The Burundi national rugby union team represents

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

in international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

. The nation are a member of the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

(IRB) and have yet to play in a

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

tournament. The Burundi national rugby team played their first international in 2003 - losing to

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. They participate annually in the

CAR Castel Beer Trophy The African Development Trophy also called CAR Development Trophy is a rugby union tournament consisting of 16 teams played in the continent of Africa, formerly named the CAR Castel Beer Trophy. It is organised by Rugby Africa and was also known ...

. However, in the 2007 tournament Burundi withdrew for financial reasons.

History

Rugby has been played in Burundi since the 1970s, first among Belgian players who mixed during the 1980s with many French residents. The first officially registered rugby team was the “Intambwe Rugby Club”. The first presidents were Stanislas Mandi and Christian Taupiac. Among the greatest players are Marc Bourgeois, Charles Mugiraneza, “Okume”, Bernard Bordes, Patrice Ndindakumana, Lilian Campan, Louis Riboli, and Simeon Sahabo. The IRC has played international matches against the French, Rwandese and Kenyan teams.

External links

Burundi
on IRB.com
Burundi
on rugbydata.com African national rugby union teams Rugby union in Burundi National sports teams of Burundi {{national-rugbyunion-team-stub