114:(WR), and boasts over 42,540 registered players and more than 410 rugby clubs. Although Madagascar lacks a professional competition, as it is one of the poorest countries in the world, it does possess a national club competition that is extensively covered in the national print media, as well as having matches televised. Rugby is considered the national sport of Madagascar.
277:
the capital city. They actually won twice the national girls championship. Rugby is thus becoming a real tool to fight against poverty and develop gender equality in the country. Marcelia has been nominated one of the five most influential women of the country in 2019 by promoting development through rugby in
Madagascar and in France.
276:
In
Madagascar, rugby is a very popular sport among women. It is estimated that 60% of players in the country are women. The girls from Sapphire Coast and their captain Marcelia, backed by the French NGO Terres en Mêlées are emerging as models for the development of women rugby in poor areas outside
245:
In addition to large participant numbers, rugby is popular with spectators in
Madagascar. The Top 8 has average attendance figures of over 10,000, whilst the league final, and most international fixtures, attract crowds upward of 40,000 at the
144:, during the colonial period. Historically the sport was seen as a violent pastime of the poor, however recent developments have seen a huge increase in the sport's profile throughout the country. The
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156:), reached the finals of the 2005 Africa Cup, increasing nationwide interest in the sport. Since then they have been semi-finalists in the
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send their top club(s) from the previous year's championship to compete in the nationwide top-flight league called the Top 8.
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at the
Mahamasina. Rugby's popularity is strongest in the central highlands region including Antananarivo.
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1307:
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863:
813:
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758:
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707:
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641:
631:
336:
257:
Rugby union's popularity in the country was recently demonstrated during the
Division 1B Final of the
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1227:
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848:
828:
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in the capital. It is common that international rugby matches substantially outdraw those of
550:
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412:
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82:
270:
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363:
1535:
141:
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542:
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The national club competition is structured along the same lines as the
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in front of 40,000 fans to stay in the qualification process for the
137:
172:
102:
is the most popular team sport in the nation. As of August 2023,
1116:
515:
171:(CAR), which was launched officially in January 1986, in
140:
railroad workers who played the game in the capital,
1456:
1431:
1150:
1072:
557:
73:
65:
55:
45:
33:
25:
20:
261:, held in Madagascar. Madagascar triumphed over
226:The national team also competes annually in the
1128:
527:
297:Madagascar women's national rugby sevens team
8:
486:"Madagascar climb rankings after shock win"
1135:
1121:
1113:
534:
520:
512:
148:team, locally referred to as the Makis (a
360:"International Rugby Board - MADAGASCAR"
348:
549:affiliated nations not present in the
167:Madagascar is a founder member of the
17:
354:
352:
292:Madagascar national rugby sevens team
7:
287:Madagascar national rugby union team
230:, where matches sometimes double as
406:Official Madagascar Playing Numbers
14:
121:or Fédération Malagasy de Rugby.
1443:Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
1213:Democratic Republic of the Congo
425:"Madagascar take Sevens honours"
582:Arab states of the Persian Gulf
450:"14-place jump for Madagascar"
319:Indian Ocean Rugby; Madagascar
307:Confederation of African Rugby
232:Confederation of African Rugby
219:. The regional unions within
169:Confederation of African Rugby
1:
492:. 9 July 2012. Archived from
337:Archives du Rugby: Madagascar
248:Stade Municipal de Mahamasina
994:St Vincent & Grenadines
217:Argentine club championship
160:and finalists again in the
119:Madagascan Rugby Federation
1563:
117:The governing body is the
1542:Rugby union in Madagascar
362:. Irb.com. Archived from
100:Rugby union in Madagascar
80:
21:Rugby union in Madagascar
1198:Central African Republic
474:Rugby and the Red Island
179:. Rugby officials from
1144:Rugby union in Africa
637:British Virgin Islands
622:Bosnia and Herzegovina
87:Rugby World Cup Sevens
1358:SĂŁo TomĂ© and PrĂncipe
1218:Republic of the Congo
1073:Former states without
1034:Trinidad & Tobago
75:National competitions
1075:World Cup experience
560:World Cup experience
267:2015 Rugby World Cup
1547:Sport in Madagascar
1433:States with limited
91:Sevens World Series
558:Third tier without
411:2011-09-30 at the
329:WR Madagascar page
269:to be held in the
132:was introduced to
110:45th worldwide by
57:Registered players
1529:
1528:
1460:other territories
1233:Equatorial Guinea
1110:
1109:
490:rugbyworldcup.com
154:ring-tailed lemur
97:
96:
1554:
1521:
1520:(United Kingdom)
1516:Tristan da Cunha
1512:Ascension Island
1504:
1491:
1482:
1458:Dependencies and
1151:Sovereign states
1137:
1130:
1123:
1114:
919:Papua New Guinea
733:French Polynesia
551:Rugby World Cups
536:
529:
522:
513:
506:
505:
503:
501:
482:
476:
471:
465:
464:
462:
461:
452:. Archived from
446:
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427:. Archived from
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415:
403:
397:
396:
394:
392:
385:"World Rankings"
381:
375:
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372:
371:
356:
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136:in the 1890s by
58:
48:
36:
35:National team(s)
18:
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974:Solomon Islands
559:
553:
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510:
509:
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496:on 12 July 2012
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413:Wayback Machine
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235:Rugby World Cup
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207:also attended.
162:2007 Africa Cup
158:2006 Africa Cup
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83:Rugby World Cup
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1469:Canary Islands
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1082:Czechoslovakia
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741:
736:
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713:Czech Republic
710:
705:
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695:
690:
685:
682:Chinese Taipei
679:
674:
669:
667:Cayman Islands
664:
659:
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649:
644:
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634:
629:
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619:
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579:
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572:American Samoa
569:
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541:
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531:
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313:External links
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271:United Kingdom
242:
239:
212:
209:
205:the Seychelles
126:
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53:
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1273:Guinea-Bissau
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623:
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544:
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532:
530:
525:
523:
518:
517:
514:
495:
491:
487:
481:
478:
475:
470:
467:
456:on 2012-11-18
455:
451:
445:
442:
431:on 2012-10-24
430:
426:
420:
417:
414:
410:
407:
402:
399:
387:. World Rugby
386:
380:
377:
366:on 2011-09-30
365:
361:
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152:word for the
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92:
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68:
64:
60:
54:
50:
44:
41:
38:
32:
28:
24:
19:
16:
1508:Saint Helena
1479:
1383:South Africa
1373:Sierra Leone
1302:
1178:Burkina Faso
1097:West Germany
1087:East Germany
833:
693:Cook Islands
498:. Retrieved
494:the original
489:
480:
469:
458:. Retrieved
454:the original
444:
433:. Retrieved
429:the original
419:
401:
389:. Retrieved
379:
368:. Retrieved
364:the original
275:
256:
244:
237:qualifiers.
225:
214:
211:Competitions
166:
142:Antananarivo
128:
116:
99:
98:
47:First played
15:
1435:recognition
1388:South Sudan
1278:Ivory Coast
1009:Switzerland
979:South Korea
934:Philippines
894:Netherlands
547:World Rugby
543:Rugby union
334:(in French)
193:Ivory Coast
130:Rugby union
112:World Rugby
1536:Categories
1490:(Portugal)
1448:Somaliland
1368:Seychelles
1333:Mozambique
1318:Mauritania
1303:Madagascar
1258:The Gambia
1193:Cape Verde
1102:Yugoslavia
1049:Uzbekistan
854:Mauritania
834:Madagascar
824:Luxembourg
804:Kyrgyzstan
794:Kazakhstan
698:Costa Rica
597:Azerbaijan
460:2012-07-27
435:2012-07-27
391:26 October
370:2011-09-26
343:References
302:Africa Cup
259:Africa Cup
241:Popularity
228:Africa Cup
221:Madagascar
146:Madagascar
134:Madagascar
104:Madagascar
40:Madagascar
29:Madagascar
1323:Mauritius
1059:Venezuela
999:Swaziland
989:St Lucia
984:Sri Lanka
959:Singapore
859:Mauritius
819:Lithuania
764:Hong Kong
1514: /
1510: /
1503:(France)
1497: /
1475: /
1471: /
1423:Zimbabwe
1398:Tanzania
1248:Ethiopia
1243:Eswatini
1223:Djibouti
1188:Cameroon
1173:Botswana
1019:Thailand
1014:Tanzania
969:Slovenia
964:Slovakia
924:Paraguay
914:Pakistan
879:Mongolia
839:Malaysia
735:(Tahiti)
688:Colombia
684:(Taiwan)
662:Cameroon
657:Cambodia
647:Bulgaria
627:Botswana
607:Barbados
409:Archived
324:BBC News
281:See also
252:football
197:Tanzania
150:Malagasy
1499:RĂ©union
1495:Mayotte
1486:Madeira
1481:(Spain)
1477:Melilla
1408:Tunisia
1378:Somalia
1363:Senegal
1348:Nigeria
1338:Namibia
1328:Morocco
1293:Liberia
1288:Lesotho
1238:Eritrea
1208:Comoros
1183:Burundi
1158:Algeria
1054:Vanuatu
1044:Ukraine
1029:Tunisia
949:Senegal
899:Nigeria
884:Morocco
869:Moldova
784:Jamaica
769:Hungary
739:Germany
728:Finland
723:Ecuador
718:Denmark
703:Croatia
652:Burundi
617:Bermuda
612:Belgium
602:Bahamas
592:Austria
587:Armenia
577:Andorra
567:Algeria
500:21 July
263:Namibia
189:Senegal
185:Morocco
181:Tunisia
177:Tunisia
125:History
26:Country
1518:
1501:
1488:
1418:Zambia
1413:Uganda
1353:Rwanda
1308:Malawi
1268:Guinea
1163:Angola
1064:Zambia
1039:Uganda
1004:Sweden
954:Serbia
944:Rwanda
939:Poland
909:Norway
874:Monaco
864:Mexico
814:Latvia
789:Jordan
779:Israel
759:Guyana
749:Greece
708:Cyprus
642:Brunei
632:Brazil
203:, and
138:French
108:ranked
61:42,540
1473:Ceuta
1393:Sudan
1343:Niger
1298:Libya
1283:Kenya
1263:Ghana
1253:Gabon
1228:Egypt
1168:Benin
889:Nauru
849:Malta
829:Macau
799:Kenya
774:India
744:Ghana
677:China
672:Chile
201:Kenya
173:Tunis
66:Clubs
51:1890s
1403:Togo
1313:Mali
1203:Chad
1092:USSR
1024:Togo
929:Peru
904:Niue
844:Mali
809:Laos
754:Guam
502:2012
393:2015
545:in
106:is
69:410
1538::
488:.
351:^
273:.
199:,
195:,
191:,
187:,
183:,
175:,
164:.
1136:e
1129:t
1122:v
535:e
528:t
521:v
504:.
463:.
438:.
395:.
373:.
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