Soviet Period

Rugby union was played in the Russian Empire as early as in 1908. In 1934, the Moscow Championship was started, and in 1936, the first Soviet Championship took place.

In 1949, rugby union was forbidden in the USSR during the "fight against the cosmopolitanism". The competitions were resumed in 1957, and the Soviet Championship in 1966. In 1975, the Soviet national team played their first match.^[2]

Rugby union appears to have been introduced to the Moldavian SSR in 1967.^[3]

Moldova had its own rugby team in the USSR, but it was not treated as a proper national side.

Post-independence

Perhaps surprisingly, the popularity of rugby in Moldova is growing rapidly, with well over 10,000 fans regularly turning up to their home matches in the European Nations Cup. Since 2004, the number of Moldovan rugby players has more than doubled, due to the national team's growing international reputation. Rugby union in Romania is quite a major sport, going back ninety years, and as Moldova shares language and a border with Romania, this has helped its popularity in the country.