Rugby union in the Bailiwick of Guernsey

Rugby union in the Bailiwick of Guernsey

Map of the Bailiwick of Guernsey
Country Guernsey
Governing body Rugby Football Union
National team Guernsey
First played late 19th century
Clubs Guernsey RFC
St Jacques RFC

Rugby union in the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a popular sport. Outside the island of Guernsey itself, it is occasionally played in Alderney and Sark. Sark has its own rugby team, although it regularly has to pick up "guest" players to make up its numbers.[1] It has no national competitive side of its own, and is not affiliated to the IRB in its own right. For this reason, it has no IRB ranking.

Governing body

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

History

An aerial view of Guernsey, from 33,000 feet.

Due to its proximity to the major rugby nations England and France, Guernsey rugby is amongst 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.[2]

Guernsey RFC was founded in 1928 [3] 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.[4] 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.

The Siam Cup is an annual Rugby Union competition held between Jersey Reds and Guernsey RFC. It was first contested in 1920.[5] The trophy awarded its winner is the second oldest rugby honour contested after the Calcutta Cup.[6]

Development of the sport is limited due to the practicalities of small islands; Guernsey's national population is under 80,000. The main sport is association football.

Broadcast media

Guernsey has no television of its own (the ITV variant Channel Television 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 and Six Nations Championship.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/jersey/content/articles/2005/06/24/ig05_sark_feature.shtml
  2. ↑ http://www.elizcoll.org/index.php?p=college/sports
  3. ↑ GRUFC, retrieved 29 August 2009
  4. ↑ http://www.hampshirerugby.co.uk
  5. ↑ "Siam cup". Jersey RFC. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
  6. ↑ "Siam Cup Preview". BBC. 2007-05-05. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
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