Snow rugby

Snow rugby players in Afghanistan

Snow rugby refers to forms of rugby union, which are especially adapted to be played in winter conditions, particularly deep snow. It is played in the Argentinian Ski Resort of Las Leñas,[1][2] Canada,[3] the Kashmir region in India,[4][5] the Baltic states,[6] Russia (USSR), northern USA and Finland and other locations where climate permits.

History

Rugby union is predominately 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[7] and in 1978 a game in Russia was played at -23°C.[8] 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[4] and it was included in the 2008 Indian Winter Games as a demonstrative event.[5] During the 2011 Rugby World Cup Mount Dobson is hosting a "20 Below Rugby in the Snow" seven-a-side tournament.[9] Tournaments have also been held in Finland,[10][11] France,[12] Latvia,[13] and Argentina.[14]

Attire

Because of the cold, and often subzero, temperatures which snow rugby is played in, players cannot play in standard rugby attire for the sake of their health.

The usual attire of shorts, bare legs, hands and even heads is simply not practical.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Adès, Harry The Rough Guide to South America, p 56
  2. ↑ "SNOW RUGBY ARGENTINA-TOTAL RUGBY.mp4". Retrieved 2011-07-09.
  3. ↑ Play Snow Golf and Snow Rugby
  4. 1 2 National Snow Rugby Championship begins in Kashmir
  5. 1 2 Snow Rugby tournament
  6. ↑ Bell, Angus Batting on the Bosphorus: A Skoda-powered Cricket Tour Through Eastern Europe, Canongate, Edinburgh, 2008, ISBN 1-84767-290-6, p23
  7. ↑ The Snow of ’39 | MetService Blog
  8. ↑ 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) ISBN 978-0-470-03537-5
  9. ↑ Time to slope off and ski New Zealand | infonews.co.nz New Zealand's local news community
  10. ↑ Snow Rugby Tournament - Tampere Rugby Club
  11. ↑ Helsinki Rugby Club
  12. ↑ Rugby tournament on snow Wednesday 16 March 2011
  13. ↑ THORNTON IN SNOW RUGBY TOURNAMENT, LATVIA - Thornton-Cleveleys Rugby Club
  14. ↑ International Rugby Board - Rugby X-treme hits the Andes

15. Snow5's Rugby, Tarvisio (Italy), 5-at-side www.snowrugby.com

External links

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