Coach(es) Irmantas Kukulskis Location Lithuania | Captain(s) Mindaugas Misevičius | |
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Most caps Mindaugas Misevičius, Laurynas Tipelis (45) Top scorer Kęstutis Marcišaukas (272) Union Lithuanian Rugby Federation | ||
The Lithuania national rugby union team represents Lithuania at rugby union. They are governed by the Lithuanian Rugby Federation (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Regbio Federacija), and have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.
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History
Rugby was introduced into Lithuania in 1961. However, as the country was a part of USSR a national team could not be formed. The only games played before 1993 were friendlies with Latvia and a representative team from Kaliningrad.
After the reestablishment of independence in 1990 Lithuania's rugby authorities worked to gain international recognition and by 1993 the national team was participating in the qualifying for the 1995 Rugby World Cup. It also joined the 1992-1994 FIRA Trophy competition at the bottom of the pyramid but failed to win any of the games. The first official victory was in 1996 over Luxembourg during the qualifying competition for the 1999 World Cup. Overall, the 1990s were a poor decade for the national team.
Until 2006 Lithuania was lingering in the middle of the European Nations Cup Third Division. However, a 100 percent record in their 2006-2008 European Nations Cup Third Division campaign earned them promotion from Division 3B to Division 3A. This effort was followed by a perfect record in the 2008-2010 European Nations Cup Third Division and a further promotion to Division 2A. Moreover, victories over Israel and the Netherlands to advance to the semifinal round of European qualification for a spot in the 2011 Rugby World Cup Final Place Play-off. The rise in form of the national has resulted in an increase in the popularity of the sport in Lithuania.
During their 2008–10 European Nations Cup campaign, Lithuania was credited with setting a new record for consecutive Test wins in men's rugby. Their 77–5 away win over Serbia on April 24, 2010 was listed as their 18th straight, surpassing the previous record set by New Zealand in 1965–69 and by South Africa in 1997–98. This undefeated campaign, which could have led to a Lithuanian presence at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, ended in the 27–16 loss on to Ukraine in the European qualifying semifinal. However, on later review, it was found that the first game in the 18-game sequence was in fact a loss, and as such are now credited with having held an equal record with South Africa and New Zealand (the record was broken by Cyprus in 2013).
Rugby World Cup record
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.