Six proud rugby nations from the Americas will again contest the Americas Rugby Championship over five consecutive weekends in 2017, starting on 4 February.

The national teams from Brazil, Canada, Chile, United States of America and Uruguay, and defending champions Argentina XV, will compete for the biggest continental prize, ensuring strong competition and a high performance pathway for six unions sitting between seventh and 35th in the World Rugby Rankings.

“The 2016 Americas Rugby Championship was very positive for the development of players and participating teams in a well run and supported tournament,” said Americas Rugby Chairman Agustín Pichot in announcing the match schedule. 

“Competition is key for the growth of the game and to have a continental tournament such as this is one of our key goals in Americas Rugby, which is very much aligned with World Rugby’s view for a more meaningful calendar for all unions. The ARC will be an important part of this and will certainly grow in prominence.”

There have been meetings and a lot of work done since the conclusion of the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship within each participating union.

“We all want to ensure that the second version of this tournament is even more successful than the inaugural event,” added the former Puma captain.

The round-robin tournament will see a reverse in home venues from 2016 with the opening round of matches seeing Canada host Argentina XV, Brazil welcome Chile and Uruguay travel to the USA.

Greg Peters, Chairman of the ARC Advisory Panel, from the Unión Argentina de Rugby, said: “Match venues will be announced in due course, as each union is working tirelessly to ensure the benefits of hosting an ARC game are clear for fans and players. We are all excited to be able to announce the schedule of games so far ahead before the first ball is kicked.” 

With 15 games in five weeks, the growing interest in the Americas Rugby Championship will receive a huge boost with a broadcast deal across the six competing nations.

“We are very close to sealing a very important pan continental deal to ensure that these very exciting games are available throughout the Americas,” added Peters.

“The standard of rugby available and the fact that each individual country has grown the profile of the game within its boundaries means the Americas Rugby Championship is an interesting prospect. We are delighted that things are moving in the right direction and that we are close to having this broadcast coverage finalised.” 

Americas Rugby Championship 2017 fixtures

Saturday, 4 February   
Canada v Argentina XV
Brazil v Chile
United States v Uruguay

Saturday, 11 February
Argentina XV v Uruguay
USA v Brazil
Canada v Chile

Saturday, 18 February 
Chile v Argentina XV
Uruguay v Brazil
Canada v USA

Saturday, 25 February
Argentina XV v Brazil
Uruguay v Canada
Chile v USA

Saturday, 4 March 
Argentina XV v USA
Brazil v Canada
Uruguay v Chile