Rugby union in Kenya
| Rugby union in Kenya | |
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The Kenya national sevens team in action during a lineout in the 2008 Edinburgh Sevens
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| Country | Kenya |
| Governing body | Kenya Rugby Football Union |
| National team | Kenya |
| First played | 1909 |
| Registered players | 42,904 |
| Clubs | 60 |
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National competitions
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Club competitions
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Rugby union in Kenya is a popular sport, in particular due to the success of the Kenya national rugby sevens team in the rugby sevens format, and tournaments such as the Safari Sevens, which has been growing yearly, and now includes numerous international teams.
The sport is governed by the Kenya Rugby Football Union.
The Rugby Football Union of Kenya (RFU-K) was formed in 1923. RFU-K was then incorporated into the Rugby Football Union of East Africa (RFUEA) in 1956. Kenya Rugby Football Union was formed in 1970 to govern the game in Kenya.
At the 2008 Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year awards KRFU won the federation of the year category.
Rugby has a long history in Kenya.
The first recorded game in Kenya took place in 1909, when a team composed of predominantly British "Officials" took on mainly Afrikaaner "Settlers" in Mombasa.
The Rugby Football Union of Kenya (RFU-K) was formed in 1923, the same year when Nairobi District team split to form Harlequins RFC (which is not the current club Kenya Harlequins which was formed in 1952) and Nondescripts RFC. Impala RFC, another traditional club was founded in the 1930s. For a number of years, the Nondescripts and the Harlequins were two of the best sides in the country and dominated Kenyan rugby.
When the British Isles went to South Africa for their 1955 tour and their 1962 tour, they played East Africa sides in Nairobi, on the return leg of their journey. The Lions won both of these games, 39-12 and 50-0 respectively.
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Wikipedia