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 it ...
in
Burundi is a minor but growing sport.
Governing body
The governing body is the Burundi Rugby Federation.
History
Rugby was first introduced into Burundi in the late 20th century. Burundi was a colony of
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
until 1962, and some of the earliest games may have been played by people from there (see
Rugby union in Belgium
Rugby union in Belgium is a growing sport. The national governing body for rugby union in Belgium is the Belgian Rugby Federation. The national team plays in the European Nations Cup, and as of October 2014, they were ranked thirtieth in the Wo ...
). Rugby was also being played in other countries in the region - such as
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
,
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
and
Kenya
)
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- that were British colonies, again, mainly by whites.
In the 1970s and 1980s, rugby in Burundi became better organised. During that period, it was mainly played by Belgian and French ex-patriates in the country.
Intambwe Rugby Club
The first formally registered club was the Intambwe Rugby Club or IRC. The clubs first presidents were Stanislas Mandi and Christian Taupiac.
It produced some notable players including Marc Bourgeois, Charles Mugiraneza, "Okume", Bernard Bordes, Patrice Ndindakumana, Lilian Campan, Louis Riboli and Simeon Sahabo.
The IRC played a number of matches, including ones against French, Rwandan and Kenyan teams.
See also
*
Burundi national rugby union team
The Burundi national rugby union team represents Burundi in international rugby union. The nation are a member of the International Rugby Board (IRB) and have yet to play in a Rugby World Cup tournament. The Burundi national rugby team played th ...
*
Confederation of African Rugby
Rugby Africa, is the administrative body for rugby union within the continent of Africa under the authority of World Rugby, which is the world governing body of rugby union. , Rugby Africa has 37 member nations and runs several rugby tournaments ...
*
Africa Cup
External links
IRB Burundi page
CARBurundion IRB.com
Burundion rugbydata.com
Burundi scores first ever test victory
References
Sport in Burundi
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