page_title: Rugby union in Argentina
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Rugby union in Argentina / History
caption_attribution_description: English: CA San Isidro (CASI) team in 1922.
context_page_description: Rugby union in Argentina is a popular team sport. The first rugby match played in the country dates back to 1873, as the game was introduced by the British. The Argentina national team, sometimes referred to as the Pumas, have competed at the Rugby World Cup, and are considered a tier one nation by the sport's governing body, World Rugby.
context_section_description: Rugby union began to be played in Argentina in 1873, exclusively by the resident British people to begin with. The first rugby union match in Argentina was played that same year in the Buenos Aires Cricket Club Ground, located in Palermo neighbourhood, where the Galileo Galilei planetarium is located today. Both teams (called "Bancos" and "Ciudad" for the occasion) were formed by members of the BACC and they play a mix between football and rugby.
  On 29 June 1886, it is recorded that Buenos Aires F.C. (predecessor of current Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club) and Rosario A.C. played the first inter-clubs match in Plaza Jewell, Rosario, Santa Fe. The line-ups were: Rosario: C.E. Baines, W. Graham, A. Musgrove, A. Williamson, R.C. Baines (captain), A. Dickenson, Boland, Geary, E.D. Graham, Hall, Hanckel, Parry, Smyth, Topping, Towse. Buenos Aires: G.E. Gunson, F.J. Bennett, W.R. S. Baikie (captain), J.C. Hutchings, J. Nisbet, A. H. Scott, W.P. Drabble, J. Earnshaw, A. Lace, R. Barton, J. Paterson, A. Hughes, J.P. Simpson, R.W. Anderson, W.H. Stuart. The match was won by Rosario by 3-0 with a try scored by A. Dickenson.
  Early rugby was not immune to political problems either. An 1890 game in Buenos Aires resulted in both teams, and all 2,500 spectators being arrested. National president Juárez Celman was particularly paranoid after the Revolution of the Park in the city earlier in the year, and the police had suspected that the match was in fact a political meeting.
  In 1899, four clubs from Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires, Belgrano, Flores and Lomas) and one from Rosario (Rosario A.C.) got together to form "The River Plate Rugby Union". That same year the Union organised the first club championship (currently Torneo de la URBA), which was won by Lomas.
  This body, one of the oldest rugby unions in the world, later became known as the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR), which became a member of the International Rugby Board (IRB) only after being invited to the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987.
  From that year until 1903, the only teams taking part in tournaments had been founded by English native or their descendants. Only they knew the rules of the game and their families were from the high society. It was only in 1904 when the first team formed by "criollos" made its appearance, named "Centro de Estudiantes de la Facultad de Ingeniería". Some players of that team were the Newbery Brothers, Martín Miguens, Alberto Lagos, Luis Duhau, Mariano Paunero and Germán Dates.
  Although rugby went professional in the mid-1990s, the domestic competition in Argentina has largely remained amateur. That has ensured large numbers of Argentines playing overseas, particularly in European competitions, though these players are still eligible for the national team, and make up a large amount of the side.
  It was originally dominated by the British community in Argentina, but unlike certain other regions, it became successfully transplanted to the local population. For example, in its early days the River Plate Rugby Union (the ancestor of today's national organisation), had a membership whose surnames portrayed their English and Scottish origins - such as Anderson, Baikie, Bellamy, Brodie, Corry-Smith, Elliot, Jacobs, Leicht, Taylor, Thurn.
  Away from Buenos Aires, where the game's background is traditionally somewhat refined, Tucuman is a heartland for the sport, where supporters are passionate, and often burn the opposition's flag on the terraces. This is a region which has provided Argentina with some of its toughest forwards.
  One of Argentina's main problems has been geographical isolation, and despite Chile, Uruguay and to a much lesser extent, Brazil playing the game, Argentina towers above them, and has not a reasonable match in its continent. Its first contact outwith the continent was in 1910, when the British and Irish Lions led by J. Raphael toured on Argentina, winning all six matches, scoring 213 points, and conceding a mere 31. The British Lions returned to Argentina in 1927, that time led by David MacMyn, playing 9 matches, 4 of them against th
caption: San Isidro (pictured in 1922) won a record of 13 consecutive titles (1917-30).
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