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Finland national rugby union team

Finland
UnionSuomen Rugbyliitto
Head coachAlastair Davies
CaptainThomas Finell
First colours
Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current86 (as of 23 November 2020)
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 has thus far not played in a Rugby World Cup, but has participated in qualifying tournaments. Finland also compete in the Rugby Europe Conference, playing in 2 North.

The national side are ranked 88th in the world (as of 30 November 2019).[1]

History

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.

Finland are currently 99th out of 102 places in the World Rugby Rankings with a score of 28.71.

Record

Against Played Won Lost Drawn Win percentage
Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 1 0 1 50%
Bulgaria 8 1 7 0 12.5%
Cyprus 2 0 2 0 0%
Denmark 2 0 2 0 0%
Estonia 3 3 0 0 100%
Greece 6 3 3 0 50%
Israel 5 1 4 0 20%
Luxembourg 6 1 5 0 16.66%
Monaco 1 0 1 0 0%
Norway 8 1 7 0 12.5%
Slovenia 1 0 1 0 0%
Sweden 2 0 2 0 0%
Switzerland 1 0 1 0 0%
Total 45 9 35 1 20%

Current squad

  • This was the list of players called to represent Finland in the 2018–19 Rugby Europe Conference 2
Player Position Club
Anthony Martinez Hooker Finland Warriors RC
Ossi Aro Hooker England Dartfordians RFC
Juha Rainvuori Prop Finland Warriors RC
Mauno Konttila Prop Finland Jyväskylä R.F.C.
Chris Denholm Prop Finland Helsinki RC
Tapio Lahtinen Prop Finland Jyväskylä R.F.C.
Niccolò Silini Lock Italy CUS Milano Rugby
Aaro Katainen Lock Finland Jyväskylä R.F.C.
Shane Breen Lock Finland Shamrocks Rugby Club
Aleksi Almenoksa Lock Finland Turku R.F.C.
Herkko Raivonen Lock Finland Jyväskylä R.F.C.
Kosti Eskola Loose forward Finland Warriors RC
Iikka Ahlfors Loose forward Finland Warriors RC
Wertti Bask Loose forward Finland Helsinki RC
Matti Keränen Loose forward Finland Jyväskylä R.F.C.
Crispin Mäenpää Scrum-half Belgium Brussels Celtic RFC
Jarno Suoja Scrum-half Finland Linna R.F.C.
Thomas Finnell Fly-half Finland Warriors RC
Liam Cleary Fly-half unattached
Panu Leinonen Fly-half Finland Helsinki RC
Dario Forneris Fly-half Finland Helsinki RC
Jussi Viljanen Centre Finland Kuopio Rugby Club
Curtis Pollard Centre Finland Shamrocks Rugby Club
Joonas Koskelainen Centre Finland Linna Rugby Club
Joonas Bask Wing Finland Helsinki RC
Samu-Petteri Pääkkö Wing Finland Shamrocks Rugby Club
Philip Sleath Fullback Finland Tampere R.F.C.
  • Coach: Alastair Davies
  • Assistant Coach: David O'Connor
  • Physio: Riikka Nortia
  • Team Manager: Samuel Kuutti

References

External links

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