Rugby union in Morocco is a significant and popular sport.http://wesclark.com/rrr/islamic_rugby.html "Islam and Rugby" on the ''Rugby Readers review'' retrieved 2 July 2009

Governing body

The Royal Moroccan Rugby Federation was formed in 1916, joined the IRFB in 1988.Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ) p71 Morocco is a founding member of 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 ...

(CAR), which was launched in January 1986.http://carugby.com/history/ History of the CAR, retrieved 24 June 2009

History

Rugby came to Morocco in the early 20th century, mainly by the French who occupied the country. As a result, Moroccan rugby was tied to the fortunes of France during the two world wars, with many Moroccan players going away to fight. Like many other

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

i nations, Moroccan rugby tended to look to Europe for inspiration, rather than to the rest of Africa. The game became more firmly established in the 1950s, partly through the efforts of Mohammed Benjaloun, who would become president of the Moroccan Olympic Committee. For a while, Morocco originally came under European rugby auspices, but is now integrated into the African structure.

National team

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

traditionally sees neighbours

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

as their rivals. Morocco played its first international in 1931 against them. After playing several games, they would not play another international until 1967, when they joined 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 ...

and FIRA. Morocco made the first division in 1983 but was beaten easily by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. After falling down the rankings, Morocco left the European series and joined the African Cup competition and won it in 2003 and 2005. Their sevens side is regularly plays in the top circuit, doing very well in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

. The link with France has proven to be a mixed blessing. On the one hand, several successful Moroccan players go on to play in the French leagues; on the other, some Moroccans have ended up playing for

, or refusing Moroccan caps in case they are ineligible for this. An example of this is, Abdelatif Benazzi, a forward who played for the French club of

Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern departme ...

and played 77 games for France. Notable Moroccan players include: * Abdelatif Benazzi *

Abdellatif Boutaty Abdellatif Boutaty (born 4 June 1983) is a former Moroccan rugby union footballer. He played as a lock. He was nicknamed "The Tiger of Atlas" (''Le Tigre de l'Atlas''). Club career Boutaty played for the Moroccan amateur team of COC, in Casablan ...

Djalil Narjissi Djalil Narjissi ( ar, دجاليل نرجسي; born 18 January 1980) is a Moroccan rugby union footballer who currently plays in the Top 14, for Agen. He joined Agen in 2004, having previously played for Castres. Narjissi is also the captain of t ...

References

* Richards, Huw ''A Game for Hooligans: The History of Rugby Union'' ( Mainstream Publishing,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, 2007, )

External links

IRB Morocco page
* fficial union page
CAR Morocco page

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