Dell Diamond To Host First-Ever International Rugby Match

ROUND ROCK, TX -- Rugby is not something one sees every day in Round Rock, let alone an international rugby championship match.

But that’s precisely what the city will be hosting later this month at the Dell Diamond facility. The venue will be staging area for one of the matches in the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship on Feb., its organizers announced Monday.

The locally staged match will pit the U.S. against Canada in a contest kicking off at 6 p.m. Feb. 13.

“We are honored and excited to host the first ever Americas Rugby Championship at our beautiful Dell Diamond stadium in Round Rock,” Round Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Nancy Yawn said in a prepared statement.

The local competition marks the first time the USA Rugby Men’s Eagles will have played a match in the Austin area.

“We can’t wait to cheer on our USA Rugby Men’s Eagles,” Yawn said. “We invite rugby fans around the region to come out and support these young men who are their nation’s best in their sport!”

Executive members of the various international rugby unions, under the guidance of the Pan American Rugby Association (PARA), agreed to stage the first-ever Americas Rugby Championship locally, organizers said.

The competition will include six of the top-ranked teams in North America and South America rugby union teams. It will provide Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the U.S. and Uruguay with five additional ranking tests annually, officials noted.

“We are delighted to be able to announce the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship that will take place in 2016,” PARA Chairman Agustín Pichot said in a statement. “This could not have happened without the hard work and cooperation of all six rugby unions involved.”

Dell Diamond stadium is the home field of the Round Rock Express, the AAA minor league baseball affiliate of the Texas Rangers. The venue has an 11,631-seating capacity.

>> Photo “ST vs Gloucester Ruck 03” by PierreSelim via Wikimedia Commons