Rugby union in Martinique 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 IRB in its own right, but it is affiliated to NACRA, (formerly NAWIRA), which is the regional governing body for North America and the Caribbean. Rugby was introduced to Martinique by the French who colonised the area. More talented players tend to leave for Metropolitan France. There have been
Invasion of Martinique (1674) had won a dramatic and unexpected victory. French historians still describe Martinique as an astounding military success: the great de Ruyter and the all-conquering Dutch navy had been defeated by a single frigate. Martinique would remain French. Captain Renart was rewarded with the grand noble title of Marquis d'Amblimont; he would later return to Fort-Royal as governor-general of the French Caribbean. The humiliated Dutch fleet retreated back across the Atlantic, their combat losses compounded by the ravages of sickness. Their ambitions to expand their colonial empire in the Americas were permanently stalled, leaving them with only Suriname and the Netherlands