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150:: "Latvijas Regbija Federacija") was founded in 1963, and joined the IRB in 1991, after Latvian independence. Although the union was formed in the sixties, it was not considered a proper national union until after the breakup of the USSR.
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After 1949, rugby's funding was withdrawn in the USSR for the sport being non-olympic". The competitions were resumed in 1957, and the Soviet
Championship in 1966. In 1975 the
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Rugby union arrived in Latvia itself during the post-War Soviet period. Latvia was never a stronghold of rugby in the USSR - the game was mainly played in
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217:. At the time, there were only two pitches in the country, both of which spent much of their time under snow. However, they lost heavily to
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is a minor but growing sport. During the pre-independence period, Latvia was not a centre for the game but nonetheless
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The Baltic is not a major rugby playing area at the time of writing, but several neighbouring countries such as
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Latvia had its own rugby team in the USSR, but it was not treated as a proper national side.
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is also played in Latvia during the winter when conditions make standard play impossible.
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There is some rivalry with neighbours
Lithuania, who they beat in the qualifiers for the
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as early as in 1908. In 1934 the Moscow
Championship was started, and in 1936 the first
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Batting on the
Bosphorus: A Skoda-powered Cricket Tour Through Eastern Europe
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will also make it easier for western
European sides to tour the country.
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Like many other minor rugby nations, the game is centred on the capital,
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can boast thousands of players. The game is also growing fairly fast in
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Latvian rugby received a surprise boost when they qualified for the
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138:- which may be seen as the highest point it has yet reached.
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396:, pictures and anecdotes about Latvian rugby.
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284:Latvia national rugby union team (sevens)
299:
437:affiliated nations not present in the
289:Soviet Union national rugby union team
17:
7:
14:
279:Latvia national rugby union team
124:
470:Arab states of the Persian Gulf
394:Don't put your tackle in Behind
165:Rugby union in the Soviet Union
363:, Canongate, Edinburgh, 2008,
337:Rugby union in Russia and USSR
146:The Latvian Rugby Federation (
1:
882:St Vincent & Grenadines
215:1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens
136:1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens
134:managed to qualify for the
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317:The Complete Book of Rugby
195:played their first match.
169:Rugby union was played in
162:
90:
101:IRB Sevens World Series
39:Latvia Rugby Federation
1081:Bosnia and Herzegovina
1032:Rugby union in Europe
525:British Virgin Islands
510:Bosnia and Herzegovina
319:(Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997
97:Rugby World Cup Sevens
1415:Rugby union in Latvia
961:Former states without
922:Trinidad & Tobago
85:National competitions
21:Rugby union in Latvia
963:World Cup experience
448:World Cup experience
315:Bath, Richard (ed.)
238:1995 Rugby World Cup
193:Soviet national team
105:European Nations Cup
1317:States with limited
175:Soviet Championship
446:Third tier without
171:the Russian Empire
67:Registered players
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259:. Entry into the
202:Post-independence
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1355:Dependencies and
1039:Sovereign states
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807:Papua New Guinea
621:French Polynesia
439:Rugby World Cups
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389:Official webpage
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93:Rugby World Cup
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378:External links
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159:Soviet Period
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1346:Transnistria
1170:
985:West Germany
975:East Germany
701:
581:Cook Islands
360:
359:Bell, Angus
355:
346:
340:(in Russian)
332:
316:
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242:
235:
227:South Africa
212:
205:
197:
190:
179:
177:took place.
168:
145:
113:
112:
57:First played
15:
1384:Isle of Man
1319:recognition
1276:Switzerland
1211:Netherlands
897:Switzerland
867:South Korea
822:Philippines
782:Netherlands
435:World Rugby
431:Rugby union
115:Rugby union
1246:San Marino
1206:Montenegro
1186:Luxembourg
1166:Kazakhstan
1066:Azerbaijan
990:Yugoslavia
937:Uzbekistan
742:Mauritania
722:Madagascar
712:Luxembourg
692:Kyrgyzstan
682:Kazakhstan
586:Costa Rica
485:Azerbaijan
295:References
267:Snow rugby
1374:Gibraltar
1181:Lithuania
947:Venezuela
887:Swaziland
877:St Lucia
872:Sri Lanka
847:Singapore
747:Mauritius
707:Lithuania
652:Hong Kong
1409:Category
1394:Svalbard
1379:Guernsey
1326:Abkhazia
1301:Scotland
1261:Slovenia
1256:Slovakia
1231:Portugal
1086:Bulgaria
907:Thailand
902:Tanzania
857:Slovenia
852:Slovakia
812:Paraguay
802:Pakistan
767:Mongolia
727:Malaysia
623:(Tahiti)
576:Colombia
572:(Taiwan)
550:Cameroon
545:Cambodia
535:Bulgaria
515:Botswana
495:Barbados
350:Bath p76
273:See also
1296:England
1286:Ukraine
1236:Romania
1196:Moldova
1151:Ireland
1146:Iceland
1141:Hungary
1131:Germany
1126:Georgia
1116:Finland
1111:Estonia
1106:Denmark
1091:Croatia
1076:Belgium
1071:Belarus
1061:Austria
1056:Armenia
1051:Andorra
1046:Albania
942:Vanuatu
932:Ukraine
917:Tunisia
837:Senegal
787:Nigeria
772:Morocco
757:Moldova
672:Jamaica
657:Hungary
627:Germany
616:Finland
611:Ecuador
606:Denmark
591:Croatia
540:Burundi
505:Bermuda
500:Belgium
490:Bahamas
480:Austria
475:Armenia
465:Andorra
455:Algeria
257:Ukraine
231:Romania
186:Georgia
154:History
148:Latvian
26:Country
1389:Jersey
1331:Kosovo
1281:Turkey
1271:Sweden
1251:Serbia
1241:Russia
1226:Poland
1221:Norway
1201:Monaco
1171:Latvia
1156:Israel
1136:Greece
1121:France
1096:Cyprus
952:Zambia
927:Uganda
892:Sweden
842:Serbia
832:Rwanda
827:Poland
797:Norway
762:Monaco
752:Mexico
702:Latvia
677:Jordan
667:Israel
647:Guyana
637:Greece
596:Cyprus
530:Brunei
520:Brazil
367:
323:
253:Sweden
249:Russia
245:Poland
182:Russia
132:Latvia
129:
119:Latvia
50:Latvia
29:Latvia
1364:Åland
1306:Wales
1266:Spain
1191:Malta
1161:Italy
777:Nauru
737:Malta
717:Macau
687:Kenya
662:India
632:Ghana
565:China
560:Chile
371:, p23
327:) p70
223:Wales
76:Clubs
980:USSR
912:Togo
817:Peru
792:Niue
732:Mali
697:Laos
642:Guam
365:ISBN
321:ISBN
251:and
229:and
219:Fiji
208:Riga
184:and
433:in
117:in
71:622
1411::
302:^
247:,
233:.
225:,
221:,
210:.
79:13
1024:e
1017:t
1010:v
423:e
416:t
409:v
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.