One of the first rugby union games held in Mar del Plata was played in 1925 by the BritishbattleshipRepulse's crew and a teamcomposed of employees of Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway that travelled to Mar del Plata specially for the occasion. A chronicle published on local newspaperLa Capital described the match as follows: The Mar del Plata Rugby Club was the pioneer in the city, having been established on 13 July 1944. Some of the enthusiasts that made the arrangements for its foundation were Rodolfo Tonneti, José Galarce, and Alberto Hernández, some of them with a past in clubs Curupaytí and Hindú. The first committee was formed in Hernández's house, appointing Rómulo Tamini as president of the club. The team started to practise at the beach, then moving to Campo Municipal de Deportes. In the Spring of 1945, Buenos Aires clubs CUBA and Pucará visited the city. As the city did not have other club than Mar del Plata RC, it only played friendly matches with clubs from neighbor cities such as Independiente, Ita-Carú and Duperial. On 25 May 1949 a tournament was held in the city, with Mar del Plata RC, Curupaytí, Pucará and Obras Sanitarias. To help the spread of the sport in the city, rugby union was added to programs of Nacional, Comercial and Industrial Schools, with the collaboration of Physical education teacher Carlos Vecchio. In 1950 the first "Marplatense" championship was held, with Mar del Plata RC and the aforementioned schools contesting the competition. One year later, Bigua RC added to competitions. Other clubs added later would be General Pueyrredón and Escuela de Artillería Antiaérea. In August 1951 the first rugby sevens competition was organised as part of the "Second Olympic Games of Mar del Plata", with 13 teams. All the matches were held in the Municipal Park. That would be the first step to form a body, "Unión de Rugby de Mar del Plata", on 27 October 1951 with Alberto Hernández as president. The emblem chosen was a four-leaf clover with the founding members colors, red, green, light blue and dark blue. At the beginning of 1952, two rugby fields were built in Parque Camet. Those fields have been used as Mar del Plata RC venue up to present days.
Clubs
Affiliated clubs as of July, 2019:
Club
City
Bigua
Mar del Plata
Camarones
Pinamar
Campo de Pato
Balcarce
Club Los 50
Tandil
Los Cardos RC
Tandil
Comercial
Sierra de los Padres
Gnomos
Mar de Ajó
Mar del Plata Club
Mar del Plata
Miramar RC
Miramar
Náutico Necochea
Necochea
Necochea RC
Necochea
Pampas
Dolores
Pueyrredón RC
Mar del Plata
San Ignacio Rugby
Mar del Plata
Sporting
Mar del Plata
Tiro Federal
Ayacucho
Unión del Sur
Mar del Plata
Universitario
Mar del Plata
Uncas
Tandil
Villa Gesell RC
Villa Gesell
Competitions
Clubs from URMDP compete in "Torneo Regional Pampeano", contested by teams from the Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires South and Buenos Aires West Unions. The last TRP winner is Sociedad Sportiva of Bahía Blanca. The TRP is composed of two stages, "Clasificatorio" and "Campeonato". The first stage is contested by 8 teams, playing in a single round-robin tournament. At the end of the tournament, the six best placed teams qualify for the "Torneo Campeonato A", playing in a double round-robin where the team that totalised most points is crowned champion. TRP also has second and third divisions. Only two clubs from Mar del Plata has won this competition to date, Sporting and Mar del Plata RC. There is also a women's rugby competition. The URMDP representative side competed in defunct Campeonato Argentino, having won its only title in 1961.
