List of international rugby union teams

List of international rugby union teams

The following is a list of international rugby union teams:

Multinational teams

Combination sides

The British and Irish Lions are a separate case, being a combination of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

A similar development has been of a Pacific Islanders XV combining Fiji, Tonga, and Manu Samoa.

The South American Jaguars were a combination team consisting of players from Argentina, Uruguay and Chile who played the Springboks during the early 1980s.

The African Leopards are a development side drawn from across Africa, they have played representational rugby union against South African students.

In the aftermath of the 2005 tsunamii a Northern hemisphere side took on a Southern hemisphere side in the IRB Rugby Aid Match.

CIS also played during the early 1990s, comprising of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

World XV sides have also been fielded.

Invitation sides

There are some invitation sides, most famously the Barbarian Football Club, and its spawned New Zealand Barbarians and French Barbarians.

National teams

Prior to 2008, the sport's international governing body, the International Rugby Board, organised its member unions into "tiers".

The "Tier 1" nations were:
*The participants in the Northern Hemisphere Six Nations Championship:
**ru|WAL
**ru|ENG
**ru|FRA (nicknamed "Les Tricolores" or "Les Bleus")
**ru|IRE
**ru|ITA (nicknamed "Gli Azzurri")
**ru|SCO
*The participants in the Southern Hemisphere Tri Nations:
**ru|AUS ("Wallabies")
**ru|NZL ("All Blacks")
**ru|ZAF ("Springboks")The "Tier1.5" nations are:
*One geographically isolated emerging power:
**ru|ARG (nicknamed "Los Pumas")"Tier 2" included the following:
*ru|CAN ("The Canucks")
*ru|FJI (often called "The Flying Fijians")
*ru|GEO (nicknamed "Lelos")
*ru|JPN (nicknamed "The Cherry Blossoms" and more recently "Brave Blossoms")
*ru|ROU ("The Oaks")
*ru|SAM (also known as "Manu Samoa")
*ru|TGA (nicknamed "okinaIkale Tahi")
*ru|USA|name=USA ("The Eagles")

The remaining unions were all classified in "Tier 3":
*ru|Algeria
*ru|American Samoa
*ru|AND (nicknamed "Els Isards")
*ru|Arabian Gulf (nicknamed "Arugby")
*ru|ARM
*ru|AUT
*ru|AZE
*ru|BAH
*ru|BAR
*ru|BEL (nicknamed "Black Devils")
*ru|BEN
*ru|BER
*ru|BIH
*ru|BOT (nicknamed "Vultures")
*ru|BRA
*ru|British Virgin Islands
*ru|BUL
*ru|BUR
*ru|Burundi
*ru|Cambodia (nicknamed "Koupreys")
*ru|CMR
*ru|Cayman Islands
*ru|Chad
*ru|CHI (nicknamed "Los Cóndores")
*ru|CHN
*ru|Chinese Taipei
*ru|COL (nicknamed "Los Tucanes")
*ru|Cook Islands
*ru|CRC
*ru|CIV (nicknamed "Les elephants")
*ru|CRO
*ru|CZE
*ru|DEN
*ru|SLV
*ru|EST
*ru|FIN
*ru|GRE
*ru|GER
*ru|GHA
*ru|Guam
*ru|Guyana
*ru|HKG
*ru|HUN
*ru|IND
*ru|Indonesia
*ru|IRN
*ru|ISR
*ru|JAM
*ru|KAZ
*ru|KEN
*ru|KOR
*ru|Kyrgyzstan
*ru|Laos
*ru|LAT
*ru|LTU
*ru|LUX
*ru|MAD (nicknamed "Les Makis")
*ru|Malaysia
*ru|MLI
*ru|Malta
*ru|Mauritania
*ru|Mauritius
*ru|MEX (nicknamed "Serpientes")
*ru|MDA
*ru|MON
*ru|Mongolia
*ru|MAR
*ru|NAM (nicknamed "Welwitschias")
*ru|NED (nicknamed "Oranje")
*ru|Niger
*ru|NGA
*ru|Niue
*ru|NOR
*ru|PAK
*ru|PNG (nicknamed "Puk-Puks")
*ru|PAR (nicknamed "Los Yacares")
*ru|PER (nicknamed "Los Tumis")
*ru|PHI
*ru|POL
*ru|POR (nicknamed "Os Lobos")
*ru|QAT
*ru|RUS
*ru|Rwanda
*ru|SMR
*ru|SEN
*ru|SRB
*ru|SIN
*ru|SVK
*ru|SLO
*ru|Solomon Islands
*ru|ESP (nicknamed "Los Leones")
*ru|Sri Lanka
*ru|Saint Lucia
*ru|Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
*ru|Swaziland
*ru|SWE
*ru|SUI
*ru|TAH
*ru|TAN
*ru|Thailand
*ru|TOG
*ru|TUN
*ru|TRI
*ru|UGA (nicknamed "Cranes")
*ru|UKR
*ru|URU (nicknamed "Los Teros")
*ru|UZB
*ru|VAN
*ru|VEN (nicknamed "La Vinotinto")
*ru|ZAM
*ru|ZIM (nicknamed "Sables")

Post-2008 classification

Starting in 2008, the IRB switched to a four-band system, in which unions and, by extension, teams are classified based on "their development status and record on the international stage". The new structure is:cite press release|url=http://www.irb.com/newsmedia/mediazone/pressrelease/newsid=2021879.html#irb+announces+increased+funding+game |title=IRB announces increased funding for the game |publisher=International Rugby Board |date=2008-01-25 |accessdate=2008-01-30]

High Performance

* All nations previously in Tiers 1 and 2, except for ru|GEO

Performance

These are nations earmarked for increased developmental funding in order to facilitate future movement into the High Performance band. The IRB did not release a full list of such unions, but named the following as part of the Performance band:

*ru|GEO
*ru|NAM
*ru|PRT
*ru|RUS
*ru|ESP
*ru|URY

Targeted

Again, the IRB did not release a list of unions in this category, but named several as being in this band:
*ru|CHN
*ru|DEU
*ru|IND
*ru|MEX

Developmental

This is the location for all remaining unions.

External links

Notes and references


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