Rugby Americas North

Rugby Americas North (RAN) is the governing body for rugby union in the North American continental region. Rugby Americas North operates under the authority of World Rugby, and is one of six regional unions represented within it.

Rugby Americas North

Abbreviation	RAN
Established	March 2001; 24 years ago (2001-03) (as NAWIRA) 2010 (as NACRA) 2016
Type	Sports organisation
Headquarters	Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Region served	Northern America and the Caribbean
Membership	19 member unions
Official language	English French Spanish
President	Araba Chintoh
Treasurer	Pablo Septién
Vice President	Paul Santinelli
Main organ	Board of Directors
Parent organization	World Rugby
Website	rugbyamericasnorth.com
Formerly called	North America and West Indies Rugby Association (2001–2008) North America Caribbean Rugby Association (2009–2014)

Prior to 2016, the organisation was known as NACRA – the North America Caribbean Rugby Association. The preceding body before 2010 was NAWIRA – the North America and West Indies Rugby Association.

The main objective of RAN is the promotion and development of rugby in North America and the Caribbean. The association unveiled a four-year plan during the 2011 Annual General Meeting to grow rugby within its membership unions through promotion, media output and competition.

World Rugby's 40-member executive council includes two seats for RAN representatives, two seats for Canada, and one for the United States. By contrast to RAN's five votes on the World Rugby executive council, European countries have 16 votes.^{[clarification needed]}

Competitions

RAN oversees regional competitions, such as regional qualifiers for Pan Am Games and Rugby World Cups including:

Senior

• RAN Sevens
• RAN Women's Sevens
• RAN Rugby Championship
• RAN Women's Rugby Championship

Youth

• RAN Under-19 Championship

Governance

RAN is governed by a board of five executives. The United States, Canada and Mexico are fixed representatives, while the Caribbean countries elect two nations for delegation. In November 2021 RAN announced changes to its executive committee following its 2021 Annual General Meeting in Miami. George Nicholson was appointed as the new president and Dr. Araba Chintoh and Miguel Carner as vice presidents. Nicholson died in April 2024.

Player registration

As of 2010, there were 128,828 rugby players within North America: with the largest number of players from:

1. United States (88,151)
2. Canada (23,853)
3. Trinidad and Tobago (5,060)
4. Mexico (3,454)

As of 2016, RAN reported 160,769 total registered players and 1,595,565 non-registered players.

1. USA – 119,682
2. Canada – 27,512
3. Mexico – 6,168
4. Martinique – 3,500
5. St. Vincent & The Grenadines – 1,806
6. Jamaica – 1,518
7. Trinidad & Tobago – 1,403
8. Bermuda – 794
9. Dominican Republic – 600
10. Bahamas – 529
11. Guyana – 522
12. Barbados – 425
13. Cayman – 410
14. St. Lucia – 292
15. Turks and Caicos – 200
16. British Virgin Islands – 117
17. Curacao – 104

As of the 2019 Rugby Americas North Review there were 134,300 participants reported, 69,500 males and 65,000 females.

Member unions

As of August 2024^[update] Rugby Americas North has 13 full members and 4 associate members and 2 recognized regional development unions:

• Bahamas
• Barbados
• British Virgin Islands
• Canada
• Cayman Islands
• Dominican Republic ^a
• French Guiana ^{a, b}
• Guadeloupe ^b
• Guyana
• Jamaica
• Martinique ^{a, b}
• Mexico
• St. Lucia
• St. Vincent & the Grenadines
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Turks and Caicos Islands ^a
• United States

Regional unions (including former affiliates) without current RAN recognition:

• St. Kitts and Nevis

Notes:

^a Denotes associate member of RAN not affiliated with World Rugby.

^b The governing body is the French Rugby Federation which has territorial committees for overseas departments and territories.

World Rugby Rankings

Men's World Rugby Rankings (as of 2 January 2023) North America* World Rugby +/- National Team Points 1 19  United States 65.92 2 23  Canada 60.46 3 51 8  Mexico 45.83 4 52  Trinidad and Tobago 45.51 5 54 4  Cayman Islands 44.37 6 58 1  Guyana 42.86 7 67  Jamaica 39 8 68  Bermuda 38.91 9 81  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 34.91 10 83  Barbados 34.72 11 99  Bahamas 27.76 *Local rankings based on World Rugby ranking points

Women's World Rugby Rankings (as of 2 January 2023) North America* World Rugby +/- National Team Points 1 4  Canada 84.22 2 7  United States 76.78 3 23  Trinidad and Tobago 46.45 4 34  Jamaica 40.52 5 38  Guyana 39.63 6 53  Cayman Islands 34.95 7 59  Barbados 30.06 8 60  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 28.71 9 61  Bahamas 27.67 *Local rankings based on World Rugby ranking points

World Cup qualifying

Rugby Americas North nations participate in qualifying tournaments for the Rugby World Cup every four years. Two Rugby Americas North nations –Canada and United States – have qualified to play in Rugby World Cups.

Edition	Automatically qualified	Qualified via competition	Qualified via repechage	Eliminated in repechage	Eliminated at final stage	Eliminated at second stage	Eliminated at first stage
1987	Canada  United States	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a
1991	—N/a	Canada  United States	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a
1995	Canada	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	United States	—N/a	Bermuda
1999	—N/a	Canada  United States	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	Trinidad and Tobago  Guyana  Bermuda  Bahamas  Barbados
2003	—N/a	Canada	United States	—N/a	—N/a	Trinidad and Tobago	Bermuda  Saint Lucia  Barbados  Bahamas  Cayman Islands  Guyana  Jamaica
2007	—N/a	Canada  United States	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	Barbados	Guyana  Trinidad and Tobago  Saint Lucia  Bahamas  Cayman Islands  Jamaica  Bermuda  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
2011	—N/a	Canada  United States	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	Trinidad and Tobago	Barbados  Guyana  Cayman Islands  Bahamas  Jamaica  Bermuda  Mexico  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
2015	—N/a	Canada  United States	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	Bermuda	Trinidad and Tobago  Guyana  Cayman Islands  Mexico  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Barbados  Jamaica  Bahamas
2019	—N/a	Canada  United States	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Cayman Islands  Bermuda  Bahamas  Trinidad and Tobago  Barbados  Jamaica  Guyana  Mexico
2023	—N/a	—N/a	—N/a	United States	Canada	—N/a	—N/a

See also

• World Rugby
• Sudamérica Rugby
• Americas Rugby Championship