Rugby football is an exciting outdoor sport which originated in the mid 1700’s from a type of football played at Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It’s probably no surprise that rugby is well represented in Victoria, as the city has a distinctly British air, bearing the nickname “Little England”.
The sport of rugby, however, is not exactly the genteel, tea and crumpets, polite and restrained side of Britain. This game is passionate, physical, and vigorous. Rugby players are well known for their toughness, extreme competitiveness, and some fairly bawdy musical verse, which I won’t repeat here!
A good place to start if you are looking for information about local rugby clubs is the BC Rugby News website. Here you will find:
- Contact info for all local clubs;
- Schedules;
- Tournament information;
- Video of recent matches, and
- Rugby news from around the world.
In the Greater Victoria area, rugby is played as an extra-curricular high school sport, as well as by youth, women, men and over 40’s in the community, so you should be able to find a team that caters to your age group/demographic!
Vancouver Island Rugby Clubs include:
- Castaway Wanderers RFC;
- Comox Valley Kickers RFC;
- Cowichan RFC;
- James Bay Athletic Association;
- Nanaimo Hornets RFC;
- Port Alberni Black Sheep;
- University of Victoria RFC, and
- Velox Valhallians Rugby Football Club
You can contact one of these local clubs if you’re interested in playing (or watching) the outdoor sport of rugby in Victoria. Or maybe you just want to learn some new music…
