Rugby union in Bulgaria

Rugby union in Bulgaria is a minor but growing sport. Bulgaria is ranked 90th worldwide by the International Rugby Board (IRB) as of 8 October 2007. There are 3,026 Bulgarian rugby players.
Governing body.
Rugby union in Bulgaria is governed by the Bulgarian Rugby Federation, which was formed in 1962.
History.
Bulgarian rugby is centred on the capital, Sofia.
Although rugby was well organised in Bulgaria during the 1960s, the first international was not until 1976, when Bulgaria lost to Czechoslovakia.
Bulgarian rugby has not traditionally enjoyed a high reputation. For example, in 1988, an anonymous French rugby official joked that "one of the FIRA nightmares... is to have playing refereed by a Soviet."
Rugby union like many other sports, was long to be connected in the public mind with the less savoury aspects of Communism:
However, in more recent times, the spirit of Bulgarian rugby has been applauded by none other than rugby great Will Greenwood:
Women's rugby.
Although Bulgaria's women have not yet played test match rugby, they have been playing international sevens rugby since 2003. (Current playing record).
Teams.
Although Bulgaria as a national side are low in the IRB rankings, Bulgaria has a long rugby tradition, and many of the country's clubs were formed as far back as the 1960s.
The main clubs are :
Other clubs include :