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Mauritius rugby has its roots in the colonial days and was widely practiced by the English Army. It gained popularity among the Mauritius sports with the establishment of the Dodo Club in 1928 by a small group of Rugby players. Blue Ducks, Dodo, the Navy, SMF, Buffalos, HMS Mauritius and the Stags were some of the rugby clubs that trained Mauritians.
After gaining independence in 1968, the Mauritian government took up the island's administration. Rugby in Mauritius suffered due to the paucity of junior players. Besides the Mauritius rugby clubs also lacked basic playing equipments and accompanying amenities. The shortage of playing equipments forced many clubs to close down. Only Dodo and Stags continued to function. These two clubs competed against each other and finally Stags also closed down. Dodo then carried forward the task of promoting the sport in Mauritius.
Mauritius participated in various rugby tournaments held between 1992 and 2001 and proved its worth. The Mauritian television for the first time aired the third World Cup rugby championship held in South Africa in 1995. Three coaching centers were also established in different parts of the island in order to train the local inhabitants to master the game.
The Stags Club was renovated in the year 1998 in order to meet the growing demand of rugby in the island. Many matches at the national and the international level were played and finally in 2001 the three regional clubs, The Curepipe Starlight, Western Cowboys and Northern Pirates were formed. Presently Mauritius has four clubs, 6 referees, 354 licensed players, 18 coaches and 3 coaching centers.
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