Sweden national rugby union team
(Redirected from Sweden national rugby team)
| Shirt badge/Association crest | ||
| Union | Svenska Rugbyförbundet | |
|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Alex Laybourne | |
| Captain | Sami Paulsson | |
| Top scorer | Andreas Bruhn (18) | |
| ||
| World Rugby ranking | ||
| Current | 37 (as of November 2, 2022) | |
| First international | ||
 Sweden 6–0 Denmark  (23 October 1949) | ||
| Biggest win | ||
 Luxembourg 3–116 Sweden (5 May 2001) | ||
| Biggest defeat | ||
 Soviet Union 72–0 Sweden (1 July 1976) | ||
Rugby has been played in Sweden since 1933, the first full international being played in 1949 against Denmark. The country celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2008.
Sweden has been a member union of World Rugby since 1988 and is one of the 48 members of Rugby Europe.
Sweden won Rugby Europe Division 2 in 2012 and Conference 1 North in 2022, beating the Czech Republic in the final league game of the season at Stockholm's Stadion, in front of more than 1,500 spectators, promoting them to the Rugby Europe Trophy.
The national side is ranked 37th in the world (as of November 2, 2022).[2]
Current squad
This is the Sweden team that beat Croatia in Stockholm on October 29th, 2022:[3]
| Name | Club | Caps | Tries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Hannes Nylén | Enköpings RK
|
4 | |
| 14 Alex Melander | Norrköpings RK Trojan
|
10 | 8 |
| 13 Axel Kalling-Smith | RAMS RFC 
|
13 | 10 |
| 12 Philip Murphy | Watsonians FC 
|
14 | 4 |
| 11 Alfred Nordgren | Malmö RC
|
10 | 2 |
| 10 Tim Johansson | Enköpings RK
|
13 | 6 |
| 9 Jack Duffy | Monkstown FC 
|
12 | 2 |
| 1 Henrik Ek | Norrköpings RK Trojan
|
7 | |
| 2 Adam Christersson | Kalmar Södra IFR
|
14 | |
| 3 Pontus Assarsson | Barnes RFC
|
8 | 1 |
| 4 Arthur Marini | Paris Université Club 
|
14 | 2 |
| 5 Erik Sandberg | Stockholm Exiles RFC
|
1 | |
| 6 Theodor Karlsson | Stockholm Exiles RFC
|
8 | 3 |
| 7 Terry Vaa luta Fryxell | Stockholm Exiles RFC
|
4 | 1 |
| 8 Sami Paulsson | Norrköpings RK Trojan
|
16 | 5 |
| Samuel Ahlbäck | Malmö RC
|
10 | 1 |
| Mattieu Spens-Cossin | Norrköpings RK Trojan
|
5 | |
| Elias Granath | Newcastle University RFC
|
4 | |
| Casper Forsberg | Stockholm Exiles RFC
|
1 | |
| Carl Lindblom | Stockholm Exiles RFC
|
1 | |
| Ale Loman | Lugi Lions RFC
|
4 | |
| Christopher Nilserius | Norrköpings RK Trojan
|
8 | 1 |
| Philip Axelsson | Norrköpings RK Trojan
|
15 |
Leading Try Scorers
| Name | tries |
|---|---|
| Andreas Bruhn | 18 |
| Kari Tapper | 16 |
| Kanogo Njuru | 14 |
| Ian Gowland | 13 |
| Bobby Nave | 13 |
| Alan Letele | 12 |
| Johan Andersson | 11 |
| Axel Kalling-Smith | 10 |
| Thomas Arvidsson | 10 |
Rugby Europe Conference 1 North Champions 2021/22
2019 promoted side ↑ 2019 relegated side ↓ WR = World Ranking May 2022
| Conference 1 North | WR | Pl | W | D | L | B | F | A | DIFF | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden
|
38 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 154 | 81 | 71 | 19 |
 Czech Republic ↓
|
37 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 142 | 70 | 72 | 15 |
 Latvia ↑
|
63 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 74 | 109 | -35 | 5 |
| Luxembourg
|
61 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 56 | 145 | -89 | 4 |
 Hungary
|
64 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 61 | 90 | -29 | 2 |
Rugby Europe Trophy Fixtures and Results 2022/23
| DATE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Croatia
|
22 - 29 |  Ukraine
|
22/10/2022 |
| Sweden
|
37 - 17 | Croatia
|
29/10/2022 |
 Lithuania
|
v | Ukraine
|
05/11/2022 |
| Sweden
|
v |  Switzerland
|
05/11/2022 |
| Switzerland
|
v | Lithuania
|
12/11/2022 |
| Ukraine
|
v | Switzerland
|
12/03/2023 |
| Lithuania
|
v | Croatia
|
25/03/2023 |
| Ukraine
|
v | Sweden
|
25/03/2023 |
| Sweden
|
v | Lithuania
|
01/04/2023 |
| Croatia
|
v | Switzerland
|
01/04/2023 |
Current League Table 2022/23
2022 promoted sides ↑ WR = current World Ranking (Nov 2 2022)
As a result of Rugby Europe reorganisation the Trophy competition will be spread over 2 seasons, 22/23 and 23/24, before any promotion or relegation.
| Trophy | WR | Pl | W | D | L | B | F | A | DIFF | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden ↑
|
37 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 37 | 17 | +20 | 5 |
| Ukraine
|
35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 22 | +9 | 4 |
| Croatia ↑
|
47 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 39 | 66 | -27 | 1 |
| Lithuania
|
48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Switzerland
|
34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Results and Fixtures
The following is a list of test matches since 2018, as well as any future test matches that have been officially scheduled. [4]
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Competition | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 April 2018 | Lithuania
|
Kaunas, Lithuania | Rugby Europe Conference 1 North | L | 43 - 22 |
| 12 May 2018 | Latvia
|
Enköping, Sweden | Rugby Europe Conference 1 North | W | 50 - 27 |
| 20 October 2018 |  Moldova
|
Norrkōping, Sweden | Rugby Europe Conference 1 North | W | 80 - 6 |
| 3 November 2018 | Luxembourg
|
Luxembourg | Rugby Europe Conference 1 North | W | 9 - 10 |
| 11 May 2019 | Hungary
|
Norrkōping, Sweden | Rugby Europe Conference 1 North | W | 36 - 27 |
| 19 May 2019 | Ukraine
|
Odessa, Ukraine | Rugby Europe Conference 1 North | L | 14 - 23 |
| 26 October 2019 | Latvia
|
Jurmala, Latvia | International | W | 22 - 26 |
| 2 November 2019 | Luxembourg
|
Malmö, Sweden | International | L | 0 - 13 |
| 23 October 2021 | Luxembourg
|
Norrköping, Sweden | Rugby Europe Conference 1 North | W | 51 - 5 |
| 23 April 2022 | Latvia
|
Baldone, Latvia | Rugby Europe Conference 1 North | W | 25 - 46 |
| 7 May 2022 | Hungary
|
Budapest, Hungary | Rugby Europe Conference 1 North | W | 25 - 29 |
| 14 May 2022 | Czech Republic
|
Stockholm, Sweden | Rugby Europe Conference 1 North | W | 28 - 18 |
| October 29, 2022 | Croatia
|
Stockholm, Sweden | Rugby Europe Trophy | W | 37 - 17 |
| November 5, 2022 | Switzerland
|
Malmö, Sweden | Rugby Europe Trophy | ||
| March 25, 2023 | Ukraine
|
Poland | Rugby Europe Trophy | ||
| April 1, 2023 | Lithuania
|
Sweden | Rugby Europe Trophy |
Records of International Matches
A record of all international matches Sweden has played.
| Against | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | % Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Andorra |
5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 40% |
 Armenia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Austria |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Belgium |
12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 33.3% |
| Croatia |
5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 80% |
| Czech Republic |
7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 43% |
| Czechoslovakia |
8 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0% |
| Denmark |
49 | 36 | 10 | 3 | 73.5% |
 East Germany |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0% |
 Finland |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Gibraltar |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
 Germany |
4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25% |
| Hungary |
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Israel |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Latvia |
13 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 69% |
| Lithuania |
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 62.5% |
| Luxembourg |
7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 86% |
 Malta |
4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 33.3% |
| Moldova |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.66% |
 Netherlands |
19 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 5.3% |
 Norway |
7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Poland |
14 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 8% |
 Portugal |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
 Serbia and Montenegro |
5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 60% |
| Soviet Union |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
 Spain |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Switzerland |
6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Tunisia |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Ukraine |
6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0% |
| West Germany |
5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 40% |
| Total | 207 | 102 | 99 | 6 | 52.1% |
Honours
- 2012 Champions European Nations Cup Division 2
- 2022 Champions Rugby Europe Conference 1 North
References
External links
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