During a recent tour of Iran, I looked into the state of rugby there. Perhaps unsurprisingly, no one in the general public knew anything about the game and when I described it, I was asked if it was American football.
The game was introduced to Iran in the early 1900s by British engineers working in the oil fields but was not played by the locals. In 1996, the Department of Physical Education introduced rugby into university programmes, believing the game epitomised all the attributes needed for the nation’s youth – seeing it grow among both male and female students.
The Iran Rugby Union was formed in 2000 and admitted as an IRB member in 2010. The women’s team was the first to play outside the country when, in 2004, a women’s sevens team toured Laos and Thailand.
There are over 1,000 players in a ten-team amateur men’s competition and a five-team women’s professional league. The women’s competition was formed in 2012 but there has been strong opposition to the women playing. Only time will tell if it continues but from what I saw, the stringent laws regarding women’s dress are relaxing.
It is not surprising that rugby is centred in universities as they are the only places that have playing surfaces suitable for the game. Each city has a football stadium that has the right facilities but outside that, the playing fields are flinty, rock-hard, grassless areas.
In Shiraz, I visited one of the holy places, the Shah-e Cheragh, a mausoleum where no camera photography is allowed (you can use a mobile phone). In the complex is a museum containing a number of historic Korans and other religious items, medals and badges, pottery and carving. There, I found the holy of holies – a plate commemorating Iran’s participation in the Asian zone qualification series for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. What a treasure.
The national men’s team plays in the Dubai Sevens. They also participate in the Asian Rugby Championships, rising to be included in division 2. They have played 15 times in the Asian series, winning eleven and losing four. Last year in division 2, they won their pool game against India, 30-13, but lost the semi-final, 48-10, against Malaysia.
This year’s Asian division 2 series will be held in Kuala Lumpur between Thailand, Iran, Qatar and Malaysia in June. Can Iran beat its main rival here, Malaysia, and earn further promotion to division 1?
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
Congrats to Germany, but a shame for Belgium. I have a bit of Belgian ancestry and had been loosely following their progress in recent years. The Germany-Netherlands match (on the 10th of May) might be an interesting one, There's always a bit of niggle between the two nations when they play each other in sports with a higher profile in those countries (I'm thinking specifically of football matches), so I'd be curious to see if that also presents itself in a rugby match.
RobC
Roar Guru
Goods news. Hope other countries in the region take it up.
conor
Guest
Great article Harry. Another 'rugby world' fact that people might not realise is that Germany defeated Sweden last weekend to clinch the European Division 1B championship and therefore have been promoted to 1A (the division below the Six Nations) and will play Georgia, Romania, Russia, Spain and Portugal for the next two years in place of Belgium who have been relegated. Germany will also play the Netherlands in the next few months for the right to meet Russia to determine the last European qualifier for RWC 15 in England. Although It is unlikely they will beat Russia it is a wonderful boost for the code in Germany, which has recently garnered niche 'trendy' status in parts of Germany, particularly Bavaria. Germany is now ranked 25th in the IRB world rankings.
In Brief
Guest
Probably one of the more recent matches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxDiljxAvo0
Buzzard
Guest
Iran would beat the Waratahs if they played tomorrow!
Chris Thau
Guest
Some factual information about Iran Rugby. The man responsible for reviving (starting) rugby in Iran is a former captain of India, Emil Vartazarian, who lives now somewhere in Australia. Vartazarian, a former pupil of the Armenians College in Calcutta and fly half for the Old Armenians RFC club, was born in Iran and returned to his country of birth to help train the National team before their first ever international. He spent some time in Iran helping them develop a structure and is largely responsible for their successes. Emil, was a fine fly-half and playmaker, with a educated pass and great knowledge of the game, which he learned from a legendary Old Armenian player and coach Ashram Sookias.
Chan Wee
Guest
@ Magic Sponge : before going that far, what rugger needs from the top nations is for thier big clubs to tour the Asia, Africa, US, etc. if u follow footy, every year the most famos clubs like Man U , Liverpool , Barca, Real go to distant places on friendly tours. I remember last year when liverpool went to OZ the ground was packed. that is how u build intrest in the game. rugger being an english game and most asian nations having been under english "common wealth" , the game is known and played for years and years. problem is the other english game is more popular in the populest countries AND those who did not like cricket took up basketball (china phillypines korea).
p.Tah
Guest
Thanks for the article Harry
Magic Sponge
Guest
Cheers Chan Wee , Rugby is a great global sport we could try and make it truly global should have while the world cup is on at the smaller grounds have another plate cup for the smaller nations to take part in . So if you cant get expensive tickets you could go to the cheaper plate games at local club grounds.
Chan Wee
Guest
@ Magic Sponge : refs are actually good , mostly ex players. however there is a small issue of interpretations. asians as u know are of small stature. so most refs tend to frown upon "big hits" which usually flattens a guy , but is the normal thing at highest level like H-cup or Super. another issue i have observed is the speed. the asian game is very fast - but the climates are such that most of the games are played in hot humid conditions OR in case of some non-equitorial nations under freezing temperatures. this is usually to derive "home advantage' refs unless super fit, find it tought to be near the ball as the game goes on ... I remember last year, when Sri Lanka played Khazakstan , there were water breaks at 20 minute intervals !!! actually i have seen a couple of asian refs in the 7S circuit.
chris
Guest
Be good if Iran could go back to it's old pre 1979 self as I have met a few people from Iran and they come over as well educated and nice people and they do like a drink or 2.
Crazy Horse
Guest
Tour some uni teams to help them develop.
Magic Sponge
Guest
Wonder what their refs are like, we need some neutral refs. Id love the irb to contnue to grow these smaller nations, should get Johnno over there to look for front rows to bring to S15.
Harry Kimble
Guest
Thanks for that. In Esfahan, I met a mullah who spoke good English. He was most tolerant and asked a lot of questions on politics, religion, philosophy, dress and ways of life. We answered his questions openly and he respected our answers. Even went into his private room. We were about to discuss the hijab when our guide said we had been there for over an hour and had to go. A very interesting discourse.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
I think AFL sleeveless jerseys alone would be a big no-no (which is a great thing if you ask me! ;)
Chan Wee
Guest
@ Harry Kimble, Iran is an associate member of IRB, where as Thailand and malaysia are fellow members. Qatar is not a member as far as i know. the top 5 IRB ranked teams in the asian union are Japan (13) South Korea (23) HongKong (25) Sri lanka (40) and Khazakstan (45). however Philippines (57) are now playing in the TOP 5, winner qualifying for RW 2015. (Khazaks in div I) thailand (59) and Malaysia (70) are in div ii with lesse teams, so Iran will have it tough. ( in the first round of Asian qualifiers, Korea beat Sri Lanka 59-3 in seoul while HK beat Philly 108-0. http://www.asian5nations.com/node/39)
Crashy
Guest
So true Mal. Those AFL taking on the world articles were hilarious. 'The national comp in Sweden has grown to 29 disinterested ex-pats spread over 3 teams representing growth of 98% in the last 3 years...'
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
An interesting read. I'm always fascinated by these reports of rugby being played in unlikely territories, there was a similar one in the Guardian a while ago that went into detail about the sport in Libya. For a while my parents and older brothers lived in Iran (in Abadan, while my dad was working for BP at the huge oil refinery there), and my dad, being a keen rugby player himself, may have been one of those oil workers to have played the sport (albeit some years after the 1900s). I'll have to ask him and see if he has any rugby-themed anecdotes from his time there.
Mal
Guest
Nice article Harry. Looks like you might be challenging that bloke on the AFL thread who wrote a series of articles about AFL being played all over the world. Thankfully your writing is far more objective.
Digby
Roar Guru
Thank you Harry, great peice.