Latvia national rugby league team
The Latvia national rugby league team was established in 2008 to represent Latvia at rugby league football, and initially competed in the European Bowl, for fourth-tier developing nations. They beat Estonia in a two-game series and therefore won the inaugural tournament after Ukraine could not gain visas to travel. In 2009 they reached the second place after losing to Ukraine and defeating Estonia. In 2010 they played in the European Shield, losing to Russia and Ukraine. After a hiatus of several years, Latvia will return to international competition on May 9, 2015 for the first match of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying process, taking on Spain in a one-off knockout match to determine the final participants in the 'European C' section.
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| Team information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governing body | Latvia Rugby League | |||||
| Region | Europe | |||||
| Head coach | Steve Leonard (GBR) | |||||
| Captain | Jānis Zuments | |||||
| IRL ranking | 47th | |||||
| Uniforms | ||||||
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| Team results | ||||||
| First international | ||||||
 Estonia 38 - 54 Latvia  (21 October 2007, Tallinn) | ||||||
| Biggest win | ||||||
| Estonia 4 - 74 Latvia (8 August 2009, Tallinn) | ||||||
| Biggest defeat | ||||||
 Ukraine 112 - 0 Latvia (18 September 2010, Kyiv ) | ||||||
All-time results record
| Team | First Played | Played | Win | Draw | Loss | Points For | Points Against | Last Meeting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estonia | 2007 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 238 | 62 | 2009 |
| Ukraine | 2009 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 152 | 2010 |
 Russia | 2010 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 54 | 2010 |
 Spain | 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 32 | 2015 |
| TOTAL | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 260 | 300 |
Results
| Official rankings as of 21 December 2022 | |||
| Rank | Change | Team | Pts % |
| 1 |  3 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia | 100.00 |
| 2 |  1 |  New Zealand | 93.00 |
| 3 | 4 |  Samoa | 87.00 |
| 4 | 1 |  England | 73.00 |
| 5 | 3 |  Tonga | 58.00 |
| 6 | 1 |  Papua New Guinea | 47.00 |
| 7 | 1 |  Fiji | 45.00 |
| 8 | 5 |  Lebanon | 36.00 |
| 9 |  |  France | 28.00 |
| 10 | 6 |  Wales | 23.00 |
| 11 | 1 |  Ireland | 23.00 |
| 12 | 8 |  Cook Islands | 20.00 |
| 13 | 8 |  Jamaica | 17.00 |
| 14 | 3 |  Italy | 17.00 |
| 15 | 7 |  Serbia | 15.00 |
| 16 | 5 |  Greece | 14.00 |
| 17 | 2 |  Scotland | 14.00 |
| 18 | 4 |  Netherlands | 13.00 |
| 19 | 9 |  Malta | 11.00 |
| 20 | 1 |  Turkey | 8.00 |
| 21 | 4 |  Germany | 6.00 |
| 22 | 18 |  Brazil | 6.00 |
| 23 | 9 |  Chile | 6.00 |
| 24 | 4 |  Nigeria | 6.00 |
| 25 | 5 |  South Africa | 6.00 |
| 26 | 5 |  Ghana | 6.00 |
| 27 | 9 |  Czech Republic | 6.00 |
| 28 | 2 | Ukraine | 5.00 |
| 29 | 5 |  Philippines | 4.00 |
| 30 | 8 |  Poland | 3.00 |
| 31 | 5 |  Cameroon | 3.00 |
| 32 |  |  Kenya | 3.00 |
| 33 | 4 | Spain | 3.00 |
| 34 | 7 |  Bulgaria | 3.00 |
| 35 | 12 |  Norway | 2.00 |
| 36 | 9 |  Colombia | 2.00 |
| 37 | 2 |  Hungary* | 1.00 |
| 38 | 11 |  United States | 1.00 |
| 39 | 5 |  Montenegro | 1.00 |
| 40 | 3 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1.00 |
| 41 | 2 |  Solomon Islands | 1.00 |
| 42 | 8 |  Sweden | 1.00 |
| 43 | 10 |  Morocco | 1.00 |
| 44 | 6 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada | 1.00 |
| 45 | |  Japan | 1.00 |
| 46 | 4 |  Vanuatu | 1.00 |
| 47 | |  El Salvador | 0.00 |
| 48 | 1 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Belgium | 1.00 |
| 49 | 3 |  Denmark | 0.00 |
| 50 | 3 | Latvia | 0.00 |
| 51 | |  Argentina | 0.00 |
| Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT | |||
| Opponent | Points | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Estonia | 54 - 38 | 2007-10-21 | Tallinn |
| Estonia | 48 - 10 | 2008-06-28 | Tallinn |
| Estonia | 62 - 10 | 2008-08-03 | Riga |
| Ukraine | 6 - 40 | 2009-07-24 | Riga |
| Estonia | 74 - 4 | 2009-08-08 | Tallinn |
| Russia | 4 - 54 | 2010-07-31 | Riga |
| Ukraine | 0 - 112 | 2010-09-18 | Kyiv |
| Spain | 12 - 32 | 2015-05-09 | Riga |
World Cup
| World Cup record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | D | ||
| 2017 | Failed to qualify | |||||||
| Total | 0 Titles | 0/13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
2017 Rugby League World Cup Qualifier
On 9 May 2015, Latvia and Spain kicked off proceedings for the qualifying fixtures for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying. It was a do or die match with the winner advancing to a qualifying group stage, already containing Malta and Greece, while the other would lose their chance of qualifying for their first ever World Cup. The Latvians' home advantage had no effect as they went down to the Spaniards by 20 points, ending their chance of participating in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
Notable players of Latvian descent
- Euan Aitken, whose paternal grandmother was born in Rēzekne[1][2][3]
- Niall Evalds, via his paternal grandfather
- Zane Jegers, via his paternal grandfather who was born in Riga
See also
References
- "Goodbye Oma, I Love You". Players' Voice. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- "Regina Meinhold". Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- "Regina Meinhold: Obituary". Canberra Times. 21 April 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
External links
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