Rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 has been played in the Maccabiah Games

Maccabiah Games

The Maccabiah is an international Jewish athletic event similar to the Olympics held in Israel every four years under the auspices of the Maccabi Federation, affiliated with the Maccabi World Union. The Maccabiah Games is the third largest international sports competition in the world...

 since 1981. The variety played is the 15-a-side version, rather than rugby sevens

Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...

.

The national sides which compete are organised by the national branches of the Maccabi World Union

Maccabi World Union

The Maccabi World Union is an international Jewish sports organisation spanning 5 continents and more than 50 countries, with some 400,000 members...

, rather than by the national rugby unions of each country, with the exception of
Israel. Israel is also exceptional in being the only Maccabiah team for which one does not need to be Jewish to qualify.

Another notable difference is that Scotland, England, Wales and (Northern) Ireland do not compete separately as they would normally, but as a Great Britain XV.

Maccabiah rugby

Although rugby had been played in Israel for a number of decades, it was only in the 1970s that it became properly organised. In addition, it was felt that not enough of the nations competing at the Maccabiah could field good rugby teams. For example, New Zealand and Ireland are both major rugby playing nations, but do not have a big enough Jewish community to produce a particularly strong Maccabiah XV. In addition, some major rugby playing nations such as the Pacific Islands of Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Japan, have an even more negligible Jewish population.

However, despite this there have often been six or seven sides competing at the Maccabiah Games. Teams tend to be from the major English speaking nations (with the exception of NZ and Ireland), but teams from France, Chile and Uruguay have also competed.

The Israel team

Israel national rugby union team

The Israel national rugby union team represents Israel at a national level in international rugby union competitions. The team is governed by the Israel Rugby Union, which oversees all rugby union in Israel...

 is unique in being the only full national side at the Maccabiah, and which can contain non-Jewish Israeli players.

Maccabiah rugby started at the 1981 Maccabiah Games

1981 Maccabiah Games

The 1981 11th Maccabiah Games brought 3,450 athletes to Israel from 30 nations.The 30-sports menu included rugby union, sailing and softball for the first time.New facilities for squash, wrestling, karate, and judo were introduced....

, and has been played continually ever since.

Hosting

Games have been hosted at various venues. In 1993

1993 Maccabiah Games

The 1993 Maccabiah Games was the 14th installment of the Maccabiah Games and brought 5,100 athletes to Israel from 48 nations.Jewish athletes from Poland, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia participated for the first time after World War II, after the fall of the Iron Curtain...

, they were at the Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...

 campus; in 1997

1997 Maccabiah Games

The 1997 Maccabiah Games are remembered for being marred by a bridge collapse that killed several participants.The 15th Maccabiah had more than 5,000 athletes from 53 countries competing in 36 sports....

, they were at the Herzliya Municipal Stadium (HMS); in 2005

2005 Maccabiah Games

The 2005 Maccabiah Games were the 17th incarnation of the 'Jewish Olympics.' They attracted the largest attendance of any Maccabiah Games to date, including more than 900 representatives from the United States, almost 500 from Australia, and more than 2,000 from Israel, bringing the total...

 and again in 2009

2009 Maccabiah Games

The 2009 Maccabiah Games were the 18th incarnation of the Maccabiah Games, being held in July 2009. According to the organizing committee these were the largest games held yet. On the 13th of July, more than 6,000 Jewish athletes from all over the world joined Team Israel's 3,000 participants at...

, they were at the HMS and the Wingate Institute

Wingate Institute

The Wingate Institute is a sports training facility located south of Netanya, Israel, established in 1957. Named after Orde Wingate, the facility serves as the host facility for numerous Israeli national teams as well as a military training base....

.