Rugby Union - Global Reach

Global Reach

See also: List of rugby union playing countries

The earliest countries to adopt rugby union were England, the country of inception, followed by the other three Home Nations, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The spread of rugby union as a global sport has its roots in the exporting of the game by British expatriates, military personnel and over-seas university students. The first rugby club in France was formed by British residents in Le Havre in 1872, while the next year Argentina recorded its first game: 'Banks' v 'City' in Buenos Aires.

At least six countries have adopted rugby union as their de facto national sport; they are Fiji, Georgia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga and Wales.

Read more about this topic:  Rugby Union

Famous quotes containing the words global and/or reach:

    “Much of what Mr. Wallace calls his global thinking is, no matter how you slice it, still “globaloney.” Mr. Wallace’s warp of sense and his woof of nonsense is very tricky cloth out of which to cut the pattern of a post-war world.”
    —Clare Boothe Luce (1903–1987)

    “Unlike the ambiguity of life, the ambiguity of language does reach a limit.”
    —Mason Cooley (b. 1927)