List of international rugby union teams

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The following is a list of international rugby union teams:

Contents

[edit] Multinational teams

[edit] 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.

[edit] Invitation sides

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

[edit] 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 "Tier1.5" nations are:

  • One geographically isolated emerging power:

"Tier 2" included the following:

  • Flag of Canada Canada ("The Canucks")
  • Flag of Fiji Fiji (often called "The Flying Fijians")
  • Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia (nicknamed Lelos)
  • Flag of Japan Japan (nicknamed "The Cherry Blossoms" and more recently "Brave Blossoms")
  • Flag of Romania Romania ("The Oaks")
  • Flag of Samoa Samoa (also known as Manu Samoa)
  • Flag of Tonga Tonga (nicknamed ʻIkale Tahi)
  • Flag of the United States USA ("The Eagles")

The remaining unions were all classified in "Tier 3":

[edit] 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:[1]

[edit] High Performance

  • All nations previously in Tiers 1 and 2, except for Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia

[edit] 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:

[edit] Targeted

Again, the IRB did not release a list of unions in this category, but named several as being in this band:

[edit] Developmental

This is the location for all remaining unions.

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ International Rugby Board (2008-01-25). "IRB announces increased funding for the game". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.