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Countries with Most Rugby Players per Capita

Name the countries with the most rugby union players per capita
Countries in blue have fewer than 1,000,000 inhabitants
Source: World Rugby, 2016
Quiz by Gassu
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Last updated: November 11, 2019
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First submittedOctober 7, 2019
Times taken16,984
Average score54.2%
Rating4.20
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per 1000 people
Country
582
Tonga
216
Fiji
60
Samoa
44
Malta
37
United Kingdom (Great Britain)
31
New Zealand
29
Ireland (All-Ireland)
26
Australia
25
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
21
Solomon Islands
19
Eswatini
18
Andorra
per 1000 people
Country
17
Monaco
9.5
France
9.4
Uruguay
8.0
South Africa
6.1
Luxembourg
5.5
Botswana
5.2
Singapore
4.9
Namibia
4.7
Portugal
4.6
United States
4.2
Canada
4.1
Sri Lanka
+7
Level ∞
Nov 11, 2019
The numbers for Tonga and Fiji don't seem quite believable...
+5
Level 88
Nov 11, 2019
I think they put the semi in semi-pro.
+4
Level 92
Nov 11, 2019
The source talks about people getting into rugby and registering. It would seem these numbers include anyone in any kind of registered league, professional or otherwise. This makes sense of the numbers a little, for example 0.5% of Americans you meet are not professional rugby players.
+9
Level 79
Nov 12, 2019
watching Fiji in the World Cup (through your fingers if you're a Welsh fan) that figure is very believable. They are astonishing players.
+10
Level 77
Nov 12, 2019
I have seen them in their own country playing during a force 11 storm with the pitch mostly underwater. I can believe it.
+7
Level 75
Nov 11, 2019
I'm a bit surprised that Georgia, with a small population but which still qualified for the last Rugby World Cup, isn't here.
+2
Level 70
Nov 11, 2019
The country of Georgia has 12,551 rugby players, divided by its population of 3,723,500, that equals 3.37 rugby players per 1,000 Georgians.
+1
Level 75
Nov 11, 2019
Time to update to Eswatini?
+2
Level 77
Nov 11, 2019
Eswatini, not Swaziland?
+3
Level 70
Nov 11, 2019
Thanks, the quiz has been updated!
+5
Level 83
Nov 11, 2019
Quite surprised, I was expecting Italy and Argentina, given their close history with that sport.
+3
Level 82
Nov 12, 2019
They're way way more obsessed with football but they're big enough countries that a small percentage of rugby players still means a big pool.
+3
Level 73
Nov 12, 2019
You're right MisterBrick

Professional rugby is popular in Argentina, that's the problem with these stats. The numbers would mostly be school grade sports. That's why USA has 1.5 million rugby players, and almost no International recognition.

You could also compare USA and Brazil for football. According to FIFA the US has a higher per capita player rate.

+2
Level 70
Jan 22, 2020
Both Argentina and Italy appear in the Top 20 when it comes to total numbers, but given their huge population figures, they (only) get a per-capita amount of 3.08 per 1000 (Argentina) or 1.46 (Italy) respectively.
+1
Level 82
Nov 12, 2019
Missed Uruguay, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Andorra.
+1
Level 82
Feb 20, 2020
this time still missed Uruguay and Andorra. Didn't remember taking this before. :P Picked up the other two, though, and that was enough for 5 points.
+1
Level 83
Feb 20, 2020
Uruguay beat Fiji at the World Cup this year! A legitimate rugby nation.
+1
Level 67
Feb 20, 2020
USA?? i tought they only play american football (which is not quite the same as rugby)
+1
Level 75
Feb 20, 2020
On the front page, it says "Name the countries with the most rugby union players per capital
+1
Level 44
Feb 20, 2020
Monaco? For real?

I thought there are only rich people. They play Golf, Tennis, and that stuff but rugby? Kinda weird

+2
Level 64
Mar 22, 2021
Rugby is a sport for posh kids. In England/Scotland anyway.
+1
Level 55
Feb 20, 2020
Well that seems random.
+2
Level 55
Feb 22, 2020
I know JetPunk doesn't accept the individual parts of the United Kingdom as countries in their own right, but for the purposes of this quiz, it would interesting to see the numbers for Wales, England and Scotland separately. Especially since they have separate teams in international rugby. They never play as the United Kingdom.
+1
Level 56
May 17, 2020
I really, really doubt that 582/1,000 (58.2%) of Tongans play rugby, even with semi-pro. In fact, I think all of these numbers should be out of 10,000, since when I checked about 6,891 out of 103,197 (or 668/10,000) Tongans are in the Tongan Rugby Union. Just saying.