Czechoslovakia national rugby union team

The Czechoslovakia national rugby union team was the national rugby team of Czechoslovakia, before the country was split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. They participated in qualifiers for the 1991 Rugby World Cup

1991 Rugby World Cup - European qualification

In 1989-1990, 14 European teams competed for the two available positions in the 1991 Rugby World Cup.- Pool 1 :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

, but did not qualify.

History

A Czechoslovak international team including players from an Austrian club called Wiener Amateure as well as players from the Slavia Bratislava club first played against Romania in 1927, but the match is seen as unofficial, since the Czechoslovak Rugby Union was only formed in 1928. They were captained by one František Ruber, who incidentally was a very good friend of Ondřej Sekora. Their first official match was against Germany in Leipzig in 1931.

In 1934 they were among the founding members of FIRA

FIRA - Association of European Rugby

The FIRA - Association Européenne de Rugby is the administrative body for rugby union in Europe. It was formed in 1999 to promote, develop, organise and administer the game of rugby in Europe under the authority of the International Rugby Board .The predecessor to FIRA–AER was the Fédération...

(as it was then known) along with France

France national rugby union team

The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

, Italy

Italy national rugby union team

The Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri . Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and since 2000 compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland,...

, Spain

Spain national rugby union team

The Spain national rugby union team are a national sporting side of Spain, representing them at rugby union. Spain have been playing rugby since the late 1920s, playing their first international against Italy in 1929. They have qualified for one Rugby World Cup, in 1999 where they were pooled with...

, Catalonia

Catalonia national rugby union team

The Catalonia national rugby union team is the national rugby team of Catalonia. It was a founding member of FIRA in 1934, but since 1941 is a former official national team. It is currently trying to be official again.-History:...

, Romania

Romania national rugby union team

The Romania national rugby union team , nicknamed The Oaks , is the representative side of Romania in rugby union. Long considered one of the stronger European teams outside the Six Nations, they have participated in all six Rugby World Cups, and currently compete in the first division of the...

and Germany

Germany national rugby union team

Germany is a third-tier Rugby Union playing nation. Germany currently plays at the second level of European rugby but has never managed to qualify for the Rugby World Cup...

.

In 1956 they took on European giants France in Toulouse

Toulouse

Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...

, losing by a respectable 3–28, which is rather remarkable, as rugby in Czechoslovakia was considerably ravaged by World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Some of their most notable players were Zdeněk Barchánek, Eduard Krützner, who was president of the Czech Rugby Union later on and Bruno Kudrna, Czech Rugby Player of the Year

Czech Rugby Player of the Year

The Czech Rugby Player of the Year is awarded to the player voted the best in the Czech Republic.-History:It was first awarded in 1972 with Jiří Skall senior, father of former international prop Jiří Skall, as the inaugural winner.-Winners:...

a record six times.

History

See also