Rugby Union In Israel
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Rugby union in Israel was brought to the country by British soldiers during the British Mandate for Palestine. Rugby Israel was founded as the Israel Rugby Union in 1975, and joined the IRB in 1988.Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ) p68 For political reasons it is also part of FIRA-AER, the European rugby body, rather than the
Asian Rugby Football Union Asia Rugby, formerly the Asian Rugby Football Union, is the governing body of rugby union in Asia under the authority of World Rugby. Founded in 1968 by eight charter nations, the Union today has 36 member unions in countries across Asia, stretch ...
.


History

Rugby union was brought to the country by British soldiers during the Mandate era. Around the same time, there was an influx of Jews from various parts of the
British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire The B ...
and the
Francophonie The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...
who tried to establish the game. In the 1950s, Leo Camron, a former player for Natal, organised teams amongst the various immigrants, and within the IDF. Post-War rugby found a new advocate in South African Leo Camron.Kaplan, David, "Leo Camron", obituary in the magazine of Telfed (the Israeli South African Association), March, 2008. Available online at A graduate of Natal University, Camron was a former artillery captain of the South African Army who had served in the North African campaigns of WWII, and went to Palestine to join Machal and fight in the 1947–1949 Palestine war. In South Africa, Camron had also played for the Natal rugby team. In 1951, succeeded in obtaining an appointment in the sports department of the IDF.Israel tries to revive HolyLand 7s
on Rugby7 dot com, retrieved 2 September 2009
In 1952, Camron organised independent Israel's first rugby match, between a group of South Africans, and a team of parachutists in the IDF. The South Africans won 18–6. The match ball was somewhat unusual, being a shoe wrapped in a towel. The game proved fairly popular in the IDF, thanks partly to its emphasis on aggression and team tactics. Camron soon organised other games, mainly between soldiers, and immigrants from the
British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire The B ...
. Camron made an attempt to get the IDF to adopt the game, but was unsuccessful due to institutional bureaucracy. This was a bitter blow to his campaign, and led to him taking a more passive role in Israeli rugby, until his death in 2007. Israeli rugby went into decline during the 1960s, until in the 1970s, a new wave of immigrants from rugby playing countries arrived, particularly from South Africa. A major focus for the Israeli game was the ''
Kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
''
Yizre'el Yizre'el () is a kibbutz in north-eastern Israel. Located in the Jezreel Valley near Afula, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In it had a population of . History After the Bahri dynasty, Mamluks took control of the ar ...
() near
Afula Afula () is a city in the Northern District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley" due to its strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. As of , the city had a population of . Afula's ancient tell (settlement mound) suggests habit ...
in the north west of the country, which had a number of South Africans living in it. It also garnered an interest in areas with large English-speaking populations such as
Ra'anana Ra'anana () is an affluent city in the southern Sharon, Israel, Sharon Plain of the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. It was founded in 1922 as an American-Jewish settlement, 1 km south of the village of Tabsur, where a ...
() in west Central Israel and
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. A national league was set up in 1972, and the Israel Rugby Union (now Rugby Israel) formed in 1975.


Maccabiah Games and Internationals

Israel's first international match was away to
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on 25 May 1981, and ended 9–9. Israel rugby in this period countered its isolation, by building up contacts with British military teams based in
Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
, and teams and organisations based in South Africa and France. The game was given a further shot in the arm when it was included in the four-yearly
Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics") is an international multi-sport event with summer and winter sports competitions featuring Jews and Israelis regardless of religion ...
in 1981 - the so-called "Jewish Olympics" - in 1993, it was won by a South African national Jewish side. The high point of Israeli rugby has been seen as their shock 67–8 win against
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in the World Cup Qualifiers, which did much to promote the sport within Israel. In 1989, Chris Thau claims that Israel had eight clubs (a figure which has remained fairly steady), and around 400 players (a number which has increased somewhat). Israel has also entered the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Roughly 70% of Israeli players are now locally born.


National team

The national team is in the third tier of international rugby. Their first match was away to
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
on 25 May 1981, and ended 9–9. They participated in the European section of the qualifying rounds for the
1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup () was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Six Nations Championship, Five Na ...
. In a group with
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,
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and Switzerland, Israel lost all three matches, but were by no means humiliated. In the qualifying matches for the 1995 World Cup, Israel thrashed
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
67–8 in the preliminary round, before being knocked out in the Round 1 group stage, failing to score a point in two of their three games. The qualifying matches for the
1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...
followed the established pattern, with Israel being knocked out in the group stage, though they avoided finishing bottom of their five-team group by beating
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. The same happened in the 2003 WC qualifiers, where they finished fourth in a six team group. In the 2007 WC qualifiers they did not even make it to the group stage, being thrashed 113–7 on aggregate by
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
. In April 2007, they were ranked 93rd out of 95 IRB member nations.IRB World Rankings - 30 April 2007
/ref> Their home ground is at
Wingate Institute Wingate Institute (), officially Orde Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports (), is a sports training institute located south of Netanya, Israel. History Wingate Institute was established in 1957. It was named after Orde Wingate. ...
.


Domestic rugby

Rugby is most popular amongst English speaking immigrants, particularly those from South Africa, Australia, and the UK, and a lesser extent New Zealand and North America. There are also players from other parts of the world, particularly France, Italy, Georgia and other parts of Europe where the game is popular. Rugby has a low take up rate amongst the Arab Israeli population, and Mizrachi, although some originate in countries such as
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and
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
with a significant rugby tradition. There is at least one
Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...
player and some Christians (particularly in Jerusalem), but the game does not appear to be popular amongst Muslims. With the exception of Beit Jala Lions, based in
Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
, there is little rugby to speak of in the
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or Gaza, and contact with neighbouring Arab communities is low. The first league was set up in 1972 with five clubs, and was played over the 1972/3 season. Initially the league was run by the players themselves, but in a general meeting in 1975, it was decided to set up a committee to run the game. Since then the league has fluctuated between six and ten teams, with six members at the start of the 2006/7 season: There are four women's teams; *Haifa Technion *Ra'anana Roosters *Tel Aviv *Jerusalem Women's Rugby Club


Former clubs

Golan gorillas *Haogen-Nir Eliyahu *Emek Hefer There is also a Golden Oldies club called the Elders of Zion.


Women's rugby

Although Israel's women have not yet played test match rugby, they have been playing international sevens rugby since 2005. (Current playing record).


See also

* Sports in Israel *
Jamie Heaslip James Heaslip (born 15 December 1983) is an Irish people, Irish former rugby union player who represented Leinster Rugby, Leinster, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions. He played as a Number 8 (rugby union), ...


References


External links


Rugby Israel

Tel Aviv Rugby Club



Regulations of Rugby for 2009 Maccabiah Games

FIRA Israel pageHaifa Lady Wild BoarsIsrael’s women’s rugby team takes hit in FranceRugby League in Israel
{{Rugby union in Europe