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 ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

is a fairly popular sport. As of May 2018, they are ranked 61st by

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 ...

, and as of June 2009, they had 2335 registered players and twenty clubs.

Governing body

The national body is the Kazakhstan Rugby Union.

History

Soviet Period

Rugby union was played in the Russian Empire as early as in 1908. In 1934 the Moscow Championship was started, and in 1936 the first Soviet Championship took place. In 1949, rugby union was forbidden in the USSR during the "fight against the

cosmopolitanism Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all human beings are members of a single community. Its adherents are known as cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. Cosmopolitanism is both prescriptive and aspirational, believing humans can and should be " world citizen ...

". The competitions were resumed in 1957, and the Soviet Championship in 1966. In 1975 the Soviet national team played their first match.Rugby union in Russia and USSR
Kazakhstan had its own rugby team in the USSR, but it was not treated as a proper national side. The SKA from

Alma-Ata Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of t ...

was a quite successful club in the Soviet era, finishing 3rd et 2nd respectively of the 1988 and 1991

championships In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, and also winning the

Soviet Cup The Soviet Cup, or USSR Cup (russian: Кубок СССР),, be, Кубак СССР, uz, СССР Кубоги, kk, КСРО Кубогы, ka, სსრკ თასი, az, ССРИ кубоку, lt, TSRS taurė, ro, Cupa URSS ( Moldov ...

in 1988.

Post-independence

Kazakhstan is arguably the most successful ex-Soviet rugby nation aside from Georgia and Russia (who have both qualified for the

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 ...

). The

Kazakhstan women's national rugby union team The Kazakhstan women's national rugby union team is nicknamed ''the Nomads''. It is controlled by the Kazakhstan Rugby Union. History Kazakhstan has competed in six Rugby World Cups between 1994 and 2014. They won the 2014 Asian Four Nations ...

played their first international against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

in 1993, which they lost by one point, 11-10. The female team also takes part in the ARFU Women's Rugby Championship. Rugby continues to be moderately popular. The Japan-Kazakhstan

Asian Five Nations The Asia Rugby Championship, or ARC, is an annual rugby union competition held amongst national rugby sides within the Asia Rugby region. The competition was originally known as the Asian Rugby Football Tournament when founded in 1969, and was call ...

game in Almaty Central Stadium,

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of ...

was attended by 6,000 people. This was unfortunately also their worst loss, 82-6.

References

External links

Official site

Asian Rugby Football Union

Rugby in Asia Kazakhstan page

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