Bulgaria national rugby union team

Summary

The Bulgaria national rugby union team is governed by the Bulgarian Rugby Federation, and has yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.

Bulgaria
Shirt badge/Association crest
UnionBulgarian Rugby Federation
Head coachRomain Balmisse (FRA)
CaptainPetar Nikolov
First colours
World Rugby ranking
Current59 (as of 16 January 2023)
Lowest66 (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]

History edit

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 edit

World Cup record
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 - - - - - -

Recent Squad edit

Previous squad edit

Squad to 2019 European Nations Cup - Division 2D.[2]

See also edit

External links edit

  • RugbyBulgaria.com Сайтът за Ръгби в България
  • Bulgaria national rugby union team Archived 2016-02-20 at the Wayback Machine Fixtures and Results
  • Bulgaria on "World Rugby"
  • Bulgaria Archived 2016-08-17 at the Wayback Machine on RugbyData.com
  • Murphy's Misfits Archived 2011-08-22 at the Wayback Machine Social Rugby in Bulgaria
  • Barbarians Sofia Barbarians Sofia Rugby Club

References edit

  1. ^ "Men's Rankings | World Rugby". Archived from the original on 2019-08-18. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  2. ^ "Official RWC 2015 Site". Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2014-04-15.