Rugby union in the Cayman Islands

{{Sport overview

| country = Cayman Islands

| sport = rugby union

| image = LocationCayman Islands.svg

| imagesize = 300px

| caption = Location of the Cayman Islands

| union = Cayman Rugby

| president = Mick Kehoe

| first =

| registered = 2,256

| clubs = 6

| match =

| national_list = Rugby World Cup
Rugby World Cup Sevens
IRB Sevens World Series
Caribbean Championship

| club_list =

| countryflag = Cayman Islands

}}

Rugby union is a growing sport in the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands national rugby union team is ranked 53rd in the world, with 2,256 registered players.IRB.com retrieved 24 August 2009

Governing body

The governing body is Cayman Rugby, which is a member of World Rugby, and the Rugby Americas North (RAN).{{cite web |url=http://www.nawira.com/ |title=Nawira Athletics |website=www.nawira.com |access-date=24 August 2009}}

History

Although there has been interest in the game in the Cayman Islands for decades, it only became properly organised in 1972, when the Cayman Islands RFC was founded.Cotton, p14 This team faced the challenge of having no rugby ball, pitch, and no clubhouse, for several years, and their nearest opponents were in Jamaica 600 miles away. In 1975, however, Jeff Butterfield, a former England player acquired the rights to a piece of pine forest, which was turned into their pitch.

Nowadays, the islands have their own men's team, and also a women's team, which was established in 2004. There is also a national Sevens team. A schools development programme is also now in force allowing the development of an under 18/19 national team.Retrieved 4 August 2008 [http://www.caymanrugby.com/ Cayman Rugby]

The Cayman Islands compete in the Caribbean Championship, a tournament which includes Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, Martinique, Jamaica, the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Guyana.Bath, p78

Teams

=Male=

Queensgate Pigs Trotters RFC (Originally a police team)
Advance Fire & Plumbing Buccaneers RFC
John Doak Iguanas RFC
Fidelity Cayman Storm RFC

Other former teams include:

The Cayman Surge
ReMax Old Boys - Tarnished Turtles RFC

=Female=

The Iguanas
Buccaneers
Trotters

References

Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 {{ISBN|1-86200-013-1}})
Cotton, Fran (Ed.) (1984) The Book of Rugby Disasters & Bizarre Records. Compiled by Chris Rhys. London. Century Publishing. {{ISBN|0-7126-0911-3}}

External links

[http://www.caymanrugby.com/ Cayman Rugby]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110915175457/http://www.irb.com/unions/union%3D11000047/index.html Cayman Islands] on IRB.com
[http://www.nawira.com/members/cayman-islands/ NAWIRA Cayman Islands page]
[http://rugbydata.com/caymanislands Cayman Islands] on RugbyData.com
[https://web.archive.org/web/20120225103351/http://www.nawira.com/articles/boost-rugby-739-s-america-caribbean/ Boost for Rugby 7's in the Americas & Caribbean]
{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.lestimbresdurugby.com/Archivesdurugby/Pays/Cayman_Island.htm Archives du Rugby: Cayman Islands]