Rugby Africa is the administrative body for rugby union within the continent of Africa under the authority of World Rugby, which is the world governing body of rugby union. As of 2018[update], Rugby Africa has 37 member nations and runs several rugby tournaments for national teams, including the Africa Cup which is the main 15-a-side competition for African national teams.
Rugby Africa was founded in 1986 as the Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) to promote, develop, organise and administer the game of rugby in Africa. It was renamed Rugby Africa in December 2014.[1]
The President of Rugby Africa is the Herbert Mensah from Ghana.
History
Logo used 2015–2017.
The Confederation of African Rugby (French: Confédération Africaine de Rugby) was officially launched in January 1986 in Tunis. The inaugural members at the meeting were Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Senegal, the Seychelles, Tanzania and Tunisia. A meeting was held in July 1992 in Casablanca with the view of integrating the SARFU into the confederation. South Africa had been denied entry until this time because of the government policy of apartheid (South African rugby had been governed by the mainly white South African Rugby Board and the mainly black South African Rugby Union). In March 1992 these were formally combined to form the South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU). The Confederation now has 37 member nations.
We, the undersigned, hereby confirm our commitment to realising the potential of African rugby... THAT, on this day, the creation of the African Leopards, Rugby Union in Africa will develop its own heroes and heroines; THAT, developing rugby nations throughout Africa will be assisted with adequate human and physical resources to develop their playing potential at all levels; THAT, every African boy and girl may soon have the opportunity to play the sport of Rugby Football.
— Signed on this 23rd day of July, 2005 at Johannesburg, South Africa.[2]
Members
World Rugby full members who are part of Rugby Africa:[3][4]
The CAR formed agreements in 2014 which allowed member unions from Anglophone and Francophone nations in Africa to access training programs within the sports academies and administrative headquarters of the South African Rugby Union and French Rugby Federation, respectively. These agreements, designed to foster rugby development across the continent, were signed in January 2015, and followed earlier arrangements with the SARU and French club Castres Olympique which were made in 2006.[15][16]
The African Leopards are a representative team from Africa which aims to promote the sport throughout the whole of Africa. The Leopards played their first ever match in July 2005 at Ellis Park as a curtain raiser between Springboks and Australia.
^ Cameroon joined World Rugby as a full member in 1999, but had their membership suspended in November 2013 due to "inactivity and a failure to meet criteria for continued membership". It became a full member again in 2021.
^ Ghana joined World Rugby as an associate member in 2004, and became a full member in 2017.[6]
^ Rwanda joined World Rugby as an associate member in 2004, and became a full member in 2015.[9]
^ Mauritania joined World Rugby as a full member in 2003, but had their membership suspended in November 2013 due to "inactivity and a failure to meet criteria for continued membership".[11]
