Timeline of foundation of national rugby unions
This timeline lists the foundation dates of the national governing bodies for rugby union—known as rugby unions or federations. The first union was the Rugby Football Union (RFU) that was founded in 1871 to govern rugby union within England. It was founded following the first ever rugby union international, played between England and Scotland in 1871. The Scottish Football Union (later renamed the Scottish Rugby Union) was then founded in 1873, the Irish Rugby Football Union in 1879 and the Welsh Rugby Union in 1881.
Timeline
- 1871 (English) Rugby Football Union (RFU)
- 1873 Scottish Rugby Union (as Scottish Football Union until 1924)
- 1879 Irish Rugby Football Union (a merger of two Irish unions both formed in 1874)
- 1881 Welsh Rugby Union
- 1889 South African Rugby Board (merged with South African Rugby Union in 1992 to form South African Rugby Football Union; merged body renamed South African Rugby Union in 2005)
- 1892 New Zealand Rugby Union (founded as New Zealand Rugby Football Union)
- 1895 Rhodesia Rugby Football Union (Zimbabwe RU after 1980)[1]
- 1899 Argentine Rugby Union[2]
- 1900 German Rugby Federation
- 1908 Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (as Ceylon Rugby Football Union)[3]
- 1913 Fiji Rugby Union (founded as Fiji Rugby Football Union)
- 1916 Royal Moroccan Rugby Federation[4]
- 1919 French Rugby Federation
- 1921 Malaysian Rugby Union (As Malaya Rugby Union)[5]
- 1922 Catalan Rugby Federation
- 1923 Spanish Rugby Federation
- 1923 Tonga Rugby Football Union
- 1923 Samoa Rugby Football Union
- 1923 Kenya Rugby Football Union (as Rugby Football Union of Kenya)
- 1926 Japan Rugby Football Union
- 1926 Portuguese Rugby Federation
- 1926 Czech Rugby Union (as Czechoslovakia)
- 1928 Italian Rugby Federation
- 1928 Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Football Union
- 1931 Romanian Rugby Federation
- 1932 Dutch Rugby Union
- 1932 Swedish Rugby Union[6]
- 1935 Belgian Rugby Federation
- 1936 Rugby Union of Russia (founded as, and successor of, Rugby Union of the Soviet Union)
- 1946 Korean Rugby Union[7]
- 1948 Singapore Rugby Union
- 1949 Australian Rugby Union
- 1950 Danish Rugby Union[8]
- 1951 Uruguayan Rugby Union
- 1952 Niue Rugby Football Union
- 1953 Hong Kong Rugby Football Union
- 1953 Federación de Rugby de Chile
- 1957 Polish Rugby Union
- 1959 Uganda Rugby Union (as URFU)
- 1961 Côte d'Ivoire Rugby Federation
- 1961 Lithuanian Rugby Federation (as regional body under USSR - full nation body in 1990s)
- 1962 Bulgarian Rugby Federation
- 1964 Georgia Rugby Union (as regional body under USSR - full nation body in 1990s)
- 1965 Rugby Canada (founded as Canadian Rugby Union)
- 1965 Zambia Rugby Union
- 1968 Indian Rugby Football Union
- 1970 Paraguayan Rugby Union
- 1972 Swiss Federation
- 1972 Brazilian Rugby Association
- 1972 Tunisian Rugby Federation
- 1974 Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (founded as Gulf Rugby Football Union) — then an overseas member of the Rugby Football Union; became independent in 1990. Officially disbanded in 2011; to be replaced with separate national unions in each of its former member countries. The new United Arab Emirates union was founded shortly before the AGRFU dissolution.
- 1974 Luxembourg Rugby Federation
- 1975 USA Rugby (founded as United States of America Rugby Football Union)
- 1977 Brunei Rugby Football Union
- 1982 Norwegian Rugby Union
- 1986 Andorran Rugby Federation
- 1989 Tahiti Rugby Union
- 1989 Cook Islands Rugby Union
- 1990 Namibia Rugby Union
- 1990 Hungarian Rugby Union
- 1992 Austrian Rugby Federation
- 1992 South African Rugby Union (founded as South Africa Rugby Football Union, a merger of the white South African Rugby Board and the non-racial South African Rugby Union; adopted current name in 2005)
- 1996 Monegasque Rugby Federation
- 1997 Peruvian Rugby Federation
- 1998 Philippine Rugby Football Union
- 2000 Pakistan Rugby Union
- 2004 Azerbaijani Rugby Federation
- 2008 Ecuadorian Rugby Federation
- 2007 Jordan Rugby Union.
- 2009 Turkey Rugby Federation
- 2010 United Arab Emirates Rugby Association (not yet a full IRB member)
See also
References and notes
- ^ "THE HISTORY OF ZIMBABWE RUGBY". zimsevensrugby.com. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
- ^ "HECHOS SALIENTES DE LA HISTORIA DEL RUGBY INTERNACIONAL Y NACIONAL" (in Spanish). uar.com.ar. Archived from the original on 2007-12-10. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
- ^ "A 100 years of Unbroken Tradition!". srilankarugby.com. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- ^ Bath, Richard, ed. (1997). Complete Book of Rugby. Seven Oaks Ltd. p. 71. ISBN 1-86200-013-1.
- ^ Bath, Richard, ed. (1997). Complete Book of Rugby. Seven Oaks Ltd. p. 71. ISBN 1-86200-013-1.
- ^ Bath, Richard, ed. (1997). Complete Book of Rugby. Seven Oaks Ltd. p. 75. ISBN 1-86200-013-1.
- ^ Bath, Richard, ed. (1997). Complete Book of Rugby. Seven Oaks Ltd. p. 70. ISBN 1-86200-013-1.
- ^ Bath, Richard, ed. (1997). Complete Book of Rugby. Seven Oaks Ltd. p. 66. ISBN 1-86200-013-1.
External links
- "Unions". irb.com. Retrieved 2007-12-13.