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

Promitheas, AEKK and Pegasus, participated in a regional 2012-2013 championship of Athens. In the 2013/2014 Promitheas, AEKK, Pegasus, Aris and Knights participated in the A' Division. Knights won the championship. In the B' Division, Neapoli, AEKK B', Promitheas B', Aris B' and Pegasus B' participated. Nepoli won the championship. For the 2014/15 season, there were ten teams taking part: Division 1: Rhodes Knights, AEK Kokkinias, Aris Petroupolis, Pyrrihios Aspropyrgou (1st team) and Pegasus Neos Kosmos. Pegasus won the championship. Division 2: Neapoli Lakonias, Argos Wolves, Haidari Lions, Pyrrihios Aspropyrgou ('B' team) and Promitheas Rentis.^[1][2] For the 2015/16 season, a new formation was planed. South Group: AEK Kokkinias, Pyrrihios Aspropyrgos and Agios Thomas. North Group: Filippos Vereea and 2 teams from Thessaloniki

The National Team

Main article: Greece national rugby league team

The Greek national rugby league team is nicknamed the Centaurs. 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".^[3] 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.^[4] .

References

1. ↑ http://www.rugbyleague.gr/epsilonpiiotasigmaetamuepsilonsigma-deltaiotaomicronrhogammaalphanuomegasigmaepsiloniotasigma--official-tournaments.html
2. ↑ http://www.rlef.eu.com/greece/news/article/1032/greek-championship-nears-conclusion
3. ↑ 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
4. ↑ http://www.rlef.eu.com/other/report?RLE00000538

See also

Rugby in Greece Rugby Union Greece national rugby union team Greek Championship Rugby Union Greek Championship Rugby Unity Cup Rugby League Greece national rugby league team Greek Championship Rugby League