Lets talk about rugby in Madagascar, it might surprise you !!

I was debating on the Ireland to host the WC thread, and stubled upon a topic with Biltong, and I was very surprised after the research I done on the subject, now, when you take things into context a few things could surprise or alarm you with this. The following facts are what I have been finding out about Madagascan rugby:-

Taken from Wikipedia

Rugby union in Madagascar is a popular team sport. Madagascar is ranked 42nd worldwide by the International Rugby Board (IRB),[2] and boasts over 22,540 registered players and more than 410 rugby clubs.[3] 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.

Now that paragraph alone should start mass interest.

Now lets look at the player no.s

Madagascar has 22,540 people playing, and they have 410 or more clubs
Wales has 50,557 people playing, but only 250 clubs
Scotland has 38,500 people playing but only 251 clubs

This just shows that Madagascar should be rubbing shoulders with nations lin the top tier.

They have a far bigger interest in rugby than:

Romania 9612 people, 83 clubs
Georgia 4181 people, 46 clubs
Russia 14,519 people, 105 clubs

They are also dwarfing nations like Spain and Portugal.

Madagascar are constantly getting crowds of 40,000+ at their games, and with the interest in this country rocketing I think it is about time that IRB helped out a little more, with the prodominent language in Madagascar being French, how long will it be before they start sending scouts down there to unearth potential tallent.

What are your veiws on this ? Also whilst searching the web, I could find hardley anything on Madagascan rugby, fixtures, scores, attendances, but I did come upon Sri Lankan rugby which is also looking quite prominent in that country as well.

I think their biggest challenge is quality of coaching, they can't really afford to fund coaching seminars and courses by way of professional international coaches and clinics.

I suspect their facilities are also quite dire, if you could get the IRB to fund the development of gyms, etc then they can improve their size and physicality.

Their national team also lacks exposure to nations outside of Africa, and when you consider they have only played 44 tests in their history, they won't progress unless they play better quality opponents.

"Its about time the IRB helped out more"

Evil IRB. What do you suggest they do to help out? How do you know they arent helping out a lot already?


The IRB set up a new tournament which they are involved in:

The Serendib International Cup, a new IRB-supported inter-continental tournament, which Sri Lanka hosted and which also featured Madagascar and Poland, is the latest silverware they have brought back to the capital, Antananarivo, and the grand prize of qualification for Rugby World Cup 2015 still looms tantalisingly on the horizon.
Read more at http://www.espnscrum.com/2015-rugby-world-cup/rugby/story/211251.html#uTohEawEkLImEiLh.99 - This is a good article.

This sounds like a good game:

Madagascar finished at the top of their African qualifying group by beating Namibia, the continent's highest-ranked team after the Springboks, 57-54, in one of the most amazing games of rugby played in 2012, the last-gasp extra-time victory sending the packed crowd of 40,000 at the Mahamasina Stadium into raptures.

They missed out on the WC next year didn't they? With French being the language there you would think that in a couple of years time the best players will be scouted for the D2 sides. I love the fact that rugby is so popular there, but its hard to see how the game will really develop there quickly without some players getting pro contracts elsewhere and bringing that professionalism back to the national set up.

I'd be interested to know what sort of extra help the IRB should be providing beyond what they do already. New facilities would be great but presumably a huge number of countries could do with that investment in rugby infrastructure too?

As an aside, rugby is quite popular in Sri Lanka, it gets a lot of national coverage there as the presidents son plays for the team. Having said that, cricket is the number one game by a long long way.

No clue about anything else, but there looked to be a full house for a match against Zimbabwe on the tv a few months ago

A couple of old threads that might be of interest.

https://www.606v2.com/t32303-madagascar-57-54-namibia-35000-attendance?highlight=madagascar

https://www.606v2.com/t32551-rugby-in-madagascar?highlight=madagascar

I was more thinking along the lines of how popular the sport is in the country, and how they are gaining more interest than supposed "sleeping giants" like Russia, or Georgia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=902Kac8ymtY

Saw this on total rugby a while back - They are definately a country crying out for IRB support.

I think support from SA would be more important. They should seek to have a side from Madagascar included in the Vodacom cup just as there have been teams from Namibia and Argentina in this comp.

Maybe as the team builds they may some day be good enough to be promoted to the Curry cup and then eventually the super 15 tournament.

You need a decent club set up to prop up an international team.

GunsGerms wrote:I think support from SA would be more important. They should seek to have a side from Madagascar included in the Vodacom cup just as there have been teams from Namibia and Argentina in this comp.

Maybe as the team builds they may some day be good enough to be promoted to the Curry cup and then eventually the super 15 tournament.

You need a decent club set up to prop up an international team.

Apparently they have, they have a league system and a cup all running in their country. Rugby is so popular in Madagascar that the kids on the streets are even using things like empty plastic bottles as rugby balls just so that they can play.

410+ clubs sounds like a lot for only 22,000 players. I'm assuming these are semi-professional also.

In which case, maybe a professional roster with a reduced number of clubs would work wonders for Madagascar's development as a rugby nation. They certainly have the enthusiasm to flourish, just not the structure. Fewer clubs means more of their top players being brought together and therefore an increase in intensity and competition, which can only be positive going forwards.

This probably isn't on the horizon though as it takes one or more visionaries to overhaul a nation's structure and pull them up to the next level. The potential is certainly intriguing though.

Yeah this has been discussed a few times on here.

But they also recently got well beaten in the African nations world cup qualifier by Kenya, Zimbabwe etc...

True but they beat Namibia recently too in a cracker so with a bit of organisation would probably be much better.

Knowsit17 wrote:410+ clubs sounds like a lot for only 22,000 players. I'm assuming these are semi-professional also.

In which case, maybe a professional roster with a reduced number of clubs would work wonders for Madagascar's development as a rugby nation. They certainly have the enthusiasm to flourish, just not the structure. Fewer clubs means more of their top players being brought together and therefore an increase in intensity and competition, which can only be positive going forwards.

This probably isn't on the horizon though as it takes one or more visionaries to overhaul a nation's structure and pull them up to the next level. The potential is certainly intriguing though.

I don't think you must reduce the number of clubs, just create a regional team base.

They seem to have 8 regions (the 8 qualifiers for the top 8) so select the best from each region to increase the quality of the rugby.

Madagascar is a big place and the roads are dreadful so logistically how viable is a regional tournament? The IRB arent miracle workers.

I don't suggest the IRB build roads, just facilities

Biltong wrote:I don't suggest the IRB build roads, just facilities

I know I wasnt being smart, it was more of a question. I have never been there but my uncle works there and he reckons its a mess. Its simple in Ireland and the UK to have a tournament like the pro 12 that deals with long distances and multiple countries etc. However, in Madagascar the infrastructure isnt there.

is Madagascar anywhere near NZ?