Rugby’s one of the most visceral sports in the world. Raw, human physicality at its finest, and yet when played by those who understand and excel at the game, there’s an undeniable poetry at hand. While not as globally-recognised as some sports, the countries and people who love rugby absolutely adore it. New Zealand, South Africa, Australia—these are but a few regions where rugby transcends sport and becomes more like religion. Rugby’s in their blood, it’s a birthright, and when you watch the passion with which they play, it’s difficult not to be swept away by the gravity of what’s at stake. In Vietnam, rugby has yet to be held in a similar esteem as it is in those aforementioned nations. Having said that, clubs like the Saigon Geckos have been playing an integral role in changing that perspective.
Saigon Geckos Rugby Club was founded 1992. The expats who were living in Saigon at the time wanted to play the sport and so along with a few Vietnamese who were curious to try, they set up the club. Initially they focused on touch rugby (a form of rugby where players use their hands to touch their opponents instead of tackling them). While Saigon Geckos’ goal at the time was to welcome visiting teams as well as tour the region and participate in tournaments, the club has evolved so much since then.
Speaking to the Geckos’ social media manager Linh, she told me that since its inception, several aspects of the club have changed while some have remained the same. Let’s start with what’s changed. The biggest difference has been the club’s size. What started humbly as a group of expats and Vietnamese playing the sport they loved has developed into three teams under one banner, along with an academy. According to Linh, while the club was always represented by a wide-range of nationalities—most common being the Australian, British, French, Japanese, and South Africans—a snapshot of the team in 2013 showcased it at its largest and most diverse. Already two decades old by then, the Geckos had roughly 100 members, of which many were women, and all in all, about 14 nationalities were represented. At that point it was running both touch and contact (tackles allowed) rugby sessions every week. This consistent training resulted in a two and a half year stretch where the team went unbeaten, playing as many as 20 games a season against clubs from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand as part of the Southeast Asia Cup league. Apart from that achievement, they’ve even won the Cambodia 10s tournament, the Indochine Cup, and the Ao Lang 7s National Championship, proving their mettle against the region’s best.
Nowadays, the Saigon Geckos have expanded into multiple branches. For starters you’ve got the men’s contact team that plays under the Saigon Geckos name. Aside from that there’s the women’s contact team, Lady Geckos. Linh’s particularly proud of the Lady Geckos given that many of the players started off by taking part in touch rugby practices, or as spectators and club assistants. This developed into having enough interested women to form the Lady Geckos and send them out to compete on their own tournaments. Then you’ve got a 35+ “old boys” team called the Dirty Geckos. Primarily for those getting up in years but still wanting to partake in the game they love, Dirty Geckos gives middle-aged men a chance to relive the glory of a sport like rugby. These three teams demonstrate how the Geckos strive for inclusivity and community-building, besides merely being a rugby club. In the upcoming 2026 season, there’s 15 nationalities represented across the teams, showcasing how much the club continues to grow over time. Training sessions are held in the An Khánh ward of District 2 while home games—unless otherwise announced on their social media—take place at numerous locations throughout the city.
Besides the teams, the Geckos started a Junior Geckos academy in 2017 to foster a culture and love of rugby in Vietnam. With a range of youth aged between 5 to 18, the idea with the academy is to inspire the next generation of rugby players in Vietnam. With training sessions held every Saturday, the Junior Geckos gives children a system to develop as rugby players. Finally, some members of the Saigon Geckos also volunteer at the Rugby Cùng Nhau charity, which is an initiative that uses rugby to promote social inclusion for underprivileged kids. In this manner, each faction of the greater Saigon Geckos banner points to the club’s ultimate mission: growing rugby in Vietnam by providing opportunities to people of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities.
Spreading the word of rugby in Vietnam hasn’t been a straightforward process. Without a local league or the requisite infrastructure to support the advancement of the sport, a lot has been left up to the people who make up a club such as the Saigon Geckos. For the most part, it’s been a volunteer effort. Individuals do their part in organising practices and matches, as well as sorting out areas like media coverage and accounting. Luckily, they’ve had some help along the way. Sponsors and partners help with paying for pitch fees as well as providing medics in the case of injuries sustained during a game. Besides that, there are also several rugby clubs now representing different regions of Vietnam. You’ve got the Geckos’ rival, the Hanoi Dragons, as well as the Danang Guerillas and a team called the Viet-Japanese Rugby Club. With other smaller teams dotted across the land, Vietnam’s rugby scene today is considerably different compared to the one back in the early ‘90s. Furthermore, there’s a genuine interest by rugby players in the country of taking things a step further.
One of the first steps in this process was getting formally accepted as an observer nation in the South East Asia Rugby Federation (SEARF). Reaching this status gives Vietnam a pathway forward to achieving their rugby dreams. The next major step is for the sport to be recognised by the Vietnamese government and in turn, to gain associate status in the global governing body for the sport, World Rugby. This will give them benefits such as World Rugby grants, administrative support, and even eligibility to enter World Rugby sanctioned fixtures. While these goals might seem lofty, the mood amongst rugby players in the country is hopeful. If Vietnam is willing to invest into the sport, they already have roughly 200 Vietnamese citizens registered and interested in playing for their nation. Additionally, there are 50+ heritage players—foreign players from places like Australia, France, and the UK—ready to tie up their laces for Vietnam. Linh believes that by the end of 2027, Vietnamese rugby will witness its first-ever national team representation for both men and women, marking a monumental moment in the country’s rugby history.
The evolution of the Saigon Geckos illustrates the broader maturation of Vietnamese rugby. As stated, while this growth has been one of the Geckos’ biggest changes since the club was established, there are some aspects of the team that have stayed the same. Chief among this is the social aspect of the Geckos. As club secretary Chris Paget put it, “In many ways, [the Geckos] is almost a social club. It's more about what happens off the pitch than on it.” Speaking to Linh, it was this camaraderie and inclusivity that struck her when she first joined the club. It’s no wonder why the Saigon Geckos describe themselves as a “welcoming and inclusive bunch of expats and locals that love rugby, playing hard on the pitch and rewarding tough moments with beers and fancy dress offs afterwards.” A prime example of this is during their away tournaments, when one of the Geckos’ traditions is to choose a theme for that tour, whether it be pirates, cavemen, or cops n’ robbers. Games and activities during these tours are then built around these themes to ensure that just as much as they’re travelling to play rugby, they’re out to have a good time while they’re at it.
Since their founding in 1992, the Saigon Geckos have done more than heralded a new era in Vietnam’s rugby culture. As Linh put it, despite the numerous trophies they’ve collected over the years and the impact they’ve had on growing rugby in Vietnam, their most notable achievement has to be the fact that they’re still around today. Now home to four different clubs: the Saigon Geckos, Lady Geckos, Dirty Geckos, and Junior Geckos, this is a team that’s proved that sport’s most noble value is not within the number of wins they’ve tallied or records they’ve broken, but in the sense of unity and connection that they’ve been able to nurture.
