Record number of people playing rugby around the world

According to the 2018 World Rugby Year in Review, a record number of people play rugby around the world as the sport continues to grow and flourish around the world.

According to World Rugby, the unprecedented growth of this sport continued in 2018 with 9.6 million men, women and children playing football in the world. This includes 2.7 million women, up 10% from the previous year and accounting for over a quarter of the total population of players in the world.

"It is interesting to note that the total number of registered players has increased by 28%, reaching 581,000 in World Rugby member unions. This comes during the first full year of implementation of the ambitious World Rugby Plan, Accelerating the Global Development of Women in Rugby 2017-2025, which aims to support the growth and development of women's sport and to promote gender equality. "Said the world organization statement.

"This success has been doubled in the field by increased levels of engagement from fans: 38% increase in the number of video views by women and more than 30% increase in audience." Women's World Rugby and Rugby World Cup Twitter.

"It also translated into increased diversity at the highest levels of the sport over the course of a year when World Rugby added 17 new women to its board and New Zealand was named the first organizer of the World Cup. of women's rugby 2021.

A special year for the global game, with a worldwide interest of 800 million people, driven by an emerging market youth audience #GetIntoRugby #RugbyBuildsCharacter

Learn more: https://t.co/VDvn60b9KC pic.twitter.com/XMPbPamhSB

– World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 10, 2019

In 2018, the second tournament of the Rugby VII Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, won by Argentina (men) and New Zealand (women). Meanwhile, the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco gathered 100,000 spectators for three days to create an incredible atmosphere inside the famous AT & T Park, with an audience of nine million viewers Americans, many of whom are watching rugby for the first time. This has spurred an even greater interest in sports around the world, with 800 million young consumers of digital content in emerging markets such as the United States, China, India and Brazil.

The well-being of the players is also taken into account in the agency's publication: "Off the field, the well-being of the players remains the number one priority of World Rugby. The International Federation focuses on evidence-based injury prevention at all levels of sport. In parallel with its focus on research, World Rugby's training and education programs remain at the heart of its strategy, with more than 2,700 training courses delivered worldwide in 2018. "

Sir Bill Beaumont, President of World Rugby, said: "2018 was another special year for rugby, as we watched the sport continue to thrive and grow on and off the field. Out of a total population of 9.6 million teenagers, it was fantastic to see our Get Into Rugby program – organized in partnership with unions and regions – continue to break participation records with more than two million girls and boys around the world who become involved for the second consecutive year a growing global interest of 800 million people. "

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