Finland national rugby union team
 | |||
| 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]
History
[edit]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.
Record
[edit]Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Finland national XV at test level up until 19 October 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 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 30% |
| 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 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 42.11% |
 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 | 89 | 30 | 58 | 1 | 33.71% |
Current squad
[edit]Current line-up for the 2023-24 Rugby Europe Conference.
- Coach: Alastair Davies
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 | 21 | 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 |
References
[edit]- ^ "World Rugby Men's Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
External links
[edit]- [1] Archived 24 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine on RugbyEurope.eu
- [2] Rugby Finland
- Finland Archived 15 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine on RugbyData.com
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