Welsh supporters all round the world, and many other sympathisers, are in sorrow today following the defeat of Wales 9-10 by France in the Rugby World Cup. But no one can deny the gallantry and professionalism of a superb team, which did well to reach the semi-finals and kept us on the edge of our seats until the closing minutes.
Rugby is taking off in Hungary too. When the expat-led group the Budapest Rugby Watching & Beer Drinking Fans (founded in 2002 and with a Chairman with Welsh blood) are not watching rugby and drinking beer, they are raising money for Youth Rugby in Hungary – over 5 million HUF so far. As of now, 67 schools and 16 Universities in Hungary play rugby – and they have just managed to get Rugby Union listed as an official sport on the Hungarian Sport University curriculum. From now on all Hungarian sports teachers will be trained in how to coach and develop rugby in their schools. So rugby is now played at International level by all age groups. And there are now also 5 women’s rugby teams here.
The injection of the Budapest Rugby Watching & Beer Drinking Fans’ cash into Youth Rugby development has helped turn the current Under 20’s squad into a quality team. They ended last season by losing very narrowly in the Under 20’s Central European Cup Final. 2nd place in this competition is a superb achievement for such a small country – they even beat Ukraine in the semi-finals. And now that Rugby 7’s have been accepted into the 2016 Olympics, national funding has become available for the development of this facet of rugby in Hungary too.
The Budapest Rugby Watching & Beer Drinking Fans also work closely with the Hungarian Rugby Union. For instance, the International Rugby Board have delegated coaching support in Hungary to the Scottish RFU. We expect great things – maybe seeing Hungary in a future Rugby World Cup!