Rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

in the

Bailiwick of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France, comprising several of the Channel Islands. It has a total land area of ...

is a popular

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

. Outside the island of

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

itself, it is occasionally played in

Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...

and

Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...

. Sark has its own rugby team, although it regularly has to pick up "guest" players to make up its numbers.

Governing body

Rugby is played in Guernsey under the auspices of the (English)

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

History

Due to its proximity to the major rugby nations England and France, Guernsey rugby is among the oldest in the world, dating back to the mid 19th century. A number of schools play the sport, especially the private ones, such as Elizabeth College. Guernsey RFC was founded in 1928GRUFC
retrieved 29 August 2009 and competes in the English leagues. There is only one other club in Guernsey, St Jacques RFC, which was founded in 1978. From the 2014/15 season St Jacques compete in the Hampshire Rugby Football Union (Hants) Solent Merit league. St Jacques home ground is the King George V (KGV) playing fields. The current coaches are Jon Bell, Rob Box and Peter Mcmachon, the current captain is Brett McFarlane. St Jacques have a squad of around 40 players, with many being recent graduates of the

Guernsey Rugby Academy Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

. The

Siam Cup The Siam Cup is an annual rugby union competition held between the Channel Islands clubs of Jersey Reds and Guernsey. It was first contested in 1920. The trophy is the second oldest rugby trophy in the world to be contested after the Calcutta ...

is an annual

Rugby Union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

competition held between

Jersey Reds Jersey Reds was a rugby union club based in Jersey, Channel Islands. On 28th September 2023, the club ceased trading and shortly thereafter went into liquidation following the withdrawal of financial support from a key investor. Until seaso ...

and Guernsey RFC. It was first contested in 1920. The trophy awarded its winner is the second oldest rugby honour contested after the

Calcutta Cup The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between teams of England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy con ...

. Development of the sport is limited due to the practicalities of small islands; Guernsey's national population is under 80,000. As yet, Guernsey has not fielded a national team. In 2025 a combined Jersey and Guernsey rugby team, dubbed "Channel Islands XV" debuted in a friendly fixture against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, ranked 31st in the world at the time.

Broadcast media

Guernsey has no television of its own (the ITV variant

Channel Television ITV Channel Television, previously Channel Television, is a British television station which has served as the ITV (TV network), ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programmes for i ...

sometimes includes rugby news) but does have its own radio stations. British and French television can both be received in the islands, and often include extensive rugby coverage – such as the

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

and

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

External links

* http://www.grufc.co.uk/
Guernsey Rugby Academy

Guernsey Touch

Guernsey vs Jersey
* http://www.ogier.com/AboutUs/Action/Sport/Pages/GuernseyRugbyAcademy.aspx * http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2009/02/26/rugby-official-swore-but-was-not-disorderly/
BBC's Guernsey Sports page

References

{{Guernsey topics , state=collapsed * Sport in Guernsey Sark

Governing body

History

Broadcast media

See also

External links

References