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 ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to ...

is a minor but growing sport.

Governing body

The governing body is affiliated to the

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 ...

, they became full members of

World Rugby 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 ...

in 2020.

History

Rugby union was introduced into Upper Volta, as it was then, by the French, who ruled the country for a number of years. As with many minor rugby nations, the sport is centred on the national capital -

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural, and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's ...

. Burkina Faso rates second last on the

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, wh ...

, which means it is extremely poor, and lacks the infrastructure that would improve its rugby standing. The national coach of the Burkina Faso rugby team is Laurent Stravato. They just won the African cup of 7s in 2014. Like many African countries, the historical connection with France is a mixed blessing. For a number of years, Burkinabé rugby players would leave to play there, which deprived rugby in Burkina Faso of any real competition. As an example, one of the most notable Burkinabé players was Fulgence Ouedraogo, who played for the France national rugby union team, but would have qualified for the Burkina Faso national rugby union team. Ouedraogo left Burkina Faso at an early age, and started playing rugby at the age of 6, meeting his MHRC teammate

François Trinh-Duc François Trinh-Duc (; born 11 November 1986) is a French rugby union player for Union Bordeaux Bègles in France's top division of rugby union, the Top 14. Trinh-Duc's regular position is at fly-half or inside centre. Biography Trinh-Duc was b ...

, at the Pic-Saint-Loup rugby school near Montpellier.

Women's rugby

The Burkina Faso women's team played their first test match on 9 June 2021 against

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, they have been playing international sevens rugby since 2006. (Current playing record).

External links

CAR

Senegal sanctioned for misconduct (end section)

References

Sport in Burkina Faso {{Rugbyunion-stub

Governing body

History

Women's rugby

See also

External links

References