Israel national rugby union team
 | ||
| Union | Israel Rugby Union | |
|---|---|---|
| Coach(es) |  Penn Raanan | |
| ||
| First international | ||
 Switzerland 9 - 9 Israel (May 25, 1981) | ||
| Largest win | ||
 Finland 8 - 70 Israel (May 2, 2009) | ||
| Worst defeat | ||
 Netherlands 56 - 0 Israel (November 3, 1993) | ||
The Israel national rugby union team (Hebrew: נבחרת ישראל בראגבי) represents Israel at a national level in international rugby union competitions. The team is governed by the Israel Rugby Union, which oversees all rugby union in Israel. As of January 31st, 2011, Israel is ranked 71st in the IRB World Rankings.
Their home ground is at the Wingate Institute in Netanya, Central District, known for its large number of immigrants from English-speaking countries.
History
The sport was brought to the country by British soldiers during the Mandate era, but petered out after the British left. A wave of immigration from English speaking countries since 1967 has seen renewed interest in the sport, particularly in areas with large English-speaking populations such as Ra'anana and Jerusalem.
A national league was set up in 1972, and the Israel Rugby Union formed in 1975. Israel's first international match was away to Switzerland on 25 May, 1981, and ended 9-9. The Union joined the International Rugby Board in 1988, and participated in the European section of the qualifying rounds for the 1991 Rugby World Cup. In a group with Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland, Israel lost all three matches, but were by no means humiliated.
In the qualifying matches for the 1995 World Cup, Israel thrashed Hungary 67-8 in the preliminary round, before being knocked out in the Round 1 group stage, failing to score a point in two of their three games.
The qualifying matches for the 1999 Rugby World Cup followed the established pattern, with Israel being knocked out in the group stage, though they avoided finishing bottom of their five-team group by beating Austria. The same happened in the 2003 WC qualifiers, where they finished fourth in a six team group. In the 2007 WC qualifiers they did not even make it to the group stage, being thrashed 113-7 on aggregate (0-53, 60-7) by Lithuania.
Israel has also entered the Rugby World Cup Sevens.
Since 2005 Israel has been a participant in the European women's 7's championship. On their first tournament the national team finished in a respectable 9 place (bowl winners), with wins over Malta and Austria. In the 2006 championship Israel won the 5th place (plate winners) with wins over Bosnia, Luxemburg, Hungary and finally Malta. In the 2007 tournament, a fresh team that featured many young players. After winning again Luxembourg, Latvia and Hungary, They lost in the plate final to Denmark. 2008 was a highlight year for the women's 7's-a-side team. They played in the qualying tournamet in Bonsnia and finished 3rd, losing only to Romania (eventual tournament champion) and Finland (2nd place). The team recorded wins over Croatia, Georgia, Serbia, Austria and a thirlling 3rd place win over Bulgaria (7-5). They qualified for the European championship (which doubled as a world cup qualifier) and there managed to score one win, a last grasp win over the Czech Republic.
Israel won Slovenia by 26-19 at 11 May 2009, but lost to Lithuania by 3-19 at 23 May 2009, ending their campaign for the 2011 Rugby World Cup qualifyings. These where the first ever games of Israel to be televised.
World Cup record
Maccabiah Games
Israel is unique amongst the Maccabiah Games teams for two reason, firstly it is the only true national team competing, and secondly, non-Jews who are Israeli citizens can qualify for it.
Record
Team Squads
2009
Match records
1981
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
2009
Group B games -
| July 12, 2009 18:00 | Chile  | 5 - 89 | Israel | Wingate Institute, Netanya Referee: Attendance: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 16, 2009 19:00 | Israel | 39 - 5 |  Canada | Wingate Institute, Netanya Referee: Attendance: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Finals:
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||
| 19 July - Wingate Institute | |||||||
 United Kingdom | 16 | ||||||
 United States | 3 | ||||||
| 22 July - Herzalia Municipal Stadium | |||||||
| United Kingdom | 16 | ||||||
 Australia | 19 | ||||||
| Third place | |||||||
| 19 July - Wingate Institute | |||||||
| Israel | 19 | United States | 43 | ||||
| Australia | 41 | Israel | 3 | ||||
Nathan Amos ran the pitch
See also
Maccabiah rugby teams
References
- THE 15th MACCABIAH 1997 on Maccabiah.com, retrieved 25th August, 2009
External links
Official
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_national_rugby_union_team
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