World Rugby Council has approved the application by the Rwanda Rugby Federation (RRF) as a full member union, bringing the total number to 103 full members and 17 associates.
The RRF became an associate member of World Rugby in April 2004 and is a full member of Rugby Africa, the regional association. The union actively partakes in regional activities and participates in a range of Rugby Africa tournaments. It is recognised by its National Olympic Committee and fulfils World Rugby’s full membership criteria.
The RRF runs a national 15-a-side team and, in total, has 10 teams participating in a domestic 15-a-side league with more than 300 registered adult male players, 60 adult female players and nearly 7 000 youth players. The union is a structured organisation, administered by a full-time CEO and a number of volunteers.
The application was supported by the World Rugby Executive Committee, Rugby Africa and World Rugby’s Rugby Services Manager (Africa).
World Rugby Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “We are delighted to be welcoming Rwanda as a full member of World Rugby. These are very exciting times for our sport with unprecedented growth and interest around the world. With today’s announcement, we look forward to a strong, well-organised game in Rwanda and we are glad that the union is now ready to join the global rugby family as a full member and continue its work growing the game in Africa.”
Rugby Afrique Chairman Abdelaziz Bougja added: “These are exciting times for rugby in Africa and Rwanda’s admission as a World Rugby full member union is reflective of a region where participation has doubled in the past 8 years and where rugby continues to reach and attract new audiences. We look forward to continuing our work with the RRF and being part of the game’s success story there. As rugby in Africa overcomes the challenges it faces, the game’s character-building values remain very much to the fore.”
This decision is subject to a review being conducted within 24 months in order to confirm that the union has progressed and is worthy of retaining its full member status.
worldrugby
Welcome to the club Rwanda, hope this sees the game growing there. The more people taking part in our game the better I think.
John Kirwin ?
@ cane:
Hiya mate, yeah it looked like him to me.
And in other news:
http://ewn.co.za/2015/11/14/Australia-declare-on-559-9-against-NZ
Revenge shall be sweet…
2 @ cane:
Hi cane well spotted it is John Kirwan. Not sure if he has been involved recently or whether it is an old photo taken in 2010 when he helped Rwanda with a bit of training, according to Rwandan Rugby (also know as The Silverbacks):
“The Silverbacks made their first trip outside East Africa with a 10-day tour to Hong Kong in late March 2010. The 13-man squad, plus coach and manager, took part in the Altus Kowloon RugbyFest, a 10-a-side tournament at King’s Park featuring teams from around the world. The RugbyFest is one of several tournaments in the territory’s week-long Festival of Rugby that culminates in the famous Hong Kong Sevens. Before RugbyFest, the Silverbacks enjoyed a joint training session with renowned New Zealand touring side Aliens, the defending champions in the elite-level HKFC Tens. They also trained alongside another top Tens squad, the UK-based Penguins, and were put through their paces by Penguins Coaching Academy staff including Japan coach John Kirwan and former Scotland coach Frank Hadden. The Silverbacks made their mark at RugbyFest. They won four of their six games in Pool One, only losing narrowly in the other two, to finish second in the standings. That put them through to the Plate final where, despite dominating possession, they went down 7-0 to the ARC All-Stars, a mixture of players from Hong Kong, New Zealand and South Africa. Rwanda’s displays impressed a crowd that included Springboks great Bob Skinstad and former British and Irish Lions winger John Bentley, who both praised their pace and skills.”
@ Bullscot:
Thanks for that Bully,
Is there nothing you don’t know?
@ BrumbiesBoy:
We are fighting back Bumby.
323/2.
😉
@ cane:
David Warner is in some purple patch at the moment.
@ cane:
Problem is not in knowing things it’s remembering them for me 
It’s ok thanks. Haha not sure about that, I do not know what I do not know if you know what I mean.
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