Rugby league in Greece

Rugby league is a team sport that is relatively new to Greece. The Greece national rugby league team is now an affiliate member of the Rugby League International Federation.

History

Rugby league was first introduced to Greece in 2006, with an international match in Athens. Greece played Serbia and Greece won 44–32.

The initial attempt to find a Greek RL Federation, started by Colin Mylonas, in 2003.

In 2012, a new independent initiative, appeared in Athens. It was started by Tasos Pantazidis, the founder of Promitheas RL.

Competitions

The planned domestic competition for 2006/7 never actually eventuated.

An unofficial 7's tournament was also played on the 9th of February 2013. Participating teams apart from Promitheas and AEK PK included the newly formed team "Neapoli Lakonias" that was created in Pelloponese in 2013. Promitheas won the tournament.

Teams

There are five clubs, based in Greece. "Rhodian Rugby Unity", "Promitheas", "AEK Kokkinias", "Pegasus" and "Neapoli Lakonias". The first is based in the island of Rhodes and they compete in both Union and League. Three teams are based in Athens and Piraeus Region. "Promitheas" is located in Nikaea/Rentis in Piraeus region as well as "A.E.K. Kokkinias". "Pegasus" is the club of Neos Kosmos in Athens. They play both R.U. and R.L. The three Athenian clubs, participated in a regional 2012-2013 championship of Athens. A new team was also formed in 2013 and is based in Neapoli, Lakonia in the region of Peloponesse.

The National Team

Main article: Greece national rugby league team

The Greek national rugby league team is nicknamed the Titans. The first representative game involving Greece was played in 2003 against New Caledonia with Greece winning 26–10. The first representative game played in Greece was played in 2006 with Greece defeating Serbia 44–26 in Athens. These games were played by "heritage" players who were based mainly in Australia and qualified to play for Greece through their parentage. In 2011 a touring GB Student "Pioneers" team played a game vs an unofficial "national" team consisting of players from the two Rhodes teams in Rhodes island. The Pioneers won. In October 2013 the Greece National Team played an international against Hungary in Budapest. Hellenic Federation of Rugby League president Tasos Pantazidis described the game as the first "official international match".[1] The Greek team was a mixture of local players from the fledgling Greek national competition and heritage players from Australia. Greece won the game 90–0.[2] .

References

  1. ↑ http://www.rugbyleagueplanet.com/rugby-league-nations/91-rugby-league-test-match-or-international-game/1301-hungary-and-greece-prepare-for-first-rugby-league-test-match
  2. ↑ http://www.rlef.eu.com/other/report?RLE00000538

See also