Rugby union has been a men's medal sport at the modern Summer Olympic Games, being played at four of the first seven competitions. The sport debuted at the 1900 Paris games. It subsequently featured at the London games in 1908, the Antwerp games in 1920 and the Paris games in 1924. Shortly after the 1924 games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) cancelled rugby union as an Olympic sport. There have been numerous attempts to bring the sport back to the Olympic programme. The most recent have been for the inclusion of the sevens version of the sport, which is played at similar competitions such as the Commonwealth Games.

Introduction in 1900 and the 1908 games:

The sport was introduced by Pierre de Coubertin, who is famous for reviving the modern Olympics. He also helped to establish rugby in France, his most notable achievements were refereeing the first domestic French club championship in 1892 and France’s first international, on New Year’s Day, 1906 at Parc des Princes. Coubertin formed the IOC in 1894, but rugby union would not be featured until the II Olympiad.

Subsequent games:

The IOC removed the sport following the Paris Games. Pierre de Coubertin stepped down after 1925, which may have also hurt the sport's chances for inclusion. In 1928 the IOC turned down a request to stage rugby at the Amsterdam games. At the 1936 Games in Berlin, there was an exhibition tournament held, with France, Germany, Italy and Romania competing. The French team beat Germany in the final 19 to 14.

In 1976, 22 African countries and Guyana boycotted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, after their demand to have New Zealand excluded was not met. A New Zealand rugby team had toured South Africa, which had been banned from the Olympics since 1964 because of its apartheid politics. Rugby union not being an Olympic sport, the IOC declined to exclude New Zealand.

Efforts for inclusion:

Italy in 1960, the Soviet Union in 1980, and South Korea in 1988 made requests to have rugby union brought back. The 1980 request did not pass, and although the 1988 games came close to seeing the sport's admission, which was backed by the International Rugby Football Board (now, International Rugby Board, IRB). In 1995, the IRB became an IOC Recognised International Federation. In 2002, a plan was presented to induct rugby sevens, golf and the Chinese martial art of wushu.

Sevens was one of five sports that submitted a proposal to the IOC at a meeting in Singapore for inclusion in the 2012 games. The IOC stated that no sport would be added unless others were dropped. The IRB was confident that the sport would finally be included in the official Olympic program. However, the selection of two sports out of the five nominees as potential 2012 sports went to squash and karate, as determined by a voting procedure.

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