In 2007 Argentina played its first ever international rugby match in the city of Santa Fé. The match was a tremendous success with Argentina defeating Ireland 22-20 in the Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López in front of a large crowd. Despite the match taking place before the end of the French season, which meant Argentina had an understrength team, fans responded and got to see the home team begin its run which would result in a third place finish at France 2007 four months latter.
The stadium was selected as one of three venues to host the 2010 IRB Junior World Cup alongside venues in Paraná and Rosario and hosted a total of 10 matches. The relatively close proximity of Rosario, Santa Fé and possibly Corrientes and Paraná means that the region could be used as a hub representing the north east of Argentina with connections between the potential venues being simple which would make it easy for visiting fans and for competing teams alike.
With a current capacity of 32,500 the Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López is larger than all but three venues to be used in New Zealand for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The stadium was opened in 1946 and with minor upgrades would be a fantastic stadium to host Rugby World Cup matches. It could be used in a similar fashion to the Stade Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux for the 2007 Rugby World Cup which hosted four pool matches - Ireland vs Namibia, Ireland vs Georgia, Canada vs Japan and Australia vs Canada.
The city of Santa Fé has a population of 455,000, making it Argentina´s eighth largest city. It is located 150KM north of Argentina's third largest city, Rosario and 450KM from Buenos Aires.
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