Country Bosnia and Herzegovina First played 1950s Clubs 9 | National team Bosnia and Herzegovina Registered players 869 | |
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Rugby union in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a minor sport. They are currently ranked eighty-third in the International Rugby Board's world rankings, despite the lack of recognition as an official sport by the government.
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Yugoslav period
Rugby union was a moderately popular sport in Yugoslavia (a name which Serbia retained long after the disintegration of that state). The Rugby Championship of Yugoslavia ran from 1957-1991.
Post independence
Rugby union in Bosnia and Herzegovina has not been popular historically, but due to its recent international successes, it is gaining more recognition. As of December 2008, more than half of the eight hundred registered players were pre-teens or teenagers. In addition, there are currently eleven domestic clubs that compete against each other on various levels.
In the early 1990s, former Italian cap, Dr Giancarlo Tizanini was a major driving force in Austrian rugby. Before his death in 1994, he tried hard to establish a Central European equivalent of the Six Nations between Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia.
National team
The national team has been competing since the early 1990s.