Nickname(s) | The Calypso Warriors | |
---|---|---|
Union | Trinidad & Tobago Rugby Football Union | |
Head coach | Larry Mendes | |
Captain | Adam Frederick | |
| ||
World Rugby ranking | ||
Current | 52 (as of 16 January 2023) | |
Highest | 50 (23 November 2020) | |
First international | ||
Trinidad & Tobago 8-42 Bermuda (1979) | ||
Biggest win | ||
St Lucia 8-82 Trinidad & Tobago (8 August 2005) | ||
Biggest defeat | ||
Bermuda 78 - 5 Trinidad & Tobago (17 May 1994) |
The Trinidad and Tobago national rugby union team has thus far not qualified for the Rugby World Cup, but has participated in qualifying tournaments since 1999. They are classed as a tier-three nation by World Rugby.
The national side is ranked 52nd in the world, as of 16 January 2023. [1]
Trinidad and Tobago played their first ever rugby international in 1979 in Georgetown against Bermuda. Trinidad and Tobago lost the contest 8 points to 42. Trinidad and Tobago attempted to qualify for the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales. Their first match of the Americas qualifying tournament was a one-off Round 1 match against Brazil in Port of Spain. Trinidad and Tobago won the game 41 points to nil and advanced to Round 2, where they faced Chile and Bermuda in a pool series. Trinidad and Tobago lost their first match 6-35 against Chile, and lost their second against Bermuda 52-6, and were knocked out of the qualifying tournaments.
The team were involved in qualifying tournaments for the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia as well, participating in the Round 1 Americas tournament. The team defeated Jamaica 51-5 in their first match, and went on to win 12-8 over the Cayman Islands in their second game. Trinidad and Tobago then won their third match 23-12 over Bermuda to advance to Round 2. There the team was narrowly defeated 10-11 by Brazil, and then nil to 9 in the second match, and Trinidad and Tobago were knocked out of the tournament.
In 2005 Trinidad and Tobago participated in qualifying tournaments for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. They were grouped in the South of the pool of Round 1a along with Barbados, Guyana and Saint Lucia. Trinidad and Tobago won their first match 82-8 over Saint Lucia, though they lost to Barbados and Guyana, finishing third in the pool which ended their qualifying campaign.
Trinidad and Tobago compete in the Caribbean Championship, a tournament which includes Antigua, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, and Guyana. [2]
Trinidad and Tobago win in the Caribbean Cup made them advance to the next round of the 2011 Rugby World Cup qualification, where they had to face Brazil. The "Calypso Warriors" faced the notorious improvement of their South Americans counterparts and they lost both games, 31-8 at home and 24-12 away, ending their hopes to qualify again.
In 2015, Trinidad and Tobago won the NACRA Rugby Championship, defeating Mexico 30-16 in the final.
Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by the Trinidad and Tobago national XV at test level up until 16 June 2018:
Against | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | % Won |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bahamas | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75% |
Barbados | 15 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 80% |
Bermuda | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 44.44% |
Bahamas | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 80% |
Brazil | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 20% |
Cayman Islands | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 33.33% |
Chile | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Guadeloupe | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
Guyana | 22 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 50% |
Jamaica | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 78.57% |
Martinique | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 80% |
Mexico | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
Saint Lucia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
USA Selects | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
USA South | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50% |
Venezuela | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
Total | 99 | 64 | 31 | 4 | 64.65% |
The Barbados national football team, nicknamed Bajan Tridents, is the national football team of Barbados, and is controlled by the Barbados Football Association. It has never qualified for a major international tournament. It came close to qualifying for the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup as it hosted the Caribbean Cup finals that acted as Gold Cup qualifiers, but finished fourth of the four teams. In 2001, it surprised many by making the semi-final round of the 2002 World Cup Qualifiers. In the first game of this round, they pulled off a shock 2–1 win over Costa Rica, but lost their five remaining games. In 2004, Barbados gained a shock 1–1 draw at home to Northern Ireland.
The Bermuda national football team represents Bermuda in international football, and is controlled by the Bermuda Football Association, which is a member of the CONCACAF.
The Grenada national football team represents Grenada in international football, and is controlled by the Grenada Football Association, a member of the Caribbean Football Union of CONCACAF. The team is nicknamed The Spice Boys, a reference to the country being nicknamed the "Island of Spice" or the "Spice Isle".
The Guyana national football team, nicknamed the Golden Jaguars, represents Guyana in international football and is controlled by the Guyana Football Federation. It is one of three South American nations to be a member of the Caribbean Football Union of CONCACAF alongside Suriname and French Guiana. Until the independence of Guyana (1966), it competed as British Guiana. They qualified for the Caribbean Nations Cup in 1991, coming fourth, and in 2007. Guyana has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, but on 23 March 2019 they qualified for the first time for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The Bahamas national football team is controlled by the Bahamas Football Association; it was founded in 1967 and joined FIFA in 1968. Bahamas has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup or the CONCACAF Gold Cup. They have been a part of CONCACAF since 1967.
The Barbados national rugby union team represents Barbados at the sport of rugby union. Barbados has been playing international rugby union since the mid-1990s. They have thus far not qualified for a Rugby World Cup. Barbados has also hosted the Caribbean Championship.
The Bahamas national rugby union team represent the Bahamas in the sport of rugby union. The team have thus far not qualified for a Rugby World Cup, but have participated in qualifying tournament. The nation is classified as tier three by the International Rugby Board (IRB).
The Jamaica national rugby union team represents Jamaica in the sport of rugby union. The team has thus far not qualified for a Rugby World Cup but has participated in qualifying tournaments.
The Bermuda national rugby union team represents Bermuda in the sport of rugby union. Bermuda are the current Caribbean Champions 2019 although they have thus far not played in a Rugby World Cup, but have participated in qualifying tournaments.
The Cayman Islands national rugby union team represents the Cayman Islands in the sport of rugby union. They have thus far not qualified for a Rugby World Cup, but have participated in qualifying tournaments. The sport in the Cayman Islands is governed by the Cayman Rugby Union. The Cayman Islands have players throughout the squad playing through the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Canada and the USA.
The Guyana national rugby union team represents Guyana in the sport of rugby union. They have thus far not qualified for a Rugby World Cup, but have participated in qualifying tournaments.
Rugby union in Trinidad and Tobago is a popular sport. There are currently 4,457 registered players, and 13 clubs. They are currently ranked 45th in the world.
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In the Americas Region for 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Argentina had automatically qualified for the World Cup, and two places were available in the Americas qualification process, which were taken by Canada and the United States. An additional Americas team, Uruguay, also qualified as the Play-off winner.
The 2017 RAN Sevens was the 18th edition of the annual rugby sevens tournament organized by Rugby Americas North. It will be played at Campo Marte in Mexico City.
The 2018 RAN Sevens was the 19th edition of the annual rugby sevens tournament organized by Rugby Americas North. It will be played at the Barbados Polo Club in Saint James, Barbados, with the winner eligible for the 2019 Hong Kong Sevens qualifier tournament and two teams advancing to the 2019 Pan American Games.
The 2022 RAN Sevens Qualifiers are a North American rugby sevens tournament that took place at the Thomas Robinson Stadium, Nassau on 23 and 24 April 2022; they were held in The Bahamas for the third time. The defending champions from the 2021 event are Jamaica.
The 2011 NACRA Women's Rugby Championship was the second tournament, hosted by the Cayman Islands, saw the return to competition of island teams from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and hosts, the Cayman Islands; but no teams from outside the Caribbean, possibly because the tournament clashed with the U20 Nations Cup. Other islands were again represented by a Caribbean Select XV. For the first time, all matches in the tournament were streamed live by Cayman Rugby TV. Trinidad and Tobago won the Championship as they went undefeated in the competition.