Rugby league in Norway
Encyclopedia
Rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 is a developing team sport in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. The sport is administered there by Rugby League Norge, which was set up in late 2008.

History

Continuing the pattern set by such Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an nations as Czech Republic
Czech Republic national rugby league team
-National team:The following is a summary of tournaments and results for the Czech Republic National Rugby League Team.-2006:The year 2006 saw the inaugural entrance of the Czech Rugby League team. Playing two games against the Dutch team Netherlands Tasman . This was a close and competitive match...

, Germany
Germany national rugby league team
-European Shield:Since 2007, Germany has been a participant in the European Shield, the successor to the Central Europe Tri-Nations. In the 2007 Shield, they were beaten in Heidelberg by a strong Serbia side but beat the Czech Republic in Prague, subsequently finishing second.In the 2008 European...

 and Lebanon
Lebanon national rugby league team
The Lebanon national rugby league team is the representative side of Lebanon in rugby league football. They are nicknamed "The Cedars" after the Lebanon Cedar tree, which is also on the Lebanese flag. The team has been participating in international competition since 1998 and has quickly became one...

, Norway are new to the game. In February 2008, Norway were granted official observer status by the Rugby League European Federation
Rugby League European Federation
The Rugby League European Federation is the umbrella body for nations playing the sport of rugby league football across Europe and the Northern Hemisphere. It supports the Rugby League International Federation . The RLEF "oversees and co-ordinates the development of the sport in all its member...

. This was not the only major point of development in the year, as a committee was formed, based in capital city Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, with the aim of developing the game all over the country.

Rugby League in Norway progressed rapidly in 2009 after ex London Skolars professional player Warren Heilig took over responsibility of developing the game. The first rugby league event to take place on Norwegian soil was the 'Scandinavia Cup' 9-a-side tourmanet in Oslo. Following this, a national team was selected to play against the British and Irish Student Pioneers. Norway lost this match 24-0. Later in the year, Norway played their first full international match, against Denmark in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

. Norway won the match 28-26.

After the encouraging progress of 2009, 2010 became a year of expansion for rugby league in Norway. A full domestic rugby league season started in June, culminating in a Grand Final won by Oslo RK, defeating Lillestrøm Lions. Meanwhile, the Norwegian national team competed in their first official tournament, the 2010 European Bowl competition against Malta
Malta national rugby league team
In 2004, the Maltese Rugby League Association was formed to introduce the game of rugby league football to Malta. Malta played its first game in Malta on October 22, 2005 when they defeated England Lionhearts 36-6 at the Marsa Stadium, and in 2008 a domestic competition kicked off on the island.The...

.

With the success of the domestic competition in 2010 Rugby League Norway planned ahead for 2011. The domestic competition will expand to see 5 teams battle for the league trophy: Aker Seagulls (Oslo), Flisbyen Broncos (formerly Lillestrøm Lions), Fredrikstad Falcons, Oslo Capitals, Tromsø Polar Bears. The 2011 Norwegian Grand Final is scheduled for September 10.

On 26 October 2011, Rugby League Norge was granted Affiliate status within the RLEF

Media

In February 2011 Rugby League Norway announced a deal with TV 2 Sport
TV 2 Sport (Norway)
TV 2 Sport, stylized as TV 2 SPORT 1 to 5, is a Norwegian pay-TV channel that shows sports . It heavily features soccer, including the Norwegian Premier League. This channel also broadcasts some international matches form Norway and also from the World, like som Friendly matches...

 that will see one game of the Engage Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...

 screened each week. In addition, a timeslot was allocated to promote the fledgling domestic competition each week. The first Super League game ever screened live in Norway was the clash between St Helens and Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....

. That game was held on Saturday February 12 20:00 CET at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff as part of Millennium Magic.

National team

Norway's national team is nicknamed "Vikingene". They first competed in 2009.

External links

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