The Krakow Rugby Festival is an annual event which takes place on every 3rd weekend in June in Krakow, Poland at Rs. Kz. Juvenia Krakow's stadium who play in the top flight Polish Rugby Union Ekstraliga. The yearly tournament attracts international teams playing rugby 10s for the men and rugby 7s for the women. The KRF men's tournament was introduced in 2016 with a women's section added in 2018.

Since the first edition the KRF has also introduced charity funding campaigns and currently raise funds for two nominated charities throughout the weekend tournament. The KRF also invites international referees to adjudicate all the games and in the 2019 tournament the Bristol Referees Association held the honour of contributing to the weekend.

KRF Tournament Schedule

The KRF takes place every 3rd week in June of each year from the Friday until the Sunday.

  • Friday – Teams are invited to an induction evening and general information is given while the teams have a chance to mix socially.
  • Saturday – All the qualifying rounds for the various categories are played.
  • Sunday – All finals are played with the awards ceremony and individual skill competitions to complete the field events. The tournament finishes with a KRF Grand Gala Dinner at a city centre venue in which a final charity auction is held.

Categories

The KRF has 3 categories, Champions, Elite & Kracking, all categories has its own final. Each category is decided on the position each team finishes in during the Saturday group qualifier games.

Year Tournament Champions
2016 Men, Champions Nottingham Uni, RFC Nottingham, England
2017 Men, Champions West of Scotland RFC Burnbrae, Scotland
2018 Women, Champions Hampstead Ladies WRFC London, England
2018 Men, Champions Barrelhouse RFC Dubai, UAE
2019 Women, Champions Juvenia Krakow Kobiety Krakow, Poland
2019 Men, Champions The Mighty Bovs RFC Edinburgh, Scotland
2020 canceled due to C-19 Pandemic

Awards

  • 1st & 2nd place - Men's 10s Champions Cup & Women's 7s Champions Cup + 2nd place Finalist cup
  • 3rd & 4th place – Men's 10s Elite Trophy & Women's 7s Elite Trophy + 4th place Finalist trophy
  • 5th & 6th place - Men's 10s Kracking Plate & Women's 7s Kracking Plate + 6th place Finalist plate
  • Golden Moment Award, Spirit of Rugby Award & Skill Game Award

The 2020 competition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with border restrictions and many countries in lockdown the KRF 2020 organisers took the decision to annul the tournament.

Notable International Team Participants

CYM Terenure WRFC, Ireland, Doha Ladies WRFC, UAE, Houston Oilers RFC, USA

VIP Visitors

In 2019 a delegation from the UK's National League 1 side Plymouth Albion RFC were present to forge new ties with Juvenia Krakow. The teams have continued to collaborate and a healthy partnership prevails.