Hapoel Ashkelon Rugby Club

The club was founded in 1996 by Dima Skovlev. In another account, from the club in 2015, coach Dimitri Skovlev founded the Ashkelon rugby team about ten years earlier, with only two balls as training equipment. The team started with young players and later added senior players from Rishon LeZion. Players from the former Rishon Letzion Phantoms club joined the young Ashkelon club four years before 2007.

By the club's count in 2015, the team finished sixth in its first season in the senior league and fifth in each of the next two years. In 2015 it stood second in the Israeli rugby league. In 2015 the club contrasted its squad with the rest of the league: unlike the other clubs, which were made up mainly of players from Anglo-Saxon countries, Ashkelon's players came from many different countries.

In February 2010, at the end of that season, Ashkelon and Haifa drew 20–20.

Honours by the club's count:

• Youth league titles: three, as of 2007.
• National championships: three, as of 2015. In 2015 the youth team held three national championships.

The club trains at the Waldenberg community centre (מתנס וולדנברג), Yaakov Gruper 15, Ashkelon.

As of August 2026, the club planned to run a senior team and under-16, under-14 and under-12 groups in the coming season. It also runs tag rugby groups in schools around the city and the surrounding area. By 2015 its young players had taken part in under-12, under-14, under-17 and under-20 tournaments.

Training times as of August 2026:

Confirm times with the club.

In March 2024 the Israel Rugby Union called Ashkelon rugby "the Argentina of the Middle East". The club also uses the spelling Ashqelon Rugby Club.

• Facebook
• Instagram (youth)