Finland national rugby union team
National rugby union team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Finland national rugby union team represents Finland in men's international rugby union. The national side are ranked 71st in the world, as of 24 April 2023.[1]
| |||
| Union | Suomen Rugbyliitto | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Alastair Davies | ||
| Captain | Jussi Viljanen | ||
| |||
| World Rugby ranking | |||
| Current | 77 (as of 10 July 2026) | ||
| Highest | 71 (2023) | ||
| Lowest | 82 (2022) | ||
| First international | |||
 Finland 0 – 60 Switzerland  (1982-05-22) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Finland 120 – 5 Estonia  (2025-05-10) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Denmark 100 – 0 Finland (1987-10-10) | |||
History
Finland played their first ever rugby international in 1982 against Switzerland, which they lost. Finland went on to win their first international in 1991, defeating Norway 18 points to 3
They played Monaco in 2002. Finland's attempt to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France began in Round 1 of the European tournaments. They faced Bulgaria in a two match series as part of the Round 1 group to determine which nation would advance. Bulgaria won the first game 42 points to 3 in Helsinki and won the second leg 50 to 3 in Sofia to knock Finland out of the tournament.
Record
Below is a summary table of Finland’s national XV rugby test matches through 10 October 2026, updated after match with Estonia.
| Against | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Win percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Andorra | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Austria | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 33.33% |
 Bulgaria | 9 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 11.11% |
 Cyprus | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Denmark | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 30% |
| Estonia | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Gibraltar | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25% |
 Greece | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 62.5% |
 Hungary | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
 Israel | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 20% |
 Latvia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 25% |
 Luxembourg | 10 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 10% |
 Moldova | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Monaco | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
 Norway | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 45% |
 Slovenia | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
 Sweden | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Switzerland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
 Turkey | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50% |
| Total | 97 | 35 | 60 | 2 | 36.08% |
Current squad
Current line-up for the 2023-24 Rugby Europe Conference.
- Coach: Alastair Davies
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.
| Player | Position | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Club/province |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tapio Lahtinen | Prop | 6 | Jyväskylä R.F.C. | |
| Ossi Aro | Hooker | 19 | Tampere R.F.C. | |
| Chris Denholm | Prop | 21 | Helsinki RC | |
| Akseli Peltoniemi | Lock | 14 | Old Town Shamrocks | |
| Aaro Katainen | Lock | 30 | Jyväskylä R.F.C. | |
| Kosti Eskola | Flanker | 16 | Warriors RC | |
| Matti Keränen | Flanker | 30 | Old Town Shamrocks | |
| John Poole | Number 8 | 4 | Saimaa Sharks/Helsinki RC | |
| Saxby Young | Scrum-half | 5 | Helsinki RC | |
| Thomas Finell | Fly-half | 64 | Warriors RC | |
| Samu-Petteri Pääkkö | Wing | 20 | Old Town Shamrocks | |
| Jussi Viljanen (c) | Centre | 32 | Tampere R.F.C. | |
| Kim Ali-keskikylä | Centre | Turku Eagles | ||
| Antti Haapanen | Wing | 0 | Helsinki RC | |
| Philip Sleath | Fullback | 9 | Turku Eagles | |
| Paulo Pannuzzo | Hooker | 0 | Helsinki RC | |
| Olli Räsänen | Prop | Jyväskylä R.F.C./Tampere R.F.C. | ||
| Olli Palosuo | Prop | 0 | Helsinki RC | |
| Juho Kiljain | Lock | 3 | Jyväskylä R.F.C. | |
| Jedidiah Patton | Back row | 1 | Turku Eagles | |
| James Edwards | Fly-half | 0 | Tampere R.F.C. | |
| Timo McIntyre | Wing | 0 | Tampere R.F.C. | |
| Jack Crabtree | Fullback | 1 | Warriors RC |