Finland national rugby union team
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.
| Union | Suomen Rugbyliitto | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Alastair Davies | ||
| Captain | Thomas Finell | ||
| |||
| World Rugby ranking | |||
| Current | 86 (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 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 | Warriors RC |
| Ossi Aro | Hooker |  Dartfordians RFC |
| Juha Rainvuori | Prop | Warriors RC |
| Mauno Konttila | Prop | Jyväskylä R.F.C. |
| Chris Denholm | Prop | Helsinki RC |
| Tapio Lahtinen | Prop | Jyväskylä R.F.C. |
| Niccolò Silini | Lock |  CUS Milano Rugby |
| Aaro Katainen | Lock | Jyväskylä R.F.C. |
| Shane Breen | Lock | Shamrocks Rugby Club |
| Aleksi Almenoksa | Lock | Turku R.F.C. |
| Herkko Raivonen | Lock | Jyväskylä R.F.C. |
| Kosti Eskola | Loose forward | Warriors RC |
| Iikka Ahlfors | Loose forward | Warriors RC |
| Wertti Bask | Loose forward | Helsinki RC |
| Matti Keränen | Loose forward | Jyväskylä R.F.C. |
| Crispin Mäenpää | Scrum-half | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Brussels Celtic RFC |
| Jarno Suoja | Scrum-half | Linna R.F.C. |
| Thomas Finnell | Fly-half | Warriors RC |
| Liam Cleary | Fly-half | unattached |
| Panu Leinonen | Fly-half | Helsinki RC |
| Dario Forneris | Fly-half | Helsinki RC |
| Jussi Viljanen | Centre | Kuopio Rugby Club |
| Curtis Pollard | Centre | Shamrocks Rugby Club |
| Joonas Koskelainen | Centre | Linna Rugby Club |
| Joonas Bask | Wing | Helsinki RC |
| Samu-Petteri Pääkkö | Wing | Shamrocks Rugby Club |
| Philip Sleath | Fullback | Tampere R.F.C. |
- Coach: Alastair Davies
- Assistant Coach: David O'Connor
- Physio: Riikka Nortia
- Team Manager: Samuel Kuutti
References
External links
- on RugbyEurope.eu
- Rugby Finland
- Finland on RugbyData.com
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