The South American Rugby Championship is a round-robin tournament, with each team playing each other once at a designated host stadium.

The top level championship for men's rugby union, disputed annually, has received a number of different titles in history.

They competed alongside occasional additions of Brazil, Paraguay and Peru, with the winner being decided on which team finishes with the most table points.

The CONSUR Cup was staged in 2014 and 2015, and the events were the de facto South American Championships for those years.

The Sudamérica Rugby Cup, in 2016 and 2017, can also be considered the de facto South American Championships for those years.

In 2018, the format of the tournament was changed once again: six teams (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay) would play in the top division, which was renamed to South American Six Nations.