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Rugby union is a minor sport in Iceland with a discontinuous history.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2012) |
Rugby union is a minor sport in Iceland with a discontinuous history.
The ancient Norse had a sport called knattleikr ; while this differed substantially from rugby in that it used sticks, it also had a couple of similarities to it in tackling methods and that the ball could be carried.
As a purist language, which has almost no modern foreign loanwords, Icelandic has a unique name for rugby, Ruðningur. It is perhaps the only language to use its own name for the sport which is not cognate with "rugby". [1]
Iceland was formerly a colony of Denmark, and when Denmark was occupied by Germany during World War II, British forces occupied Iceland itself. However, it is not recorded whether they played in Iceland while stationed there. Rugby itself was first played in Denmark in 1931, and did not reach Iceland – likewise, the Danish Rugby Union was founded after Icelandic independence in 1950.
Iceland became independent in 1944, and the British turned their base over to the USA which took responsibility for the defence of the island during the Cold War. What little rugby appears to have been played in Iceland seems to have been at the American base at Keflavik, by Americans, with little or no local involvement. However, while there is a large American player base, mainly by dint of a large population, rugby is a minor sport in the USA.
In 2009, a group of expats and locals started the project to create the first rugby team in Iceland. They can be found on Facebook at the Rugby félag Íslands (Icelandic Rugby Team) group.
In 2010, The Reykjavik Raiders Rugby Club was founded. The team competed in The Copenhagen Sevens in August of this year. This was the first time an Icelandic rugby team had played anywhere. They continue to train and grow and are working hard to eventually establish and develop the game in Iceland with a view to grow the sport domestically and competing internationally.
Sunday 3 July 2011, is a historic event for the development of rugby union in Iceland and a major milestone for the Reykjavík Raiders Rugby Football Club. For both the Raiders, and Iceland this date marks the first 15's game played by the club and the first ever played on Icelandic soil. The game against the Thunderbird Old Boys from Glendale, Arizona at the Valur sports complex in Reykjavík was a great learning step for the Icelandic team that ended with an Icelandic win.
Starting in January 2012 RKK or the Rugby Club of Kópavogur has been added to the portfolio of clubs operating in Iceland. The first game scheduled between the two Icelandic teams is scheduled to take place in April.
In February 2013 the Icelandic Exiles rugby team plays six XV games and participated in the Vegas HSBC Invitational Rugby Tournament. [2]
The Icelandic Rugby Team plays its first official rugby 7s tournament Saturday 1 Juni 2013 in Riga at the FIRA-AER Rugby 7s. [3] It has participated in the FIRA-AER Rugby 7s at Ricani near Pragues on Saturday 28 juni 2014.
There is no sport union in Iceland for rugby. There needs to be established a minimum of 5 rugby clubs before a union can be formed. Rugby Iceland is the representing body for the sport in the country - They are currently affiliated to FIRA-AER, but not yet to the IRB.
The Andorra national rugby union team, nicknamed Els Isards represent the Andorran Rugby Federation (FAR) in international rugby union competitions. They play most of their home games in Andorra la Vella, the country's capital, though have had some matches in Foix, which is in France.
The Luxembourg national rugby union team is a minor team, and is ranked as a third tier nation. They are currently competing in the 2024-2025 Rugby Europe Trophy. Since 1996 Luxembourg also competes in the sevens circuits in Europe Luxembourg national rugby sevens team.
The USA Sevens is a rugby sevens tournament held annually during March in the United States. The USA Sevens is the largest annual rugby competition in North America, drawing over 60,000 fans, and is broadcast live in the United States by ESPN. The USA Sevens was introduced in 2004, originally in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The event moved to San Diego in 2007, and from there moved to Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas in 2010. It then spent the entire decade of the 2010s in Las Vegas before returning to Carson in 2020. The USA Sevens tournament features 16 teams representing countries from every inhabited continent, including the host, the U.S. national team.
Ben Ryan is an English sports coach who is best known for coaching the Fiji sevens team to a gold medal in sevens rugby at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He is currently Performance Director at EPL association football club Brentford.
Rugby union in Israel was brought to the country by British soldiers during the British Mandate for Palestine. Rugby Israel was founded as the Israel Rugby Union in 1975, and joined the IRB in 1988. For political reasons it is also part of FIRA-AER, the European rugby body, rather than the Asian Rugby Football Union.
Rugby union in Armenia is a growing sport. The national team is currently unranked in the world rankings, which records only the top ninety-six countries. The governing body for Armenia is the Rugby Federation of Armenia, headquartered in Yerevan.
Rugby union is a popular sport since its introduction by British military personnel in the 19th century.
Rugby union in Poland is a moderately popular sport, and the Polish men's national team are ranked 30th in the world, as of 20th November 2022. The Poland women's rugby sevens team won the silver medal at the 2023 European Games, behind Great Britain, progressing to the final 2024 Summer Olympic qualification tournament.
Rugby union in Cyprus is a minor but growing sport.
Rugby union in Malta is a small but growing sport. The national senior men's team are ranked 46th by the World Rugby.
Rugby union in Belarus is a minor sport. They are currently affiliated to FIRA-AER.
The 2010 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship was the seventh annual international rugby union competition for Under 18 national rugby union teams in Europe. The event was organised by rugby's European governing body, the FIRA – Association of European Rugby (FIRA-AER). The competition was contested by 24 men's junior national teams and was held in late March and early April 2010. It was hosted by the Italian region of Veneto, with the final played at the home ground of Benetton Treviso.
The Hong Kong Women's Sevens held the first women's international rugby sevens tournament in 1997, and has since become an annual event. The 2020 edition marked the start of a new era for the Hong Kong Women's Sevens. For the first time, the tournament will be an official event in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series. The 2020 and 2021 tournaments were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rugby Europe Women's Sevens, previously the FIRA–AER Women's Sevens until 2013, is a series of regional championships for women's international rugby sevens in Europe. Prior to 2012, the annual tournament is held over two days, typically on a weekend in June, before the highest category tournament was reorganized as the Sevens Grand Prix Series, modeled after the format of the World Rugby Sevens Series. The tournaments are sanctioned and sponsored by Rugby Europe.
The Moldova women's national rugby sevens team represents Moldova in women's rugby sevens. They won the FIRA–AER Women's Sevens - Division A in 2010. In 2019 they won the Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Conference and, were promoted to the Trophy division and qualified for the Europe Women's Sevens Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Russia.
The 2012–14 European Nations Cup Second Division is the third tier rugby union in Europe behind the Six Nations Championship and the 2012-2014 European Nations Cup First Division.
Rugby Europe is the administrative body for rugby union in Europe. It was formed in 1999 to promote, develop, organise, and administer the game of rugby in Europe under the authority of World Rugby. However, it is not responsible for the organisation of the Six Nations Championship or the competitions run by European Professional Club Rugby.
Polish Rugby Union, abbreviated to PZR, is the only legal Polish representative of Polish rugby union and rugby sevens for both men and women's rugby and all age groups.
Rugbyfélag Reykjavíkur is the first registered and officially recognized rugby team in Iceland, both with the Icelandic sport authority as well as Rugby Europe. The Raiders are situated in Reykjavík and have regular training sessions for both men and women as well as being active in raising rugby development and awareness in Iceland.
Megan Gaffney is a former Scottish rugby union player. She is from Edinburgh and has competed internationally for Scotland since 2011. She has twice been selected for the Great Britain 7s training squad for the Rio and Tokyo Olympics. She retired from international rugby at the end of 2022.