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 Buenos Aires and 8 from the rest of the provinces of Argentina.

Torneo Nacional de Clubes
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2021
SportRugby union
Founded1993; 31 years ago (1993)
First season1993
No. of teams16
Country Argentina
ConfederationUAR
Most recent
champion(s)
Hindú
(2022)
Most titlesHindú (11 titles)
TV partner(s)ESPN
DirecTV
Level on pyramid1
Related
competitions
Official websiteuar.com.ar/nacional

There is also a second division, "Nacional de Clubes B", with a similar format.

History

edit

From 1993 to 2008, the competition involved 16 clubs, which were divided into four zones. The top two clubs of each zone qualified for the quarter-finals of the competition. The 16 best placed clubs in their respective regional championships were eligible to play the Nacional de Clubes. The number of teams were determined were: eight from Buenos Aires, two each from the Noroeste, Litoral and Córdoba and one from both Cuyo and Mar del Plata.

Due to scheduling problems, in 2009 the UAR re-launched the Torneo del Interior, a competition that involved clubs from all provincial unions outside Buenos Aires. The new formula of this tournament coincided with a complete overhaul of the Nacional de Clubes system, so the competition was contested by only 4 teams, 2 from the Torneo del Interior and 2 from URBA.

That format remained until 2013, when the UAR announced that after a three-year hiatus, the Nacional de Clubes would return with the original 16 team format since the 2014 edition,[1][2] with 9 qualifying from the Torneo del Interior and 7 from the Buenos Aires Union.[1][3]

Hindú Club is the most successful team with 11 titles.

Format

edit

The "Nacional de Clubes A" is contested by 16 clubs from the best placed teams of the URBA and regional tournaments. Teams are divided into four zones, playing each other in a double round-robin tournament. Teams with the most points in each zone advance to the quarterfinals, concluding with the semi-finals and a final.[4]

List of champions

edit

Below are detailed all the final results:

Ed. Season Champion Score Runner-up
1
1993 San Isidro Club (1) 27–19 Tucumán
2
1994 San Isidro Club (2) 28–12 La Tablada
3
1995 CA San Isidro (1) 19-06 La Plata
4
1996 Hindú (1) 21–11 Alumni
5
1997 Jockey Club (R) (1) 24–14 Hindú
6
1998 San Cirano (1) & San Luis (1) 22–22 (None) [note 1]
7
1999 La Tablada (1) 23–22 Duendes
2000
(Not held)
8
2001 Hindú (2) 27–14 Alumni
9
2002 Alumni (1) 23–21 Jockey Club (Rosario)
10
2003 Hindú (3) 31–27 Duendes
11
2004 Duendes (1) 32–21 Los Tarcos
12
2005 Hindú (4) 17–13 San Luis
13
2006 San Isidro Club (3) 17–13 Tala
14
2007 La Plata (1) 32–13 Tucumán
15
2008 San Isidro Club (4) 33–8 La Plata
16
2009 Duendes (2) 28–18 Hindú
17
2010 Hindú (5) 25–22 La Tablada
18
2011 Duendes (3) 26–23 La Tablada
2012–13
(Not held)
19
2014 Universitario (BA) (1) 21–20 Duendes
20
2015 Hindú (6) 27–25 Newman
21
2016 Hindú (7) 38–23 Belgrano AC
22
2017 Hindú (8) 20–10 Tala
23
2018 Hindú (9) 25–0 Newman
24
2019 Hindú (10) 18-13 Jockey Club (Rosario)
2020–21
(Not held due to covid-19 pandemic)
25
2022 Hindú (11) 34-16 Duendes
Notes
  1. ^ Both teams were declared champions after the match finished in a tie.

Titles by club

edit
Team Titles Years won
Hindú 11 1996, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022
San Isidro Club 4 1993, 1994, 2006, 2008
Duendes 3 2004, 2009, 2011
CA San Isidro 1 1995
Jockey Club (Rosario) 1 1997
San Cirano 1 1998
San Luis 1 1998
La Tablada 1 1999
Alumni 1 2002
La Plata 1 2007
Universitario (BA) 1 2014

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Nuevo Torneo Nacional de Clubes a partir del 2014" Archived 20 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine. uar.com.ar. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  2. ^ "La UAR anunció el nuevo formato para el Torneo Nacional de Clubes", La Voz, 14 Jun 2013
  3. ^ ""La UAR y la URBA acordaron el nuevo formato del Nacional de Clubes", Los Andes, 30 May 2013". Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  4. ^ Reglamento Nacional de Clubes 2018 on UAR website
edit