Rugby Africa
Rugby Africa is the administrative body for rugby union within the continent of Africa under the authority of World Rugby, which is the world governing body of rugby union., Rugby Africa has 37 member nations and runs several rugby tournaments for national teams, including the Africa Cup which is the main 15-a-side competition for African national teams.
Rugby Africa was founded in 1986 as the Confederation of African Rugby to promote, develop, organise and administer the game of rugby in Africa. It was renamed Rugby Africa in December 2014.
The President of Rugby Africa is the Herbert Mensah from Ghana.
History
The Confederation of African Rugby was officially launched in January 1986 in Tunis. The inaugural members at the meeting were Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Senegal, the Seychelles, Tanzania and Tunisia. A meeting was held in July 1992 in Casablanca with the view of integrating the SARFU into the confederation. South Africa had been denied entry until this time because of the government policy of apartheid. In March 1992 these were formally combined to form the South African Rugby Football Union. The Confederation now has 37 member nations.African Rugby Charter
The African Rugby Charter was signed by the President of CAR, Abdelaziz Bougja, the then President of the South African Rugby Union Brian van Rooyen, in the presence of former South African president Nelson Mandela, and the South African Minister of Sport, Makhenkesi Stofile.Members
World Rugby full members who are part of Rugby Africa:World Rugby associate members who are part of Rugby Africa:
World Rugby non-members who are part of Rugby Africa :
World Rugby suspended members who are part of Rugby Africa:
Non-member countries working with the governing body :
Defunct African National Rugby Union Teams
World Rugby Rankings
Competitions
Tournaments run by Rugby Africa include:;Senior Men
;Men XV
- Rugby Africa Cup
- *Rugby Africa Gold Cup
- *Rugby Africa Silver Cup
- *Rugby Africa Bronze Cup
- African Development Trophy
- Africa Men's Sevens
;Women XV
- Rugby Africa Women's Cup
- *Rugby Africa Women's Cup Division 1
- Africa Women's Sevens
;Men XV
- U20 Barthés Trophy
Development programs
Leopards
The African Leopards are a representative team from Africa which aims to promote the sport throughout the whole of Africa. The Leopards played their first ever match in July 2005 at Ellis Park as a curtain raiser between Springboks and Australia.World Cup qualifying
Rugby Africa nations participate in qualifying tournaments for the Rugby World Cup every four years. Four Rugby Africa nations – Ivory Coast, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe – have qualified to play in Rugby World Cups.| Tournament | Automatically qualified | Qualified via competition | Qualified via repechage | Eliminated in repechage | Eliminated at final stage | Eliminated at third stage | Eliminated at second stage | Eliminated at first stage | Eliminated at preliminary round |
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