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 its m ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

is a minor but growing sport. Bulgaria is ranked 90th worldwide by the

International Rugby Board 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 ...

(IRB) as of 8 October 2007. There are 3,026 Bulgarian rugby players.

Governing body

Rugby union in Bulgaria is governed by the Bulgarian Rugby Federation, which was formed in 1962.Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ) p64

History

Bulgarian rugby is centred on the capital,

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

. Although rugby was well organised in Bulgaria during the 1960s, the first international was not until 1976, when

lost to

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Bulgarian rugby has not traditionally enjoyed a high reputation. For example, in 1988, an anonymous French rugby official joked that "one of the FIRA nightmares... is to have playing refereed by a Soviet." Rugby union like many other sports, was long to be connected in the public mind with the less savoury aspects of Communism: :"''In fact, since the end of the Second World War, the East European (and world communist) sports system was dominated by clubs of the security forces (often in Eastern Europe bearing the Soviet name Dinamo) and the armed forces. Most sports heroes, therefore, have officially been soldiers or police officers, guardians of public order and role models for a disciplined, obedient and patriotic citizenry. So to many people, élite sport was identified with paramilitary coercion.''" However, in more recent times, the spirit of Bulgarian rugby has been applauded by none other than rugby great

Will Greenwood William John Heaton Greenwood, MBE (born 20 October 1972) is an English former rugby union player who played for Leicester Tigers and Harlequins and was a member of England's 2003 World Cup-winning team and the 1997 British & Irish Lions. H ...

: :"''In the end we beat Pernik in a hard-fought match that left us all with souvenirs of our trip. And while the bruises will fade, my memory of Bulgaria will not. On a national level they may be miles away from rugby recognition, but far from the spotlight and in among the old towns there are thousands of Bulgarians who absolutely love our sport.''"article, April 2007
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Women's rugby

Although Bulgaria's women have not yet played test match rugby, they have been playing international sevens rugby since 2003. (Current playing record).

Teams

Although Bulgaria as a national side are low in the IRB rankings, Bulgaria has a long rugby tradition, and many of the country's clubs were formed as far back as the 1960s. The main clubs are : * Murphy's Misfits (

- an Expatriate, expatriates' social rugby team * Valyatzite "The Steamrollers" ( Pernik

* Mercury RFC, Mercury (

* NSA RFC, National Sports Academy (

http://nsarugbyclub.hit.bg/] * Lokomotiv RFC, Lokomotiv (

http://www.rugbyloko2.free.bg/] * Levski RFC, Levski (

) *

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

(

) * Balkanski Kotki "Balkan Cats" ( Berkovitsa

* RC Yantra Gabrovo, Yantra (

Gabrovo Gabrovo ( bg, Габрово ) is a town in central northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Gabrovo Province. It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an internationa ...

Other clubs include : :Chimik "Chemical Worker" ( Kostinbrod) :Divi Ihtimanski Kotki "Wild Cats of Ihtiman" ( Ihtiman) :Granit (

Godech Godech ( bg, Годеч ) is a small town located in the Sofia Province, of Bulgaria. The town is founded in a valley on the far west of Stara Planina, where the Nishava River passes. The settlement is about 20 km east of the Serbian bord ...

) :Sportist (

Svoge Svoge ( bg, Своге, ) is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located in the gorge of the Iskar River, at the place where the mountains Mala planina, Golema planina and Ponor meet, 40 km north of the capital Sofia. Svoge is ...

) :Krakra (Pernik) :Pastra ( Petarch) :Vulchedrumski Tigri "Tigers of Vulchedrum" ( Vulchedrum/Valchedram) :Nadezhda 2001 ( Nadezhda, Sofia) :Beroe (

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora ( bg, Стара Загора, ) is the sixth-largest city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province. Name The name comes from the Slavic root ''star'' ("old") and the name of the medieva ...

) :Botev ( Bourgas) :Spartak (

Pleven Pleven ( bg, Плèвен ) is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality. It is the biggest ...

) :Orlite "The Eagles" (

Svilengrad Svilengrad ( bg, Свиленград; el, Σβίλενγκραντ; ota, Cisr-i Mustafapaşa) is a town in Haskovo Province, south-central Bulgaria, situated at the border of Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece. It is the administrative centre of the h ...

) :Chorni RFC (

Breznik Breznik ( bg, Брезник ) is a town in western Bulgaria, 50 km away from Sofia. It is located in Pernik Province and is close to the towns of Bankya and Pernik. Villages in the municipality include Begunovtsi, Dushintsi, and Velkovtsi ...

)

References

{{Rugby union outside WC

Governing body

History

Women's rugby

Teams

External links

References