Rugby union in Slovenia

Rugby union in Slovenia is a minor but growing sport. As of August 2019 they are currently ranked 71st by the World Rugby governing body.[1]

Rugby union in Slovenia
CountrySlovenia
National team(s)Slovenia
First played1900
Registered players1,065
Clubs16
National competitions
Rugby World Cup
Rugby World Cup Sevens
IRB Sevens World Series
European Nations Cup

Governing body

The governing body is Rugby Zveza Slovenije (Rugby Union of Slovenia).[2]

History

Yugoslav period
See also: Rugby union in Yugoslavia

Rugby union was a moderately popular sport in Yugoslavia. Although rugby union in Croatia was the main centre for the sport in Yugoslavia, there was still quite a bit of rugby played in Slovenia. The Rugby Championship of Yugoslavia ran from 1957-1991.

Post independence

The breakup of Yugoslavia broke up many of the Slovenian rugby structures, which had to be started afresh.

In the early 1990s, former Italian cap, Dr Giancarlo Tizanini was a major driving force in Austrian rugby. Before his death in 1994, he tried hard to establish a Central European equivalent of the Six Nations between Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia.[3]

Slovenia also borders Italy, which is a major rugby playing nation. In recent years, however, there have been serious attempts by rugby league to expand into the Balkans, using substantial financial incentives, and expats from Australia.

Clubs

As of 2009, the following clubs were active:[4]

  • RAK Olimpija
  • RFC BEŽIGRAD
  • RFC Doberman
  • RFC Emoona
  • RFC Maribor
  • RFC Ribnica
  • RFC Ris
  • RK Ljubljana
  • RK Sokol Maribor(Maribor Sokol)
  • VRK Hermes (Veterans Rugby Club)
gollark: ...
gollark: It is not wrong. It is, by definition, accurate.
gollark: HAHA FUNNY MEME NUMBER HAHA
gollark: It's horrible. The entire wall needs to be fully transparent windows.
gollark: * don't have atomic/transactional IO

See also

References
  1. "Men's Rankings - World Rugby | worldrugby.org". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  2. http://www.rugby.si/
  3. Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1-86200-013-1) p63
  4. http://www.rugby.si/htm/klubi.htm
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.