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List of international rugby union teams

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The following is a list of international rugby union teams:

National teams – band classification

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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 details of tiers and bands are in the next sections of this article.[1]

Rugby union national teams

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High Performance

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Tier 1

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Tier 2

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Developmental

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Development One

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Developmental — by region

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European countries
North & South American countries
African countries
Asian countries
Oceanian countries
  • Note: World Rugby associates in italics.

Other teams

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Not affiliated to World Rugby

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Rugby Africa teams
Asia Rugby teams
Rugby Europe teams
Rugby Americas North teams
Oceania Rugby teams

‡ Associate member of Oceania Rugby

Sudamerica Rugby teams
Teams with affiliation suspended or without affiliation

Multinational teams

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  • East Africa (est. 1950) — conducted seven tours between 1954 and 1982; played against incoming international, representative, and club touring sides, including twice against the British Lions, and also against the Barbarians. Perhaps the only example of representative (as opposed to invitational) multinational teams playing against each other:
  • The African Leopards — a development side drawn from across Africa; have played representative rugby union against South African students.
  • The West Indies side — the Caribbean Rugby Union first toured England in 1976 (managed by Gavin Clark); their last tour was also to England in October–November 2000.

Defunct national sides

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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. Catalonia's side ended due to the Spanish Civil War and Franco's crackdown. East and West Germany's sides merged into a single German side upon reunification.

TeamNotes
Arabian Gulf*Dissolved by end of 2010; replaced by separate unions and national teams
 Catalonia
Commonwealth of Independent States CIS*
 Czechoslovakia
 East Africa*Combination of Kenya, Tanzania/Tanganyika, and Uganda. Has not played since 1982; 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

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Defunct women's national sides

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Notes and references

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  1. ↑ "IRB announces increased funding for the game" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 25 January 2008. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
  2. ↑ After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, World Rugby and Rugby Europe suspended Russia from international and European continental rugby union competition.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rugby Americas North Member
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sudamérica Rugby Member
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