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 Lithuania is a minor but growing sport.

Governing Body

The

Lithuanian Rugby Federation The Lithuanian Rugby Federation ( lt, Lietuvos Regbio Federacija), abbreviated to LRF is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Lithuania. Lithuania currently comprises 1,650 registered players and there are 15 club in the whole count ...

(Lietuvos Regbio Federacija) was founded in 1961 and joined the IRB in 1993 after Lithuanian had regained its independence.Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ) p71 It is responsible for organizing and developing the sport at various levels within the country. Although the union was formed in the 1960s, it was not considered a full-fledged national union until after the breakup of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

History

Soviet Era

Rugby union arrived in Lithuania in the 1960s. The first domestic game was played in 1961. Lithuania was never a stronghold of rugby in the USSR. The game was mainly played in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Lithuania had its own national rugby team in the USSR, but it was not treated as an international side. Republic championship was played since 1963

Post-independence

Rugby is spread across the country with

Šiauliai Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Names Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different la ...

as the sport's stronghold. There are rugby clubs in all major Lithuanian cities. Some smaller towns only have junior teams. The climate in the country hinders the development of the sport, because the ground is frozen for four months of the year.

Snow rugby Snow rugby refers to forms of rugby union that are especially adapted to be played in winter conditions, particularly in deep snow. It is played in Canada, the Kashmir region in India, the Baltic states, Russia, the northern United States, and Fi ...

is played in winter. The game has experienced some growth in the independence period particularly following the record-breaking performances by the Lithuania national rugby union team in the

European Nations Cup European Nations Cup may refer to: *UEFA European Championship, formerly known as European Nations' Cup * Europcar Cup, a European Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (golf), a European Ladies Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (fi ...

. There is some rivalry with neighbours Latvia who were the better side in the 1990s. However, in recent years Lithuania has dominated the fixtures. Rugby is amateur in Lithuania. The only professional player to have come out of Lithuania is Karolis Navickas who in 2012 signed for

Union Bordeaux Bègles Union Bordeaux Bègles (; oc, Union Bordèu Begla) is a French rugby union team playing in the Top 14, the first level of the country's professional league system. They earned their Top 14 place by winning the promotion playoffs that followed ...

Women's rugby

Currently there are women's rugby teams in

Klaipėda Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuania ...

Marijampolė Marijampolė (; also known by several other names) is a cultural and industrial city and the capital of the Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, and Lake Vištytis. The population of Mar ...

and

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

. Another two are forming. Rugby sevens is the dominant variant. Although Lithuania's women are yet to play test match rugby, they have been playing international sevens rugby since 2005. (Current playing record).

Competitions

The main national competition is the Lithuanian Rugby Championship, currently disputed by 7 teams in the I Group. They are: * Vairas-Jupoja

* Baltrex Šiauliai * RK Šiauliai * Ąžuolas Kaunas * Tauras-VRA

* Kuršiai

* Stats- Ķekava (from Riga, Latvia)

References

External links

IRB Lithuania page

Official webpage

REGBIS LIETUVOJE

Lithuania dreaming of 2011 Rugby World Cup, AFP story published by rugbyweek.com {{Rugby union in Europe Rugby union in Lithuania,