Rugby witnesses boost in global audiences
There is a boost witnessed in rugby activity in regions like Africa and Asia and the global participation in the sport has been increased around 19% since the previous Rugby World Cup. According to a recent survey, Rugby has been the most increasingly played
on field game and since the 2007 worldwide venture the game has seen a sudden boost.
The survey revealed an increase of 33% in Africa, 22% in South America and 18% in Asia for the interest in rugby. The major evidence for these facts was the recent Sevens World Series’ success and its induction in the coming Olympics. The worldwide sports
tournament will be hosting the long awaited game in 2016, as rugby makes its debut in Olympics, increasing the anticipation.
Number of players in Eastern Europe is reported to be around 22%. Eastern Europe was famous for not being a rugby friendly region, but the increase in the fame over there is even more welcoming than in Africa or Asia.
According to the report released by Master Card prior to this year’s Rugby World Cup states that there are 103,000 rugby players in Sri Lanka, which makes it the second largest host for Rugby after Japan, in Asia. China has an increment of 13% only in its
rugby and has only yielded a total of 5,430 players from a total of a population of a billion. Since 2009, China has shown a good percentage increment, but the total is not impressive as compared to its total population. However, a positive aspect is the inclusion
of China’s women Sevens rugby team making it to the Asian Games in 2010. The same Sevens team is expected to qualify for National Games in 2013 as well.
The rapid popularity if rugby in Africa is probably due to the success of the sport in Kenya. Since Kenya’s victory in Sevens tournament has brought a lot of attention to the African rugby. On the other hand, the number of players in U.S has tripled since
2004 and has been the fastest growing nation in rugby. These developments are in result of the Sevens’ tournaments in Las Vegas and San Diego.
Bernard Lapasset, the International Rugby Board found these results very delightful and believes the progress of the sport globally to speed up in the coming years. He said, “These are extremely exciting times for rugby with strong growth and participation
worldwide.”
The report has revealed that a total of 5 million people around the world play rugby at professional and club levels. This report caters a total of 117 countries.
These are extremely exciting times for rugby with strong growth and participation worldwide.
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