RugbyRebels

Countries that are regional unions' members but are absent from official matches (XVs or 7s, organized by the regional unions) for more than 10 years:

NORTH AMERICA: Saint Kitts & Nevis

AFRICA: Sierra Leone, Guinea, Central Africa Rep.

ASIA: Macau


Countries that are not regional unions member but have active national teams

NORTH AMERICA: Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands

SOUTH AMERICA: Honduras

OCEANIA: Nauru, Tokelau


Countries that played matches more than 15 years ago and are not regional members' unions

AFRICA: Seychelles, Gambia, Liberia

ASIA: Bahrain

NORTH AMERICA: Belize

OCEANIA: Micronesia, Northern Marianas, Palau, Wallis & Futuna


Countries that never had proper national teams, but have active rugby clubs

ASIA: Vietnam, Myanmar, Tajikstan, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine

AFRICA: Ethiopia, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Comoros

NORTH AMERICA: Antigua & Barbuda

SOUTH AMERICA: Bolivia

EUROPE: Albania, Kosovo


Countries without active organized rugby

ASIA: North Korea, Yemen, Turkmenistan*, Bhutan, East Timor*, Maldives.

AFRICA: Sudan, South Sudan*, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe.

NORTH AMERICA: Suriname, Grenada, Dominica, Anguilla*, Montserat, Sint Maarten

EUROPE: Macedonia, Faroe Islands, Vaticano

OCEANIA: Kiribati*, Marshall Islands*

*tbc

Been a long time since we've seen Vanuatu or New Caledonia in action too - both Western Pacific nations with healthy populations of about quarter of million. The New Hebrides, meanwhile, with a population of 100,000, disappeared off the radar some time back in the 60s.

rowan wrote:Been a long time since we've seen Vanuatu or New Caledonia in action too - both Western Pacific nations with healthy populations of about quarter of million. The New Hebrides, meanwhile, with a population of 100,000, disappeared off the radar some time back in the 60s.

Um, the New Hebrides declared independence as Vanuatu in 1980 (after, I shit you not, the "Coconut War").

Ah, yes, I think I've read about that - long time ago. That certainly explains their absence then!

Cheers.

Looks like we'll be able to remove Sudan from the list pretty soon. But I think they might be better off starting with the kids, rather than already fully grown men who'll never develop the right instincts (this has been Turkey's mistake, to a large degree):

If Guinea Conakry v Sierra Leone was a test match http://guineenews.org/rugby-guinee-etri ... contre-11/ , the list of nations that have never played a test becomes a little shorter

ASIA: Bangladesh, Vietnam, Myanmar, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nepal, North Korea, Yemen, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Bahrain, Bhutan, Timor, Maldives.

AFRICA: Ethiopia, Sudan, Mozambique, Angola, South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Liberia, Central Africa, Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Seychelles, São Tomé & Príncipe.

NORTH AMERICA: Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Antigua & Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Saint Kitts & Nevis.

SOUTH AMERICA: Bolivia, Suriname.

EUROPE: Albania, Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Vaticano.

OCEANIA: Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Northern Mariana, Palau, Tuvalu.

rowan wrote:Been a long time since we've seen Vanuatu or New Caledonia in action too - both Western Pacific nations with healthy populations of about quarter of million. The New Hebrides, meanwhile, with a population of 100,000, disappeared off the radar some time back in the 60s.

Having spent a bit of time in Vanuatu, I can tell you that they've got little to no interest in rugby. Can tell you anything you want to know about English football, but practically nobody knows anything about rugby.

Puja

Didn't catch on in French Polynesia at all, perhaps because France really only became a force in the sport post WWII.

Tahiti's population is roughly the same as Samoa's but they generally get thumped by the likes of the Cook Islands and Niue. Here's a clip on rugby in the Society Islands (direct ancestral home of the Maori) from last year:

Updated:

Former regional unions members

EUROPE: Armenia

NORTH AMERICA: Guadeloupe, St. Kitts and Nevis



Countries working with the regional unions or playing official regional tournaments

AFRICA: Congo Brazzaville, Cape Verde, Egypt, Libya, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Comoros, Seychelles

OCEANIA: Nauru, Tokelau


Countries that are not regional unions member but have active national teams (7s at least)

ASIA: Iraq, Palestine

EUROPE: Albania, Gibraltar

NORTH AMERICA: Aruba, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands

SOUTH AMERICA: Bolivia



Countries with rugby clubs but no national team in the last 10 years

ASIA: Vietnam, Myanmar, Bhutan, Tajikstan, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Timor

AFRICA: Angola, Gambia, Liberia, Sudan, South Sudan

NORTH AMERICA: Bonaire, Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Belize

EUROPE: Kosovo

OCEANIA: Micronesia, Northern Marianas, Palau



Countries with at least active beach or touch rugby

ASIA: Maldives

OCEANIA: Kiribati


Countries without active organized rugby

ASIA: North Korea, Yemen, Turkmenistan;

AFRICA: Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe;

NORTH AMERICA: Suriname, Grenada, Dominica, Montserat, Sint Maarten;

EUROPE: Macedonia, Faroe Islands, Vaticano;

OCEANIA: Marshall Islands;

Updating after Bolivia's membership.

Also, the new Rugby Africa website lists Seychelles and Congo Brazzaville as members: http://www.rugbyafrique.com/unions/

And Guadeloupe is listed as a Rugby Americas North member: https://rugbyamericasnorth.com/team/guadeloupe/


Former regional unions members:

EUROPE: Armenia

NORTH AMERICA: St. Kitts and Nevis



Countries working with the regional unions or playing official regional tournaments

AFRICA: Cape Verde, Egypt, Libya, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Comoros

OCEANIA: Nauru, Tokelau


Countries that are not regional unions member but have active national teams (7s at least)

ASIA: Iraq, Palestine

EUROPE: Albania, Gibraltar

NORTH AMERICA: Aruba, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands



Countries with rugby clubs but no national team in the last 10 years

ASIA: Vietnam, Myanmar, Bhutan, Tajikstan, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Timor

AFRICA: Angola, Gambia, Liberia, Sudan, South Sudan

NORTH AMERICA: Bonaire, Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Belize

EUROPE: Kosovo

OCEANIA: Micronesia, Northern Marianas, Palau



Countries with at least active beach or touch rugby

ASIA: Maldives

OCEANIA: Kiribati


Countries without active organized rugby

ASIA: North Korea, Yemen, Turkmenistan;

AFRICA: Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe;

NORTH AMERICA: Suriname, Grenada, Dominica, Montserat, Sint Maarten;

EUROPE: Macedonia, Faroe Islands, Vaticano;

OCEANIA: Marshall Islands;


NB:Kyrgyzstan's army team got flogged by Moscow Rugby Club at the weekend, but no mention of them here. That could perhaps be a separate category - countries with an army rugby team but no club scene or national side.