Old Christians Club was founded in 1962 by
alumni of the Christian Brothers,
Stella Maris College, one of Montevideo's best high schools. The institution started as a
rugby union club and, like most rugby clubs in
Uruguay and
Argentina, also developed a
field hockey section for girls, thus becoming a multi-sports club.
Flight 571 disaster On October 13, 1972, a plane carrying five crew members and 40 players and associates of Old Christians' rugby team crashed in the remote Andes, en route to Chile. Nine passengers and three crew members died in or shortly after the crash, and five more quickly succumbed to cold and injury. Of the 28 onboard who were alive a few days after the accident, another eight were killed by an avalanche that swept over their shelter in the wreckage. The survivors had little food and no source of heat in the harsh climate, at over 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) altitude. Faced with starvation and radio news that the search for them had been abandoned in the second week, the survivors fed on the dead who had been preserved in the snow. Rescuers did not learn of the survivors until 10 weeks after the crash, when passengers
Nando Parrado and
Roberto Canessa, after a 10-day trek across the Andes, found a Chilean
huaso who gave them food and then alerted authorities about the existence of 16 survivors. From 19 team members on the flight, seven of the rugby players survived the ordeal; 11 players and the team physician died. The story of the disaster has since been depicted in many movies, television shows and books. ==Achievements in rugby==