Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Rugby union in Estonia is a minor but growing sport. The national body is the Estonian Rugby Union (Eesti Ragbi Liit). The Estonian Rugby Federation was the original rugby body, but did not affiliate to the IRB, as it was a "federation" of one team, instea of the required three. It was in fact expelled from FIRA-AER for lack of rugby development. Rugby in the Baltic region was mainly introduced during the interwar period, although the game was played in Imperial Russia, including Saint Petersburg pre-Russian revolution, and was introduced to Germany in the 19th century. In 1949, rugby union was forbidden in the USSR during the "fight against the cosmopolitanism". The competitions were resumed in 1957, and the Soviet Championship in 1966. In 1975 the Soviet national team played their first match. Estonia had its own rugby team in the USSR, but it was not treated as a proper national side.