Finland national rugby union team
The Finland national rugby union team represents Finland in men's international rugby union. The team is currently competing in the 2021/22 Rugby Europe Conference 2 North Division.[1]
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| Union | Suomen Rugbyliitto | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Alastair Davies | ||
| Captain | Jussi Viljanen | ||
| |||
| World Rugby ranking | |||
| Current | 71 (as of 24 April 2023) | ||
| Highest | 71 (24 April 2023) | ||
| Lowest | 82 (19 May 2022) | ||
| First international | |||
Finland 0 – 60 Switzerland .svg.png.webp){kind=small} (1982-05-22) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Finland 55 – 5 Estonia  (2010-10-02) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Denmark 100 – 0 Finland (1987-10-10) | |||
The national side are ranked 71st in the world, as of 24 April 2023.[2]
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.
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
Starting line-up for the 2023-24 Rugby Europe Conference match against Denmark.
- 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 | 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 | 3 | 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 | ?? | 0 | Helsinki RC | |
| Olli Räsänen | ?? | Jyväskylä R.F.C./Tampere R.F.C. | ||
| Olli Palosuo | ?? | 0 | Helsinki RC | |
| Juho Kiljain | ?? | 3 | Jyväskylä R.F.C. | |
| Jedidiah Patton | ?? | 1 | Turku Eagles | |
| James Edwards | ?? | 0 | Tampere R.F.C. | |
| Timo McIntyre | ?? | 0 | Tampere R.F.C. | |
| Jack Crabtree | ?? | 1 | Warriors RC |
References
- "Conference 2 North". Rugby Europe. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
- "World Rugby Men's Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
External links
- on RugbyEurope.eu
- Rugby Finland
- Finland Archived 15 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine on RugbyData.com
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