Rugby Quebec

Rugby Québec is the popular name of the Fédération de Rugby du Québec (formerly the Québec Rugby Union) which is the provincial governing body for the sport of rugby union in the Canadian province of Québec. The Fédération de Rugby du Québec is affiliated with the Canadian Rugby Union.

The Fédération de Rugby du Québec origins are hard to trace for two reasons. First, rugby union in Canada converged with and then later split from the game of Canadian football, often with rugby football unions representing both games, thus making an exact history hard to establish. Second, the Fédération de Rugby du Québec has not put a great emphasis on maintaining detailed historical records. This has led to gaps in its administrative and competition history and the lost information may never be known.

The Westmount Rugby Club traces its roots back to 1876 or 1878, and some sort of organized rugby has been played in Québec ever since. In the 1920s and 1930s many clubs made the transition to professional or semi-professional football. Regardless, several leagues were formed during the 1950s that were not associated with the Québec Rugby Union. This changed in the later 1960s and in the late 1970s the union officially changed its name to the Fédération de Rugby du Québec.

The FRQ has many differing levels and types of competition. There are two predominate competitions that have the longest historical record. The first is the Premier Championship Cup, which is awarded annually to the best rugby team in cup competition. This has also been known as the "Quebec Cup", Senior Cup, the First Division Cup, the A Division Cup and (formerly) the Standard Life Cup and can trace its origins back to the 1950s. The second oldest championship is the Intermediate Cup, awarded to the best club team in the second side cup competition. This has also been known as the Second Division Cup, the B Division Cup and the Des O'Neill Trophy.

As leagues in Montréal and the St. Lawrence Rugger and Cricket Association were formed, the first cohort of modern clubs was founded.

The union began to expand in the 1970s and 1980s, with its first wave of new clubs. Additionally, for a good part of the 1970s several Ottawa based rugby teams regularly completed in the QRU, including the Ottawa Indians, Ottawa Irish, Ottawa Beavers, Ottawa Scottish and the Deep River Blues. Of particular importance was the entry of the Club de rugby Parc olympique into the FRQ, as it was the first primarily francophone team in the federation.

The FRQ experienced substantial growth in the past two decades, and has added many new clubs, especially because rugby now enjoys a much greater popularity in French language school boards.

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