Rugby union in Romania

Rugby union in Romania

Rugby union is a fairly popular team sport played in Romania with a tradition of more than 90 years. Romania's men's national team was 16th in the IRB World Rankings as of February 2008. [http://www.irb.com/rankings/full.html]

History

Rugby union was introduced to Romania by students returning with rugby balls from their studies in Paris. Stadiul Roman and seventeen other teams would be formed in Bucharest from 1913 onwards. The Romanian Rugby Championship was first contested in 1914.

The nation's first international was played against the USA in 1919 six years after the game was first introduced. In 1931 a governing body was formed, the Federaţia Română de Rugby.

The first team outside Bucharest was formed at an aircraft factory in Braşov in 1939.

The communist regime used rugby union like it used other sports, as a propaganda tool during the cold war with the West. Every international success was presented as a direct result of the righteousness of the communist rule and ideology. All the financial resources were directed toward the preparation of the national team to the detriment of domestic development. Top players were employed in the army or the police, whose sides Steaua and Dynamo sides who practised six days a week in superb sporting centres. This infrastructure bred a talented national side.

A generation of French school trained coaches from late ’40s, and ’50s built a system and led the national team to success of the 1960s, ’70s and early ’80s. Home nations sides began to award international caps for matches against Romania in 1983. The national side recorded wins over Wales, Scotland and France.

The FRR joined the International Rugby Board (IRB) in 1987 when Romania were invited to take part in the inaugural Rugby World Cup.

After the fall of Communism in 1989, Romanian rugby union suffered a drastic financial shortfall.

In 1995 the first ever Heineken Cup match took place in Romania with Toulouse taking on Farul Constanţa.

Romania first got regular international competition when they joined the newly formed European Nations Cup in 2000. The national side lost to England by 138-0 in 2001 and Dinamo Bucharest lost 151-0 to Saracens in the European Rugby Shield.

Bucureşti Rugby was formed to represent Romania in European club competitions in 2004.

Romania replaced Russia in the Super Cup in 2005.

Governing body

Rugby union in Romania is administered by the Romanian Rugby Federation. The organisation became an official offiliate of the International Rugby Board (IRB) in 1987 when Romania were invited to take part in the inaugural Rugby World Cup. The current president is George Straton.

National team

The Romania national rugby union team, nicknamed The Oaks, have long been one of the stronger European teams outside of the Six Nations tournament. They take part in international competitions, notably the Rugby World Cup, the European Nations Cup and the Super Powers Cup.

Romania have played at every World Cup so far and won one game at each World Cup, except for 1995 when they lost all the games.

Romania play in the European Nations Cup, a second-level competition for second and third tier European nations. Romania have won the competition on three occasions 2000, 2001-2002 and 2005-2006.

The Antim Cup is contested between Georgia and Romania. The cup is contested each time Georgia and Romania meet in a senior international match other than World Cup matches or qualifiers. The holder retains the cup unless the challenger wins the match in normal time.

Romania replaced Russia in the Super Cup in 2005. Other participants include Canada, Japan and the United States.

Domestic competitions

The Romanian Rugby Championship, which has been contested since 1914 is the main domestic competition.

European club tournaments

In 1995 the first ever Heineken Cup match took place in Romania with Toulouse taking on Farul Constanţa. Since the inaugural season, Romanian teams have not taken part in the Heineken Cup.

A Romanian team has taken part in the European Challenge Cup in 1996/7, 1997/8, 1998/9, 1999/2000, 2001/2, 2002/3, 2005/6 and will take part again in 2006/7. No Romanian teams took part in 2000/1, 2003/4 and 2004/5.

Bucureşti Rugby is a team that is formed to play in European competition, consisting of rugby union players playing in the domestic Romanian leagues. They played in the European Shield in 2004/5 and the Challenge Cup in 2005/6.

Popularity

Like other sports during the Communist era, rugby union was used as an instrument for propaganda by the regime. In the 1980s the country had more than 12,000 players in 110 clubs.

After the fall of Communism, Romanian rugby union suffered a drastic financial shortfall, its popularity - which never had been comparable with that of football or handball, however, was not diminished.

According to the International Rugby Board Romania has 52 rugby union clubs; 142 referees; 1,200 pre-teen male players; 4,100 teen male players; 1,375 senior male players (total male players 6,675) as well as 150 pre-teen female players; 200 teen female players; 125 senior female players (total female players 475). [http://www.irb.com/en/Home/MemberUnionHomePage?UnionID=86&Tab=3]

External links

* [http://www.frr.ro/ Federaţia Română de Rugby] (official site)
* fr icon en icon [http://www.rugby.ro/ www.rugby.ro]
* [http://www.planet-rugby.com/Teams/Romania/index.shtml Planet-Rugby news for Romania]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/international/3966019.stm Weathered Oak: Romanian rugby (from BBC News)]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/1659078.stm From riches to rags (from BBC News)]
* [http://www.ici.ro/romania/en/sport/index.html]

See also

*Romania national rugby union team
*Romanian Rugby Federation
*Sport in Romania


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Romania national rugby union team — Rugby team country =Romania union = Federaţia Română de Rugby nickname = The Oaks emblem = The Oak leaf ground = Arcul de Triumf Stadium captain = Sorin Socol coach = flagicon|Romania Marin Mot from = 2007 caps = top scorer = pattern la1 =… …   Wikipedia

  • Rugby union in Moldova — Rugby union is a growing sport in Moldova.HistoryPerhaps surprisingly, the popularity of rugby in Moldova is growing rapidly, with well over 10,000 fans regularly turning up to their home matches in the European Nations Cup. Since 2004, the… …   Wikipedia

  • Rugby union at the Summer Olympics — Governing body IRB Events 1 (men) Games …   Wikipedia

  • Rugby union in Georgia — Rugby union is a popular team sport played in Georgia. Rugby union is considered the second most popular sport in Georgia, after football (soccer). History There were several unsuccessful attempts to introduce rugby into Georgia, the earliest… …   Wikipedia

  • Romania women's national rugby union team — Rugby team country =Romania union = Federaţia Română de Rugby nickname = captain = coach = from = caps = top scorer = pattern la1 = pattern b1 = pattern b2 = thinyellowsides pattern ra1 = leftarm1 = FFE60D body1 = FFE60D rightarm1 = FFE60D… …   Wikipedia

  • Rugby union — is an outdoor contact sport, played with an oval [ [http://www.irb.com/lawregulations/laws/index.html Laws Of The Game Rugby Union 2007.] International Rugby Board. ISBN 10: 0 9552232 4 5 ISBN 13: 978 0 9552232 4 2. Page 7. Quote Law 2 The Ball:… …   Wikipedia

  • Rugby union in the United States — is a growing national sport. It is played at the youth, high school, club, semi professional, and international levels. The United States is a second tier rugby nation. The game was first introduced to the United States in the 1870s. The sport… …   Wikipedia

  • Rugby union at the 1924 Summer Olympics — Rugby union was played at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. Three teams entered France, Romania and the United States. The United States was returning to defend their gold medal after they defeated the French at the 1920 Summer Olympics. Each… …   Wikipedia

  • Rugby union in Portugal — is essentially amateur, with some degree of semi professionalization in its top flight league and the national rugby union team. The national rugby union team made a dramatic qualification into the 2007 Rugby World Cup and become the first all… …   Wikipedia

  • Rugby union in Canada — Sport overview country = Canada sport = Australian rules football imagesize = caption = union = Rugby Canada nickname = first = 1864, Vancouver registered = 39,000 (total) 13,000 (adult) 26,000 (junior) clubs = match = league = national1 = club1 …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”