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 ...

in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

is a minor but growing sport.

Governing body

The national union is a 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 ...

, but not of 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 ru ...

History

Rugby in the

suffers from a number of hindrances, such as lack of good transport networks, general infrastructure, political instability and war, and also the extreme poverty of the country, which means it is difficult for it to maintain a proper national league structure. The DRC is a particularly large country, at 2,344,858 km2 (the 12th largest in the world), but without the necessary economy to maintain it. The sport is centred on the national capital,

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one of ...

. Like many African countries, the historical connection with

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 ...

is a mixed blessing. For a number of years, Congolese rugby players would leave to play in France, which deprived the sport of any real competition in the DRC.

External links

CAR

References

Sport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo {{Rugbyunion-stub

Governing body

History

See also

External links

References