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 ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

is a minor but growing sport.

Governing body

The governing body is the

Cyprus Rugby Federation The Cyprus Rugby Federation (CRF) (Greek: Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ράγκμπι, Κ.Ο.ΡΑ) ( tr, Kıbrıs Ragbi Federasyonu (KRF)) the governing body for rugby union in Cyprus. It runs several competitions including a league with t ...

It became affiliated to

FIRA Firá ( el, Φηρά, pronounced ) is the modern capital of the Greek Aegean island of Santorini (Thera). A traditional settlement,http://www.visitgreece.gr Greek National Tourism Organisation "Firá" derives its name from an alternative pron ...

in 2006.

History

Cypriot rugby goes back to at least the 1950s, when it was played by British Armed Forces there. The British military still contributes teams from the

Akrotiri and Dhekelia Akrotiri and Dhekelia, officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA),, ''Periochés Kyríarchon Váseon Akrotiríou ke Dekélias''; tr, Ağrotur ve Dikelya İngiliz Egemen Üs Bölgeleri is a British Overseas Territory o ...

bases. During the 1970s, rugby union in Israel trying to break out of its isolation - both political and geographical - reached out to teams in Cyprus.Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ) p68 Many of the teams Israelis played with were British military. In more recent times, it has mainly been a game played by expatriates. There are several competitions including a league with teams from the British military bases and three local teams: *

Paphos Tigers The Paphos Tigers are an independent rugby union club based in Paphos, Cyprus. They are known as the first independent rugby club in Cyprus. They have been established since July 10, 2003. The Paphos Tigers have a senior rugby team as well as a mini ...

- founded by British and South Africans. * Limassol Crusaders - Founded by expats after England won in 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 E ...

* Nicosia Barbarians - The Barbarians are currently not playing, although the website is still up. Cypriot rugby's main ties are to European rugby, although it does play Israel occasionally. The situation in Northern Cyprus is somewhat different, with teams playing in the Turkish leagues. Rugby is not a major sport amongst Greek Cypriots, but it is even less so amongst Turkish Cypriots.

Introduction of rugby to Cyprus

Rugby Football was introduced formally in league format in the early 1980s by the British Military due to the mannerism of their structure. However the first Cypriot Club was formed in 2003 known as,

. Predominately made up of South African Cypriots they triumphed in the British Military Major Units League. The first game for Cyprus took place on 24 March 2007 at home against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. The Cypriot XV won 39-3. Cyprus continued their great start in international rugby by beating

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

29-0 at the Pafiako Stadium in

Paphos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of Pap ...

on 28 October 2007. They then put in back-to-back victories against

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

on 31 October 2007 (19-10) and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

on 3 November 2007 (38-8). Having won the FIRA ENC Division 3D Tournament, they qualified for a promotion playoff against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. The game took place on 6 September 2008, Cyprus were defeated 23-14 and therefore remained in ENC 3D with Azerbaijan,

Bosnia Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

, Monaco and Slovakia. Cyprus currently hold records over 3 nations in the division ENC 3D, by inflicting the worst defeats of Slovakia, Azerbaijan and Monaco respectively. During the 2009 FIRA AER European Sevens Championship, Cyprus Sevens Team took part in two tournaments in Athens and Split. Their performances during these competitions led to them jumping 11 places in the FIRA rankings and are currently ranked 12th in Europe.

National team

The first international game of the Cyprus Rugby National Team took place on March 24, 2007 against

. The Cypriot XV won the game by 39-3 in front of 2,500 fans. In October and November 2007, Cyprus beat

to win the FIRA 3D Tournament, a great achievement in their first year on the international scene. However, they lost the play-off game for promotion to level 3C on 6 September 2008 against

(which plays in the European leagues) by a score of 23-14. Cyprus now play in the 2B level, after winning promotion consecutively from the 2008-2010 edition onwards.

References

External links