Rugby in Poland

The Rugby World Cup, hosted in France, is now in full swing. And the sport which has never been in the limelight in Poland seems to be gaining a wide range of fans there. John Beauchamp from Polish radio External Services reports:

There aren’t many sports that don’t make it to Poland, yet rugby has always been something of a mystery to the local population. The sport is something of a practical non-entity in the minds of Poles, as I found out when I asked some locals what they knew of the game in Poland:

Did you know there is a rugby team in Poland?
“This is new information to me: I haven’t heard anything on the rugby team in Poland…”

Did you know there is a rugby team in Poland?
“Yeah there are probably several in Poland, even in Kraków there is Juvenia, but I don’t know anything about this sport, I don’t know about the results, I’m not keen on this sport, so…”

What can you tell me about Polish rugby?
“It’s a very small discipline in Poland. The first Polish discipline is football, basketball, perhaps even now ski-jumping. Rugby is not popular, I know Juvenia in Kraków, mayve Warsaw, Budowlanie Łódź, that’s all I know…”

What can you tell me about Polish rugby?
“Frankly speaking, I have absolutely no idea about Polish rugby…”

What can you tell me about Polish rugby?
“Actually nothing, I know someone made a film about it, but that’s all…”

However, it’s not as bad as all that. Many people in Poland are unaware of the fact that Poland, at the time of this report, ranks 31st in the world rankings given by the IRB, the International Rugby Board. To give you some idea of what that means, the rank puts Poland above those other great rugby playing nations of Holland, Denmark and Finland, yet below the Germans, Russians and Romanians, the only country from central Europe to have made it to the World Cup currently being held in France. In Poland’s southern city of Kraków there too exists a rugby team. I went along to the grounds of Juvenia on the edge of the Błonie meadow in the centre of town.

“We don’t have the tradition like they have in England, or any other country where the sport is established. However, Polish players that have caught onto the game and started to play rugby, are also aware of the philosophy behind it, that it’s not just a sport, it’s something more than that.”

Leszek Samel is the manager and head trainer of the Salwator Juvenia Kraków rugby club. The club was founded in 1973 forming part of the Juvenia sports club which has had a sporting tradition since 1904. Having been promoted from the Polish second division, Juvenia hovers around sixth in the 1st division league, which has ten teams altogether.

“Unfortunately in Poland getting spectators depends on where you stand in the league and what the weather’s like. In England, I’m sure, fans will go whatever the weather. We hope to get to that eventually. When it rains, and we’re low in the tables, hardly anyone comes. When the sun’s out and there’s a good match on though, we’ve had upto 800 people come to watch. It really depends…”

The numbers Mr. Samel gives are not necessarily accurate though, since tickets to Juvenia matches don’t exist as there is no need for them. Matches are free and there is no proof what the figures really stand at. He hopes that ongoing Rugby World Cup will change that though:

“I think it’s a great opportunity to sell the sport to Polish society. Poles who have no idea about the sport will have some exposure to it, and because of the nature of things, people will see it on the TV, see articles on the World Cup in the papers. The world is celebrating the ovular ball. It should be good for rugby in Poland, and hopefully it will get us more fans too. We had a good season too last year, so hopefully more and more people will start coming to matches.”

The Polish Rugby Union celebrated its fiftieth birthday on the 10th September this year, and thanks to people like Leszek Samel, rugby is becoming are more popular game. And what with Poland’s win over Malta in May, and a draw with the French University team earlier in September, things are looking good for Polish rugby.

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