Ukraine national rugby union team

Ukraine

Union	National Rugby Federation of Ukraine
Coach(es)	Zurab Kikacheisvili
Team kit
First international
Georgia 19 - 15 Ukraine (1991-11-21)
Largest win
Austria 0 - 78 Ukraine  (1994-11-24)
Largest defeat
Romania 97 - 0 Ukraine  (2005-03-19)
Official website
www.rugby.org.ua

The Ukraine national rugby union team represents Ukraine at the sport of rugby union. Ukraine have been playing international rugby union since the early 1990s. So far they have not qualified for a Rugby World Cup. They participate in the European Nations Cup.

History

Ukraine made their international debut against Georgia in 1991, losing a close game 15-19. The nations played again three days later, and Georgia won again, six to nil. The following year Ukraine met Georgia again for a two match series, again losing both. In their first match of 1993 they defeated Hungary 41-3 for their first win. This was followed by another three wins in succession, against Croatia, Slovenia and Austria. The streak ended in 1994 with a loss to Denmark.

In 1996 Ukraine defeated Latvia 19-3, which would be the start of a nine match winning streak, which would be the longest thus far. The wins carried on into late 1997, until they lost to the Netherlands 13-35. The late 1990s saw mixed results for Ukraine, who defeated teams like Poland and the Czech Republic, but lost games to the likes of Russia, Georgia and Romania.

Ukraine played in the 2005-06 European Nations Cup, which also served as a qualifier for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. Ukraine lost all ten of their fixtures and were relegated to the Division 2A. The bottom three teams went onto Round 4 of the European World Cup qualifiers, so Ukraine played Russia twice to determine who goes through. Ukraine lost the games 11-25 and 37-17.

Record

Overall

Against	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win percentage
Austria	2	2	0	0	100%
Belgium	5	3	2	0	60%
Croatia	4	3	1	0	75%
Czech Republic	7	2	5	0	28.57%
Denmark	3	2	1	0	66.67%
Georgia	8	0	8	0	0%
Germany	6	2	3	1	33.33%
Hungary	1	1	0	0	100%
Israel	1	1	0	0	100%
Latvia	3	2	1	0	66.67%
Moldova	5	3	2	0	60%
Netherlands	4	3	1	0	75%
Poland	8	7	1	0	87.5%
Portugal	4	1	3	0	25%
Romania	6	0	6	0	0%
Russia	7	0	7	0	0%
Serbia	1	1	0	0	100%
Slovenia	1	1	0	0	100%
Spain	1	0	1	0	0%
Sweden	2	2	0	0	100%
Switzerland	2	2	0	0	100%
Total	81	39	41	1	48.15%

World Cup

• 1987 - 1991 - Did not exist
• 1995 - Did not enter
• 1999 - 2015 - Did not qualify

Current Players

Ukraine squad for the 2011–12 European Nations Cup First Division.^[1][2][3]

Backs Player Position Club Nikolai Delierguev Scrum-half RC Kredo-63 Zurab Kikacheishvili Scrum-half RC Kredo-63 Sergei Tserkovniy Fly-half RC Olymp Sergiy Garkavyi Centre RC Olymp Oleg Kosariev Centre RC Olymp Taras Marchenko Centre RC Kredo-63 Denys Masiukov Centre RC Kredo-63 Vitaliy Krasnodemskiy Wing RC Kredo-63 Maxim Kravchenko Wing RC Olymp Artyom Kulik Wing RC Antares Miroslav Shulyak Wing RC Obolon-University Sergei Monastyrov Fullback RC Kredo-63 Vyacheslav Ponomarenko Fullback RC Olymp

Forwards Player Position Club Mykola Kirsanov (c) Hooker RC Olymp Dennis Milov Hooker RC Kredo-63 Ievgen Chaika Prop RC Kredo-63 Vitaly Kramarenko Prop RC Kredo-63 Oleg Litvinenko Prop RC Olymp Oleksandr Polianski Prop RC Kredo-63 Eduard Vertyletskiy Prop RC Kredo-63 Vyacheslav Krasyknyk Lock RC Olymp Aleksandr Lomakin Lock RC Olymp Matthew Waksmunski Lock RC Olymp Andrei Dremov Flanker RC Polytechnic Dimitri Fedyshyn Flanker RC Kredo-63 Yuri Pidganyak Flanker RC Kredo-63 Ruslan Radchuk Flanker RC Kredo-63 Jaba Malaguradze Number eight RC Kredo-63 Oleg Shevchenko Number eight RC Dinamo-Center

Notable players

• Andriy Kovalenco
• Vitaly Orlov

References

1. "Ukraine (6) 6 - 41 (20) Spain (FT)". ESPN Scrum. 2012-02-25.
2. "Russia (21) 38 - 19 (12) Ukraine (FT)". ESPN Scrum. 2012-03-10.
3. "Ukraine (13) 35 - 33 (16) Portugal (FT)". ESPN Scrum. 2012-03-17.

External links

• rugby.org.ua
• Ukrainian Rugby Portal
• Ukraine on IRB.com
• Ukraine on rugbydata.com