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 ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

is a minor but growing sport Rugby in Mauritius has frequently been haphazard, for example,

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

RFC of Malawi once undertook a tour to Mauritius. Writing back to approve the tour, the Mauritian secretary added, "Please bring your own ball. We have lost ours."Cotton, p47

Governing body

The governing body is Rugby Union Mauritius Rugby Union Mauritius consists of approximately 600 licensees including players and officials.

History

Mauritius is a former British colony, and it was introduced there by the British military in the early twentieth century. In a parallel development, a number of wealthier young Mauritians went to British and South African boarding schools during this period, and also picked up the sport there. In 1928, a group of Franco-Mauritian players set up the first club, the Dodo Club. The game expanded between then and 1975, with more clubs being created. However, the independence of Mauritius in 1968 led to financial difficulties for Mauritian rugby, and it was left to a development programme in the 1990s to revive the game properly. From 1928 to 1975 rugby was played at senior level between various clubs remembered as the Buffalos, HMS Mauritius, Blue Ducks, Dodo, the Navy, SMF and the Stags. The

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

in South Africa was broadcast on Mauritian television, and received a good deal of attention. The Mauritius Sevens team participates in Indian Ocean tournaments with Réunion and

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. Success in sevens led to the improvement of the fifteen a side game, and Mauritius played their first international against

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 ...

in 2005, winning 20-10. They also won subsequent matches against Rwanda, Burundi and Burkina Faso. Their fantastic start to international rugby has caused tremendous growth of the sport in Mauritius, with thousands of people flocking to see them play. They participate in the south section of 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 ...

, which they surprisingly won in 2005. However, in both the 2006 and 2007 editions, the side's hopes were dashed in the group stage by

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

, who went on to win in 2007. The Franco-Mauritian ethnic minority group tends to dominate the game, as rugby is a much less popular sport amongst the

Indo-Mauritian Indo-Mauritians are Mauritians who trace their ethnic ancestry to Indian subcontinent or other parts of South Asia. History During the administration of the French East India Company (until 1767) and subsequent French rule at least 12,000 work ...

majority. This has led to some complaints of exclusivism: :"''For example, the community maintains several white-only sport and social clubs, like the Dodo Club. The national rugby team is virtually all-white, as the only islanders playing the sport are members of Franco-Mauritian clubs.''"Still standing: the maintenance of a white elite in Mauritius
IIAS NL 45 Rugby went through a period of decline until in 1998, when the Stags Club was re-created and thus triggered the thought that rugby once again had a place in Mauritian society.

References

* Cotton, Fran (Ed.) (1984) ''The Book of Rugby Disasters & Bizarre Records''. Compiled by Chris Rhys. London. Century Publishing.

External links

official union page

CAR Mauritius page

CAR general

Lush splendour of Mauritius (The Citizen)

New coach for Mauritius
*
Historique

{{Africa in topic, Rugby union in Sport in Mauritius