List of international rugby union teams
The following is a list of international rugby union teams:
National teams – band classification
Starting in 2008, in addition to the existing tier system, the IRB introduced a four-band system of classification in which unions are classified based on "their development status and record on the international stage". The new structure is:[1]
High performance
All countries previously in Tiers 1 and 2.
Development One
These are countries earmarked for increased developmental funding and include
Targeted
The IRB did not release a list of unions in this category, but named several as being in this band:
Developmental
Other teams
Benin
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo
DR Congo
Egypt
Gabon
Guinea
Libya
Malawi
Mozambique
Niger
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Asia Rugby teams not affiliated to World Rugby
Rugby Europe teams not affiliated to World Rugby
Rugby Americas North teams not affiliated to World Rugby
Oceania Rugby teams not affiliated to World Rugby
Sudamerica Rugby teams not affiliated to World Rugby
Teams with affiliation suspended or without affiliation
Multinational teams
- The British and Irish Lions.
- Established in 1950, East Africa conducted seven tours between 1954 and 1982 and played against incoming international, representative and club touring sides including twice against the British Lions; perhaps the only example of representative (as opposed to invitational) multinational teams playing against each other. They also played against the Barbarians.
Kenya
Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika)
Uganda
- A similar development in 2004 has been the Pacific Islanders team.
- The South American Jaguars were a combination team who played South Africa during the early 1980s.
- The African Leopards are a development side drawn from across Africa, they have played representative rugby union against South African students.
- The Arabian Gulf rugby union team combined various teams from Arab countries in the Persian Gulf and competed in World Cup qualification. The Arabian Gulf Rugby Union has now been dismantled and responsibility for the game devolved to each of the member nations, although the team may be revived in the future.
- There was also a West Indies side, which first toured when the Caribbean Rugby Union sent a team (managed by Gavin Clark) to tour England in 1976. Their last tour was also to England in October and November 2000.
- The Commonwealth of Independent States played during the early 1990s.
Defunct national sides
Various national sides have ceased to exist for political reasons. In the case of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, there is more than one successor team. In the case of Catalonia, the Spanish Civil War and Franco's crackdown put an end to it, and in the case of East and West Germany, reunification led to their amalgamation into a single German side.
- Arabian Gulf* – dissolved by the end of 2010 and replaced by separate unions and national teams
Catalonia
CIS*
Czechoslovakia
East Africa* – a combination of Kenya, Tanzania/Tanganyika and Uganda. It has not played since 1982 but the Rugby Football Union of East Africa (RFUEA) still exists and there have been recent talks to resurrect the team
East Germany
Soviet Union
Yugoslavia
* For more information on these teams see above.
Women's rugby
Australia
Austria
Barbados
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Canada
Cayman Islands
China
Colombia
Czech Republic
Denmark
England
Fiji
Finland
France
Germany
Guyana
Hong Kong
Ireland
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Luxembourg
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
Scotland
Serbia
Singapore
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Thailand
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey
Uganda
United States
Uzbekistan
Wales
Zambia
Zimbabwe