The Bulgaria national rugby union team is governed by the Bulgarian Rugby Federation, and has yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.
Union | Bulgarian Rugby Federation | |
---|---|---|
Head coach | Romain Balmisse (FRA) | |
Captain | Petar Nikolov | |
| ||
World Rugby ranking | ||
Current | 59 (as of 16 January 2023) | |
Lowest | 66 (4 April 2022) | |
First international | ||
Bulgaria 3 - 70 Romania (1963-5-20) | ||
Biggest win | ||
Bulgaria 71 - 7 Serbia (2019-10-12) | ||
Biggest defeat | ||
Bulgaria 0 - 100 Romania (1976-9-21) |
The national side is ranked 59th in the world (as of 16 January 2023).[1]
Bulgaria played their first rugby international in 1963, where they met Romania. They were defeated by the Romanians, 70-3. There was no qualifying tournament held for the first Rugby World Cup, and Bulgaria did not attempt to qualify for the tournament until the Welsh hosted the 1999 Rugby World Cup. They competed in Pool 2 of Round A, but did not advance to the next stage.
Bulgaria again tried to qualify for the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia, and competed in Pool B of Round 1. Although Bulgaria won one pool match, they did not advance to Round 2. For the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Bulgaria were able to advance past Round 1, and entered Pool D of Round 2. However, they were then knocked out of the qualifying tournament.
World Cup record | |||||||
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Year | Round | P | W | D | L | F | A |
1987 | Not invited | ||||||
1991 | Did not enter | ||||||
1995 | |||||||
1999 | Did not qualify | ||||||
2003 | |||||||
2007 | |||||||
2011 | |||||||
2015 | |||||||
2019 | |||||||
Total | 0/9 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Squad to 2019 European Nations Cup - Division 2D.[2]
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