Union | Suomen Rugbyliitto | ||
---|---|---|---|
Head coach | Alastair Davies | ||
Captain | Jussi Viljanen | ||
| |||
World Rugby ranking | |||
Current | 78 (as of 29 January 2024) | ||
Highest | 71 (2023) | ||
Lowest | 82 (2022) | ||
First international | |||
Finland 0 – 60 Switzerland (1982-05-22) | |||
Biggest win | |||
Finland 55 – 5 Estonia (2010-10-02) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
Denmark 100 – 0 Finland (1987-10-10) |
The Finland national rugby union team represents Finland in men's international rugby union. The national side are ranked 71st in the world, as of 24 April 2023. [1]
Finland played their first ever rugby international in 1982 against Switzerland, which they lost. Finland went on to win their first international in 1991, defeating Norway 18 points to 3
They played Monaco in 2002. Finland's attempt to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France began in Round 1 of the European tournaments. They faced Bulgaria in a two match series as part of the Round 1 group to determine which nation would advance. Bulgaria won the first game 42 points to 3 in Helsinki and won the second leg 50 to 3 in Sofia to knock Finland out of the tournament.
Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Norway national XV at test level up until 11 May 2024:
Against | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Win percentage |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Andorra | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
Austria | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 33.33% |
Bulgaria | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 11.11% |
Cyprus | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Denmark | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 33.33% |
Estonia | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
Gibraltar | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Greece | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 62.5% |
Hungary | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Israel | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 20% |
Latvia | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Luxembourg | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 11.11% |
Moldova | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50% |
Monaco | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Norway | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 38.89% |
Slovenia | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Sweden | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Switzerland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Turkey | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50% |
Total | 87 | 29 | 57 | 1 | 33.33% |
Current line-up for the 2023-24 Rugby Europe Conference.
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.
Player | Position | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Club/province |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tapio Lahtinen | Prop | 6 | Jyväskylä R.F.C. | |
Ossi Aro | Hooker | 19 | Tampere R.F.C. | |
Chris Denholm | Prop | 17 | Helsinki RC | |
Akseli Peltoniemi | Lock | 14 | Old Town Shamrocks | |
Aaro Katainen | Lock | 30 | Jyväskylä R.F.C. | |
Kosti Eskola | Flanker | 16 | Warriors RC | |
Matti Keränen | Flanker | 30 | Old Town Shamrocks | |
John Poole | Number 8 | 4 | Saimaa Sharks/Helsinki RC | |
Saxby Young | Scrum-half | 5 | Helsinki RC | |
Thomas Finell | Fly-half | 64 | Warriors RC | |
Samu-Petteri Pääkkö | Wing | 20 | Old Town Shamrocks | |
Jussi Viljanen (c) | Centre | 32 | Tampere R.F.C. | |
Kim Ali-keskikylä | Centre | Turku Eagles | ||
Antti Haapanen | Wing | 0 | Helsinki RC | |
Philip Sleath | Fullback | 9 | Turku Eagles | |
Paulo Pannuzzo | Hooker | 0 | Helsinki RC | |
Olli Räsänen | Prop | Jyväskylä R.F.C./Tampere R.F.C. | ||
Olli Palosuo | Prop | 0 | Helsinki RC | |
Juho Kiljain | Lock | 3 | Jyväskylä R.F.C. | |
Jedidiah Patton | Back row | 1 | Turku Eagles | |
James Edwards | Fly-half | 0 | Tampere R.F.C. | |
Timo McIntyre | Wing | 0 | Tampere R.F.C. | |
Jack Crabtree | Fullback | 1 | Warriors RC |
The Germany women's national football team represents Germany in international women's football. The team is governed by the German Football Association (DFB).
The Bulgaria national football team represents Bulgaria in men's international football, and is administered by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association of UEFA.
The Finland national football team represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body for football in Finland, which was founded in 1907. The team has been a member of FIFA since 1908 and a UEFA member since 1957.
The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, was the 13th Olympic Championship. The Soviet Union won its fifth gold medal. Games were held at the Olympiahalle Innsbruck.
The Bermuda Bowl is a biennial contract bridge world championship for national teams. It is contested every odd-numbered year under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), alongside the Venice Cup (women), the d'Orsi Senior Bowl and the Wuhan Cup (mixed). Entries formally represent WBF zones as well as nations, so it is also known as the World Zonal Open Team Championship. It is the oldest event that confers the title of world champion in bridge, and was first contested in 1950. The Bermuda Bowl trophy is awarded to the winning team, and is named for the site of the inaugural tournament, the Atlantic archipelago of Bermuda.
The Andorra national rugby union team, nicknamed Els Isards represent the Andorran Rugby Federation (FAR) in international rugby union competitions. They play most of their home games in Andorra la Vella, the country's capital, though have had some matches in Foix, which is in France.
The Luxembourg national rugby union team is a minor team, and is ranked as a third tier nation. The team participates in the annual Rugby Europe Championship Conference 2 North 2017–18 Rugby Europe Conference. Since 1996 Luxembourg also competes in the sevens circuits in Europe Luxembourg national rugby sevens team.
The Portugal national rugby union team, nicknamed Os Lobos, represents Portugal in men's international rugby union competitions. The team, as well as all rugby union in Portugal, is administered by the Federação Portuguesa de Rugby.
The Moldova national rugby union team, nicknamed Haiducii, are a Rugby Europe national team that play in the Conference 2 North competition and are administered by the Moldovan Rugby Federation. They are yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.
The Croatia national rugby union team is governed by the Croatian Rugby Union. Croatia have been playing internationals rugby since 1992, they have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup. The national side is ranked 46th in the world
The Denmark national rugby union team is governed by Danish Rugby Union and has been playing international rugby since 1949.
The Bulgaria national rugby union team is governed by the Bulgarian Rugby Federation, and has yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.
The Switzerland national rugby union team represents Switzerland in men's international rugby union competitions. Nicknamed The White Flowers (Edelweiss), is considered one of the stronger tier 3 teams in European rugby and currently compete in the second division of the Rugby Europe International Championships in the Rugby Europe Trophy, a competition which is just below the Rugby Europe Championship where the top 6 countries in Europe compete. They are yet to participate in any Rugby World Cup and often play in all red while their alternative kit is all white.
The Serbia national rugby union team is classified as a tier three nation by World Rugby, and has yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup. They have played over 100 internationals.
The Cyprus national rugby union team is nicknamed ‘’The Mighty Mouflons’’ after a kind of horned sheep which is also the republic's national animal. They have won 28 of their 30 games and hold the world record for the most consecutive international rugby union wins with 24, which was ended on 15 November 2014 as they lost to Latvia. They were controversially disqualified from the knock-out phase of the 2015 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers, as they did not meet the necessary membership criteria according to the International Rugby Board.
The Moldovan Rugby Federation (FRM) (Romanian: Federația de Rugby din Moldova) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Moldova. It was found in 1967 and became affiliated to Rugby Europe and World Rugby (Then known as the International Rugby Board) in 1992 and 1994 respectively.
Rugby Europe is the administrative body for rugby union in Europe. It was formed in 1999 to promote, develop, organise, and administer the game of rugby in Europe under the authority of World Rugby. However, it is not responsible for the organisation of the Six Nations Championship or the competitions run by European Professional Club Rugby.
Rugby union in Montenegro is a minor but growing sport. The game has only recently been developed in the country since its independence in 2006. The governing body is the Montenegrin Rugby Union which was accepted as a member of Rugby Europe at the 2014 convention held in Split, Croatia. It is not yet affiliated with World Rugby but is applying for membership.
The Albania men's national volleyball team is the national volleyball team of Albania. As of December 2021, the team is ranked 78th in the world. They have competed in many European and world volleyball championships, but as of October 16, 2021, are yet to win a gold medal.
The EuroBasket 2025 qualification is a basketball competition that is being played from November 2021 to February 2025, to determine the 20 FIBA Europe member nations who will join the automatically qualified co-hosts Latvia, Cyprus, Finland and Poland at the EuroBasket 2025 finals tournament.