The Hellenic Rugby Federation was set up in 2001, by those involved in rugby at the time[citation needed] and in 2004 at the instigation of the then Deputy Minister of Sport, George Orfanos, with the subsequent appointment of Dr Evangelos Stamos as President[1] overthrowing the then first board (2001 - 2004).
From September 2014 to May 2023 the governing body was Hellenic Handball Federation, after the Greek Government withdrew sports representation authority from the Hellenic Rugby Federation (Ελληνικής Ομοσπονδίας Ράγκμπι), which was affiliated to World Rugby.
The Greek Diaspora emigrated to many rugby playing countries, notably England, South Africa and Australia, and some of these people have returned or informed their family about the game.
[1] This is partly due to pressure from rugby league in Greece which has started aggressive recruitment in recent years, and has set up a national team composed mostly of Greek Australians, managed by Colin Mylonas, himself an Australian.
The following year the championship was played as a straight league with no Grand Final - Athens comfortably won it with Attica Springboks finishing as runners-up.