# 1997 Campeonato Argentino de Rugby

The 1997 Campeonato Argentino de Rugby was the 51st annual rugby competition held in Argentina in 1997. Cordoba defeated Rosario in the final game to win the tournament.
The Campeonato Argentino consisted of 21 teams, divided into three divisions, "Campeonato", "Ascenso" and "Promocional".

## Rugby Union in Argentina in 1997
### National

* The "Campeonato Argentino Menores de 21" (Under 21 championship) was won by Buenos Aires
* The "Campeonato Argentino Menores de 19" (Under 19 championship) was won by Buenos Aires
* The "National Championship for clubs" was won by Jockey Club de Rosario
* The "Torneo de la URBA" (Buenos Aires) was won by San Isidro Club
* The "Cordoba Province Championship" was won by La Tablada
* The North-East Championship was won by Universitario de Tucumán

### International

* May–June: The England National Rugby Union team visited Argentina. They played six matches, with two tests. The first test was won by England, the second by the Pumas.
* The Pumas went on a tour of New Zealand in June. They lost five out of six matches, with two heavy losses against the All Blacks by the scores of 8-93, and 10-62.
* October–November: The Australian National Rugby Union Team played five matches in Argentina before their tournament in Great Britain. One test match was won by the Wallabies by the score of (23-15), and one by the Pumas (18-16).
* Argentina won the South American Championship.

## "Campeonato"

The title was decided by a round robin tournament, with the last place finisher relegated to the second division.
1ª round :
| 5 April | Cordoba | - | Buenos Aires | 33-29 | Cordoba |
| 5 April | Tucumàn | - | Rosario | 21-56 | S.Miguel de T. |
| 5 April | Mar del Plata | - | Cuyo | 14-16 | Mar del Plata |
2ª round :
| 12 April | Cuyo | - | Cordoba | 26-26 | Mendoza |
| 12 April | Mar del Plata | - | Tucumàn | 17-35 | Mar del Plata |
| 12 April | Rosario | - | Buenos Aires | 21-29 | Rosario |
3ª round :
| 19 April | Rosario | - | Mar del Plata | 45-13 | Rosario |
| 19 April | Buenos Aires | - | Cuyo | 80-18 | Buenos Aires |
| 19 April | Tucumàn | - | Cordoba | 29-30 | S.Miguel de T. |
4ª round :
| 26 April | Cuyo | - | Rosario | 15-22 | Mendoza |
| 26 April | Buenos Aires | - | Tucumàn | 42-13 | Buenos Aires |
| 26 April | Cordoba | - | Mar del Plata | 68-20 | Cordoba |
5ª round :
| 3 May | Rosario | - | Cordoba | 20-25 | Rosario |
| 3 May | Cuyo | - | Tucumàn | 37-40 | Mendoza |
| 3 May | Mar del Plata | - | Buenos Aires | 0-100 | Mar del Plata |
* Champions
* Relegated to "Ascenso"
| Place | Team | Games | Games | Games | Games | Points | Points | Points | Table points |
| Place | Team | played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | Table points |
| 1 | Cordoba | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 182 | 124 | 58 | 9 |
| 2 | Buenos Aires | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 280 | 115 | 165 | 8 |
| 3 | Rosario | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 164 | 103 | 61 | 6 |
| 4 | Tucumàn | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 156 | 182 | -26 | 4 |
| 5 | Cuyo | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 112 | 182 | -70 | 3 |
| 6 | Mar del Plata | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 76 | 264 | -188 | 0 |

## "Ascenso"

| | NOE | SAL | SFE | S-J | E-R | STG |
| Noroeste | –––– | 36-26 | 47-5 | 25-25 | 72-5 | 22-13 |
| Salta | 26-36 | –––– | 31-31 | 26-23 | 38-32 | 79-17 |
| Santa Fè | 5-47 | 31-31 | –––– | 24-14 | 47-10 | 25-13 |
| San Juan | 25-25 | 23-26 | 14-24 | –––– | 38-8 | 53-13 |
| Entre Rios | 5-72 | 32-38 | 10-47 | 8-38 | –––– | 30-13 |
| Santiago | 13-22 | 17-79 | 13-25 | 13-53 | 13-30 | –––– |
* Promoted to "Campeonato"
* Relegated to "Promocional"
| Place | Team | Games | Games | Games | Games | Points | Points | Points | Table points |
| Place | Team | played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | Table points |
| 1 | Noroeste | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 202 | 74 | 128 | 9 |
| 2 | Salta | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 200 | 139 | 61 | 7 |
| 3 | Santa Fè | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 132 | 115 | 17 | 7 |
| 4 | San Juan | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 153 | 96 | 57 | 5 |
| 5 | Entre Rios | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 85 | 208 | -123 | 2 |
| 6 | Santiago | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 69 | 209 | -140 | 0 |

## "Promocional"
### Pool A

The Centro team forfeited and did not participate in the tournament.
| | A-V | CHU | SUR | AUS |
| Alta Valle | –––– | 29-20 | 22-21 | 24-18 |
| Chubut | 20-29 | –––– | 15-14 | 30-17 |
| Sur | 21-22 | 14-15 | –––– | 52-15 |
| Austral | 18-24 | 17-30 | 15-52 | –––– |
* Qualified for final
| Place | Team | Games | Games | Games | Games | Points | Points | Points | Table points |
| Place | Team | played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | Table points |
| 1 | Alta Valle | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 59 | 16 | 6 |
| 2 | Chubut | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 65 | 60 | 5 | 4 |
| 3 | Sur | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 87 | 52 | 35 | 2 |
| 4 | Austral | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 50 | 106 | -56 | 0 |

### Pool B

The Cuenca del Salado and Oeste teams forfeited and did not participate in the tournament.
| | MIS | FOR | JUJ |
| Misiones | –––– | 40-29 | 69-14 |
| Formosa | 29-40 | –––– | 25-6 |
| Jujuy | 14-69 | 6-25 | –––– |
* Qualified for Semifinals
* Relegated
| Place | Team | Games | Games | Games | Games | Points | Points | Points | Table points |
| Place | Team | played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | Table points |
| 1 | Misiones | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 43 | 66 | 4 |
| 2 | Formosa | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 54 | 46 | 8 | 2 |
| 3 | Jujuy | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 94 | -74 | 0 |

### Final

* 17 May 1997
| Misiones | 15-66 | Alta Valle |
* Alta Valle was promoted to "ascenso"