Croatia Rugby Team

	Croatia
	Rugby 15
Federation	Croatian Rugby Union
Trainer	Milan Jelavić
Captain	Tonchi Buzov
Main; the form	Reserve; the form
	The first game; Croatia 35: 3 Slovenia; (November 7, 1992)
	Biggest win; Croatia 78: 3 Hungary; (May 22, 1993)
	Biggest defeat; Croatia 6: 126 France 2; (June 19, 1993)

The Croatian rugby team represents Croatia in top-level international rugby competitions-15 . The team, acting since 1992, is led by the Croatian Rugby Union. In the 2012/14 season, Croats are playing in Division 2A of the European Cup of Nations .

Content

History

On November 7, 1992, the team beat Slovenia (35: 3), and on November 28, Bosnia and Herzegovina (47: 3). The following year, the team won over Austria and Hungary . This was followed by a game with Italians , in which the Balkans lost significantly (11:76). The season ended with a victory over Morocco and a loss in the match with Spain .

The following year, the Croats won three out of five games. The team lost to Ukraine and Luxembourg , but was able to take revenge from the rugby players of the dwarf state in 1995. In 1996-1997, the Yugoslavs won a number of victories, including over Israel , Norway , Bulgaria , Latvia and Moldova . Croats lost to experienced Georgian rugby players with a score of 15:29. From 1997 to 2000, the team won ten times in eleven meetings, losing only to the Netherlands .

In 2001-2002, the Croats won five meetings in a row. The team started the qualifying tournament for the 2007 World Cup in the third round, but was knocked out of the fight by the Latvians and Andorrans . As of March 7, 2013 the team takes 45th place in the world ranking of the International Rugby Council ^[1] .

Famous Players

The national team is represented, including rugby players from Australia , New Zealand and South Africa , with Croatian roots. The first New Zealand national to play for the Croatian national team in 1995 was Brandon Winslow . Anthony Pose played for the team in 1996-2003. At the club level, Posa was represented by the Scottish club Glasgow Hutchesons Aloisians and the English Beverly team. Frano Botica , player of the first team of New Zealand , has experience in playing for the Balkan team. Similarly, Matthew Cooper’s international career took shape who performed around the same years as Botica. The father of England player Dan Lager - Darko Lager - is of Croatian origin. Former New Zealander captain Sean Fitzpatrick has some connection with the Croatian community .

Results

As of March 7, 2013 ^[2] .

Rival	Matches	Victory	Defeat	Draw	Win rate
Austria	four	four	0	0	100%
Andorra	four	3	one	0	75%
Belgium	four	2	2	0	70%
Bulgaria	one	one	0	0	100%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	3	3	0	0	100%
Hungary	four	four	0	0	100%
Germany	four	2	one	one	50%
Georgia	one	0	one	0	0%
Denmark	five	four	0	one	80%
Israel	one	one	0	0	100%
Spain	2	0	one	one	0%
Italy	one	0	one	0	0%
Latvia	7	five	2	0	71%
Lithuania	2	0	2	0	0%
Luxembourg	2	one	one	0	50%
Malta	7	five	2	0	71%
Morocco	one	one	0	0	100%
Moldova	one	one	0	0	100%
Netherlands	3	one	2	0	33%
Norway	one	one	0	0	100%
Poland	2	0	2	0	0%
Russia	2	one	0	one	50%
Serbia	one	one	0	0	100%
Slovenia	6	five	one	0	83%
Ukraine	four	one	3	0	25%
Czech	3	one	2	0	33%
Switzerland	four	one	3	0	25%
Sweden	four	one	3	0	25%
Total	84	50	thirty	four	60%

Notes

↑ International Rugby Board - World Rankings: Full world rankings (unopened) (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment March 12, 2013. Archived March 24, 2013.
↑ RugbyData.com - International Rugby Union Statistics - Statistics for Croatia - Head to Head Table (neopr.) . Date of treatment March 12, 2013. Archived on April 7, 2013.

Links

Official site of the Croatian Rugby Union
Croatia on RugbyData.com

[1] International Rugby Board - World Rankings: Full world rankings (unopened) (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment March 12, 2013. Archived March 24, 2013.

[2] RugbyData.com - International Rugby Union Statistics - Statistics for Croatia - Head to Head Table (neopr.) . Date of treatment March 12, 2013. Archived on April 7, 2013.