 |
| 7 | 67 | | Jamaica | 39 |
| 8 | 68 | | Bermuda | 38.91 |
| 9 | 81 | | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 34.91 |
| 10 | 83 | | Barbados | 34.72 |
| 11 | 99 | | Bahamas | 27.76 |
| *Local rankings based on World Rugby ranking points |||||
Women's World Rugby Rankings (as of 2 January 2023) :
| North America* | World Rugby | National Team | Points |
| 1 | 4 | Canada | 84.22 |
| 2 | 7 | United States | 76.78 |
| 3 | 23 | Trinidad and Tobago | 46.45 |
| 4 | 34 | Jamaica | 40.52 |
| 5 | 38 | Guyana | 39.63 |
| 6 | 53 | Cayman Islands | 34.95 |
| 7 | 59 | Barbados | 30.06 |
| 8 | 60 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 28.71 |
| 9 | 61 | Bahamas | 27.67 |
| *Local rankings based on World Rugby ranking points |||||

## World Cup qualifying

Rugby Americas North nations participate in qualifying tournaments for the Rugby World Cup every four years. Two Rugby Americas North nations –Canada and United States – have qualified to play in Rugby World Cups.
| Edition | Automatically qualified | Qualified via competition | Qualified via repechage | Eliminated in repechage | Eliminated at final stage | Eliminated at second stage | Eliminated at first stage |
| 1987 | Canada United States | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1991 | — | Canada United States | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1995 | Canada | — | — | — | United States | — | Bermuda |
| 1999 | — | Canada United States | — | — | — | — | Trinidad and Tobago Guyana Bermuda Bahamas Barbados |
| 2003 | — | Canada | United States | — | — | Trinidad and Tobago | Bermuda Saint Lucia Barbados Bahamas Cayman Islands Guyana Jamaica |
| 2007 | — | Canada United States | — | — | — | Barbados | Guyana Trinidad and Tobago Saint Lucia Bahamas Cayman Islands Jamaica Bermuda Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
| 2011 | — | Canada United States | — | — | — | Trinidad and Tobago | Barbados Guyana Cayman Islands Bahamas Jamaica Bermuda Mexico Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
| 2015 | — | Canada United States | — | — | — | Bermuda | Trinidad and Tobago Guyana Cayman Islands Mexico Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Barbados Jamaica Bahamas |
| 2019 | — | Canada United States | — | — | — | — | Jamaica Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Cayman Islands Bermuda Bahamas Trinidad and Tobago Barbados Jamaica Guyana Mexico |
| 2023 | — | — | — | United States | Canada | — | — |
| 2027 | | | | | | | |