Unión de Rugby de Tucumán

Rugby was first played in Tucumán in 1915, when British enthusiasts that worked at the local sugarmills meet to play the game in the city of San Miguel de Tucumán.^[2] Nevertheless, the origins and development of rugby in the province are set in late 1930, thanks to the prize brought by professor Mario Santamarina, who considered himself to be the great propeller of rugby in the province.^[1]

The first rugby match played in Tucumán (and one that is indeed recorded in the pages of the newspaper La Gaceta) took place on September 21, 1924, at Estadio Monumental José Fierro, home to Club Atlético Tucumán, as part of the "4th Club Atlético Tucumán Tournament" organized by the institution. This sporting event also included football and athletics. That pioneer game was contested by two visiting teams, Club Atlético San Isidro (CASI), the reigning champion of Buenos Aires at the time, and a team called "Resto", made up of players from Gimnasia y Esgrima and Universitario. According to La Gaceta, CASI won 16–13.^[1]

The first match contested by local teams was held on 31 May 1935, when Tucumán Rugby Club (not the current homonymous club) defeated Club Mitre 7–0, with Santamarina playing for the winning side.^[1]

The first official rugby team in the province –from Club Natación y Gimnasia– was formed in 1936. Six years later a new Tucumán Rugby Club was founded, followed by Universitario Rugby Club de Tucumán and Círculo Universitario^[1] (both in 1943), and Cardenales in 1944. Those four clubs would go on to establish the "Unión de Rugby del Norte" on 29 February 1944.^[3][4][1]

The union changed its name to a Spanish form "Unión de Rugby de Tucumán" in 1966. Four years later the union also changed its colors from maroon to orange. As of March 2025, the union had 26 clubs (11 affiliated and 15 invited) competing in its tournaments^[1].

Although the URN was based in Tucumán Province it also dealt with fledgling clubs from the neighbouring provinces of Salta, Jujuy and Santiago del Estero. Later these provinces would go on to form their own unions: Unión de Rugby de Salta in 1951, Unión Jujeña de Rugby in 1966 and Unión Santiagueña de Rugby in 1968. After that the Unión de Rugby del Norte became simply known as the Unión de Rugby de Tucumán and only dealt with clubs from Tucumán Province.

Home Kit

The URT was represented by its own team in Campeonato Argentino, a now defunct competition in which each of the 24 unions that make up the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR) participated. Tucumán participated in all the Argentino editions since 1944, playing a total of 23 finals (the first in 1966) with 11 titles won, the last in 2014.^[1]

In 1992, the provincial team achieved the most important accomplishment in their history when they defeated France 25–23^[5][6] during their 1992 tour of Argentina.^[7]

International matches

Throughout their history, Tucumán has played friendly matches against some notable international squads that were on tour of Argentina. Some of them are listed below:^[1]

More information Date / Event, Rival ...

Date / Event	Rival	Score	Venue
31 Aug 1966	Gazelles	3–80	EUDEF [n 1]
11 Aug 1971	Oxford–Cambridge [n 2]	9–21	EUDEF
14 Oct 1972	Gazelles	6–47	EUDEF
26 Oct 1976	New Zealand	15–51	Atlético Concepción Stadium[n 3]
21 Oct 1980	Fiji	9–24	Atlético Concepción Stadium
18 Jun 1985	France	7–24	Atlético Concepción Stadium
7 Jun 1988	France	18–18	Atlético Tucumán Stadium
21 Nov 1988	Māori New Zealand	3–12	Atlético Tucumán Stadium
18 Jun 1990	England	14–19	Atlético Tucumán Stadium
26 Jun 1991	New Zealand	14–19	Atlético Tucumán Stadium
23 Jun 1992	France	25–23	Atlético Tucumán Stadium
2 Nov 1993	South Africa	12–40	Atlético Tucumán Stadium

Close

Notes

1. [1]

   Acronym for "Escuela Universitaria de Educación Física" of Universidad Nacional de Tucumán.
2. [2]

   Combined side.
3. [3]

   Home venue of Club Atlético Concepción.

Eleven member clubs are affiliated with the Union and take part in the union's provincial competitions. They also compete in the annual Torneo del Norte, a regional competition that also includes teams from the neighboring unions of Salta, Santiago del Estero and Jujuy.

Clubs from Tucumán have enjoyed some success in the national club tournament with Tucumán Rugby Club reaching the final twice in 1993 and 2007, and Los Tarcos Rugby Club once in 2004.

• Torneo del Noroeste