List of international rugby union teams

The following is a list of international rugby union teams:

National teams – band classification

Starting in 2008, in addition to the existing tier system, the IRB introduced a four-band system of classification in which unions are classified based on "their development status and record on the international stage". The new structure is:^[1]

High performance

All countries previously in Tiers 1 and 2.

•  Argentina
•  Australia
•  Canada
•  England
•  Fiji
•  France
•  Georgia
•  Ireland
•  Italy
•  Japan
•  Namibia
•  New Zealand
•  Romania
•  Russia
•  Samoa
•  Scotland
•  South Africa
•  Tonga
•  United States
•  Uruguay
•  Wales

Development One

These are countries earmarked for increased developmental funding and include:

•  Chile
•  Hong Kong
•  Kenya
•  Portugal
•  Spain
•  Zimbabwe

Targeted

The IRB did not release a list of unions in this category, but named several as World Cup hopefuls being in this band:

•  Belgium
•  Brazil
•  Germany
•  Ivory Coast
•  Malaysia
•  Netherlands
•  Paraguay
•  Poland
•  South Korea
•  Sri Lanka
•  Philippines

Developmental

European countries	North-South American countries	African countries	Asian countries	Oceanian countries
Andorra  Austria  Azerbaijan  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Bulgaria  Croatia  Cyprus  Czech Republic  Denmark  Finland  Greece  Hungary  Israel  Latvia  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Malta  Moldova  Monaco  Norway  Serbia  Slovakia  Slovenia  Sweden   Switzerland  Turkey  Ukraine	Bahamas[2]  Barbados[2]  Bermuda[2]  British Virgin Islands[2]  Cayman Islands[2]  Colombia[3]  Costa Rica[3]  Guatemala[3]  Guyana[2]  Jamaica[2]  Mexico  Panama[3]  Peru[3]  Saint Lucia[2]  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines[2]  Trinidad and Tobago[2]  Venezuela[3]	Algeria  Botswana  Burundi  Burkina Faso  Cameroon  DR Congo  Egypt  Eswatini  Ghana  Lesotho  Madagascar  Mali  Mauritius  Morocco  Nigeria  Rwanda  Senegal  Tanzania  Togo  Tunisia  Uganda  Zambia	Brunei  China  Chinese Taipei  Guam  India  Indonesia  Iran  Jordan  Kazakhstan  Kyrgyzstan  Laos  Lebanon  Mongolia    Nepal  Pakistan  Philippines  Qatar  Singapore  Syria  Thailand  United Arab Emirates  Uzbekistan	American Samoa  Cook Islands  Niue  Papua New Guinea  Solomon Islands  Vanuatu

World Rugby associates in italics

Other teams

Rugby Africa teams not affiliated to World Rugby

•  Benin
•  Central African Republic
•  Chad
•  Congo
•  DR Congo
•  Egypt
•  Gabon
•  Guinea
•  Malawi
•  Mozambique
•  Niger
•  Seychelles
•  Sierra Leone

Asia Rugby teams not affiliated to World Rugby

•  Afghanistan
•  Bangladesh
•  Iraq
•  Macau
•  Oman
•  Palestine
•  Saudi Arabia

Rugby Europe teams not affiliated to World Rugby

•  Belarus
•  Estonia
•  Iceland
•  Kosovo
•  Liechtenstein
•  Montenegro
•  San Marino

Rugby Americas North teams not affiliated to World Rugby

•  Belize
•  Curaçao
•  Dominican Republic
•  French Guiana
•  Guadeloupe
•  Martinique
•  Turks and Caicos Islands

Oceania Rugby teams not affiliated to World Rugby

•  Nauru
•  New Caledonia
•  Tahiti (associate member of Oceania Rugby)
•  Tuvalu
•  Wallis and Futuna (associate member of Oceania Rugby)

Sudamerica Rugby teams not affiliated to World Rugby

•  Bolivia
•  Ecuador
•  El Salvador
•  Honduras
•  Nicaragua

Teams with affiliation suspended or without affiliation

•  Armenia
•  Cambodia
•  Comoros
•  Gibraltar
•  Mauritania
•  Saint Kitts and Nevis
•  Sudan
•  Tokelau

Multinational teams

• The British and Irish Lions.
  •  England
  •  Ireland
  •  Scotland
  •  Wales
• Established in 1950, East Africa conducted seven tours between 1954 and 1982 and played against incoming international, representative and club touring sides including twice against the British Lions; perhaps the only example of representative (as opposed to invitational) multinational teams playing against each other. They also played against the Barbarians.
  •  Kenya
  •  Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika)
  •  Uganda
• A similar development in 2004 has been the Pacific Islanders team.
  •  Fiji
  •  Samoa
  •  Tonga
• The South American Jaguars were a combination team who played South Africa during the early 1980s.
  •  Argentina
  •  Chile
  •  Uruguay
• The African Leopards are a development side drawn from across Africa, they have played representative rugby union against South African students.
• The Arabian Gulf rugby union team combined various teams from Arab countries in the Persian Gulf and competed in World Cup qualification. The Arabian Gulf Rugby Union has now been dismantled and responsibility for the game devolved to each of the member nations, although the team may be revived in the future.

•  Bahrain
•  Egypt
•  Jordan
•  Kuwait
•  Lebanon
•  Oman
•  Qatar
•  Saudi Arabia
•  United Arab Emirates

• There was also a West Indies side, which first toured when the Caribbean Rugby Union sent a team (managed by Gavin Clark) to tour England in 1976. Their last tour was also to England in October and November 2000.
• The Commonwealth of Independent States played during the early 1990s.

•  Armenia
•  Azerbaijan
•  Belarus
•  Kazakhstan
•  Kyrgyzstan
•  Moldova
•  Russia
•  Tajikistan
•  Turkmenistan
•  Uzbekistan
•  Ukraine

Defunct national sides

Various national sides have ceased to exist for political reasons. In the case of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, there is more than one successor team. In the case of Catalonia, the Spanish Civil War and Franco's crackdown put an end to it, and in the case of East and West Germany, reunification led to their amalgamation into a single German side.

• Arabian Gulf* – dissolved by the end of 2010 and replaced by separate unions and national teams
•  Catalonia
• CIS*
•  Czechoslovakia
•  East Africa* – a combination of Kenya, Tanzania/Tanganyika and Uganda. It has not played since 1982 but the Rugby Football Union of East Africa (RFUEA) still exists and there have been recent talks to resurrect the team
•  East Germany
•  Soviet Union
•  Yugoslavia

* For more information on these teams see above.

Women's rugby

Main article: Women's international rugby union

•  Australia
•  Austria
•  Bahamas
•  Barbados
•  Belgium
•  Bosnia and Herzegovina
•  Botswana
•  Brazil
•  Burkina Faso
•  Cameroon
•  Canada
•  Cayman Islands
•  China
•  Colombia
•  Czech Republic
•  Denmark
•  England
•  Fiji
•  Finland
•  France
•  Germany
•  Guyana
•  Hong Kong
•  India
•  Ireland
•  Italy
•  Ivory Coast
•  Jamaica
•  Japan
•  Kenya
•  Kazakhstan
•  Kyrgyzstan
•  Luxembourg
•  Madagascar
•  Malaysia
•  Namibia
•  Netherlands
•  New Zealand
•  Norway
•  Papua New Guinea
•  Philippines
•  Portugal
•  Romania
•  Russia
•  Rwanda
•  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
•  Samoa
•  Scotland
•  Senegal
•  Serbia
•  Singapore
•  South Africa
•  Spain
•  Sweden
•   Switzerland
•  Thailand
•  Tonga
•  Trinidad and Tobago
•  Tunisia
•  Turkey
•  Uganda
•  United States
•  Uzbekistan
•  Wales
•  Zambia
•  Zimbabwe

Defunct women's national sides

•  Catalonia
•  Great Britain
•  Soviet Union

Invitation sides

• Nomads

Notes and references

1. "IRB announces increased funding for the game" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 25 January 2008. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
2. Rugby Americas North Member
3. Sudamérica Rugby Member