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With the biggest event of the year happening within the confines of Sudamérica Rugby, 2016 was a special year for a regional association which now boasts 13 member unions and a handful of aspiring countries working hard to get in. As big as the Olympic Games were, the signs of the sport’s increased appeal in the region were in evidence much earlier in the year – at the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship, where Brazil, for example, enjoyed record crowds at three different venues for their home games, including the historic win over USA in the first of these.Bringing North and South of the Americas together, Argentina XV and the full international sides from Chile, Uruguay and Canada joined forces with Brazil and USA to form the cross-continental tournament. After drawing with the Eagles, Argentina XV reeled off four straight wins to clinch the title. It was a big year for Uruguay on many levels. With the effects of a strong high performance plan taking effect, Los Teritos finished a creditable sixth at the World Rugby U20 Trophy in Zimbabwe – a competition that they will host in 2017 at the Estadio Charrúa, the venue for the inaugural World Rugby Americas Pacific Challenge in October, again won by Argentina XV. As expected, Colombian rugby continued to make progress. The women’s sevens team competed at Rio 2016, while Los Tucanes, the men’s 15s side, completed a hat-trick of Sudamérica Rugby B Championship titles. They went on to beat Rugby Americas North Championship winners Mexico to advance further than they have ever done before in Rugby World Cup qualification, only for Paraguay to end their dream of appearing at Japan 2019.In terms of new ventures, the union-run professional home-ABOVEArgentina performed well at Rio 2016 BELOWBrazil and Colombia clash at the Deodoro StadiumThe feel-good factor from the Rio Olympic Games spanned the whole of South America in another ground-breaking year for the region.A YEAR TO REMEMBER IN SOUTH AMERICAbased side, Los Jaguares, proudly represented Argentina in Super Rugby, while, later in the year, the national sides of Uruguay and Brazil embarked on ground-breaking European tours and Chile hosted Korea in Santiago.World Rugby’s mass participation programme, Get Into Rugby (GIR), is active across all member countries and continues to be the bedrock for growth in the region. Overall, 382,600 boys and girls went through GIR in 2016. Meanwhile, Guatemala became an associate member of World Rugby in May and were crowned Sudamérica Rugby C Championship winners in December. They beat Costa Rica in the final, a country where rugby continues to grow in numbers and structures with the hope that soon their associate membership status will lead to full membership of World Rugby. www.sudamericarugby.org twitter: @sudamericarugby382,600Get Into Rugbyparticipants in 2016YEAR IN REVIEW 2016 WORLD RUGBY 55AROUND THE REGIONS | PARTICIPATE