2025 URBA Top 12 final
The 2025 URBA Top 12 final was the final of the 2025 URBA Top 12, the 126th. edition of Torneo de la URBA, the regional rugby union competition organised by Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires. It is the oldest rugby competition in South America and one of the oldest club competitions in the world.
The match was contested by Newman and San Isidro Club, and was held in Estadio del CASI. Since the URBA implemented the playoffs system in 1998, it was the 2nd. final contested by Newman while SIC played their 13rd. final, having won eight of them.
Newman won the match 15–3 to win their first league title.
Background
Since its establishment in 1935 after a schism in Club Atlético San Isidro, San Isidro Club has become one of the landmark clubs of Argentine rugby, having won 27 URBA titles and 4 Nacional de Clubes championships.On the other hand, Newman, established in 1975 by alumni of Cardinal Newman College, had only played one final in 2008 but they lost to Hindú, which was the predominant force in Argentine rugby in those times.
Qualified teams
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Venue
[file:CA San Isidro, Buenos Aires|San Isidro grandstand.jpg|thumb|230px|La Catedral, venue for the final]The final was held in La Catedral, nickname of Estadio del CASI, earned due to it is distant 500 mts from the San Isidro Cathedral, a historic landmark since 1963. which has been the venue of URBA finals since 2008. The stadium, with capacity for 4,500 spectactors, is one of the oldest in Argentina so the club has always been on the same site since 1902, when Manuel Aguirre, owner of a large chacra on Sánez Peña street, gave the club a portion to settle down there.
The stadium is located in downtown San Isidro, has a lighting system for night matches and a concrete grandstand inaugurated in the 1920s. When San Isidro competed in football tournament organised by AFA, the stadium was also used for that sport.
Road to the final
After the regular season, four teams qualified to the semifinals in order to decide the two clubs that played the final.Match
The game was tense from both parts in the beginning, with none of both teams willing to take risks. Lot of kicking, tough defenses, and few attacking breaks were common plays of the opening minutes. In this context, the San Isidro's side seemed a bit more comfortable using tackling as their primary weapon.Newman had a chance to take the lead, but Gonzalo Gutiérrez Taboada missed from an easy position. Meanwhile, on the other side, the patience of a team familiar with these situations proved crucial. Even with one less player, they remained untroubled. At 38' Faustino Santarelli received a 20-minute red card for a hard tackle, further complicating things for Santiago Piccaluga's team. Santiago Pavlovsky quickly converted the penalty, opening the scoring for SIC.
However, Newman didn't give up, continuing to press and eventually getting their reward. First, Gutiérrez Taboada leveled the score with a kick, and then, in stoppage time, Marcelo Brandi scored a try which was effusively celebrated by their supporters at La Catedral. The bordó team took advantage of the situation in the second half, not only controlling the game but increasing the score with a successful attempt by Bautista Bosch. The last 20 minutes saw the team from Benavídez enduring the attempts of SIC to score any point to finally achieve their first league title.