Rugby union in Martinique occasional games against sides from the other Caribbean islands. Most of its rugby contacts are either with them, or with France itself. Martinique competes in the NACRA Caribbean Championship, a tournament which includes Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Guyana. Rugby union in Martinique Rugby union in Martinique is a minor, but growing sport. The Comité Territorial de Rugby de la Martinique is a committee under the umbrella of the French Rugby Federation which is the governing body for rugby union within French Guiana. The committee is not affiliated to the
Martinique island of iguanas". When Columbus landed on the island in 1502, he christened the island as Martinica; through the influence of the neighboring island of Dominica (La Dominique), it came to be known as Martinique. The island is called "Madinina" by the locals. The island was occupied first by Arawaks, then by Caribs. The Carib people had migrated from the mainland to the islands about 1201 CE, according to carbon dating of artifacts. They were largely displaced, exterminated and assimilated by the Taino, who were resident on the island in the 1490s. Martinique was charted by Columbus in 1493, but