The Américas Rugby Championship is back: what it is and when it is played

He Americas Rugby Championship will be held again after a seven-year hiatus. Paraguay will be the tournament venuewhich will have the presence of the host, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and the United States. The return of the ARC reflects the growing collaboration between world rugby and South America Rugby: Currently, the CEO of the entity is in the region to analyze the candidacy of the Albiceleste country to be the 2035 World Cup venue.

As published by the Uruguayan media El Observador, World Rugby confirmed to the different unions that the championship will take place over a week with three days: Friday, October 9, Tuesday, October 13 and Saturday, October 17. All matches will be played at the Héroes de Curupaytí Stadium in Asunción, the high performance center of the Paraguayan Rugby Union.

The first teams from Paraguay and Brazil will participate, while Argentina, Uruguay, the United States and Chile will present their second teams. The tournament format will be with two groups of three teams each. Each team will play against the three from the opposing group, and whoever finishes with the most points will be crowned champion.

This tournament represents the third era of a competition that reached its peak between 2016 and 2019. During that period, the Américas Rugby Championship included Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, the United States, Canada and Argentina XV, earning the reputation of being the “American Six Nations”. The event was suspended due to the pandemic and political conflicts between North and South America within World Rugby.

The first version of the Américas Rugby Chamionship was played between 2012 and 2015 with the current format, of one venue and one week of competition, between the second teams of Canada (local), Argentina, the United States and the main team of Uruguay. Between 2016 and 2021, that tournament was renamed Americas Pacific Challenge, was played in Montevideo and also involved Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.