Snow rugby refers to forms of rugby union that are especially adapted to be played in winter conditions, particularly in deep snow. It is played in Canada,[ Play Snow Golf and Snow Rugby ] the Kashmir region in India,[ National Snow Rugby Championship begins in Kashmir][ Snow Rugby tournament] the Baltic states,[Bell, Angus Batting on the Bosphorus: A Skoda-powered Cricket Tour Through Eastern Europe, Canongate, Edinburgh, 2008, , p23] Russia, the northern United States, and Finland. Specific locations of play include the Argentinian Ski Resort of Las Leñas[Adès, Harry The Rough Guide to South America, p 56]
Because of the cold, and often subzero, temperatures at which snow rugby is played, players must dress warmly.
History
Rugby union is predominantly played during the winter months and it has been played in extremely cold conditions. In 1939 a
Ranfurly Shield game in New Zealand was played in the snow
[ The Snow of ’39 | MetService Blog ] and in 1978 a game in Russia was played at .
[Cain, Nick & Growden, Greg "Chapter 21: Ten Peculiar Facts about Rugby" in Rugby Union for Dummies (2nd Edition), p295 (pub: John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, England) ] More recently games have been organised to be played in the snow. In 2009,
Gulmarg hosted India's first ever snow rugby tournament in
Kashmir and it was included in the 2008 Indian Winter Games as a demonstrative event.
During the 2011 Rugby World Cup
Mount Dobson hosted a "20 Below Rugby in the Snow" seven-a-side tournament.
Tournaments have also been held in Finland,
[ Snow Rugby Tournament - Tampere Rugby Club ][ Helsinki Rugby Club] France,
[ Rugby tournament on snow Wednesday 16 March 2011] Latvia,
[ THORNTON IN SNOW RUGBY TOURNAMENT, LATVIA - Thornton-Cleveleys Rugby Club] and Argentina.
[ International Rugby Board - Rugby X-treme hits the Andes ]
The first European Championships were held in Moscow from 21 to 22 November 2019. Eight teams of each sex took part in it.[ 2019 - RUGBY EUROPE SNOW RUGBY EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP]
Rugby Europe Snow Rugby European Championship
Men
|
|
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| 2019 |
Moscow, Russia | | 4–2 | | | 8–1 | |
|
Women
|
|
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| 2019 |
Moscow, Russia | | 8–0 | | | 5–1 | |
|
See also
