La Plata

When Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata let its footballers turn professional in 1931, the move broke the amateur rules the Unión de Rugby del Río de la Plata insisted on, and the union ordered the rugby section to break away. The players did so in 1934, first under a name that still carried Gimnasia's own, before the Urba pushed through a cleaner split in 1938 and the club became La Plata Rugby Club. A brief detour followed in the 1950s, when political pressure forced a change to El Bosque before the old name returned in 1956.

The Canary, as the club is known for its yellow and navy colours, waited until 1995 for its first title, beating Olivos 51-17 in a URBA Primera División final that also marked the first top-division championship won by any club from La Plata. A stronger side won the Torneo Nacional de Clubes in 2007, seeing off Tucumán Rugby Club with Esteban Durante among the try-scorers on the day.

The club's history holds a darker chapter too: twenty of its players were detained and disappeared during the military dictatorship of 1976-1983, an episode recorded in the book Maten al rugbier and marked with a plaque at the ground. Among those who came through the club in calmer years was Lucio Cinti, now with Saracens and the national team, while Santiago Ponzinibbio played youth rugby there before making his name in the UFC.

Matches against San Luis Rugby Club still draw the biggest crowds, in a fixture known locally as the Clásico Platense. La Plata dropped out of the Top 12 in 2019, won its way back through Primera A in 2022, and returned to the top flight for the 2025 season.