Basque Country national rugby union team (

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

: ''Euskadiko errugbi selekzioa'') is the national and/or representative

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team of the Basque Country. It is also sometimes referred to as the Basque Selection. They made their international debut on 14 May 1983 against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

while the latter were on a tour of Spain. The Basque Country lost this game 3–24. Since 1985 the team has been organised by the Basque Rugby Federation.

History

Friendlies

Since making their international debut against

in 1983, the Basque Country has regularly played international friendlies. They have also played regular friendlies against Basque club teams, including

Aviron Bayonnais Aviron Bayonnais ( eu, Baionako Arrauna), commonly called Bayonne, is a French rugby union club from Bayonne (''Baiona'', in Basque) in Pyrénées-Atlantiques which, for the 2016-17 season, competed in the top tier of the French league system, ...

and

Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine which competes in the Pro D2, the second division of French rugby. Biarritz p ...

, and against touring club and provincial teams, including

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

and

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

Competitions

Since 1983–84 the Basque Country have competed in the Spanish Regions Championship, featuring other teams, such as

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, representing the

autonomous communities of Spain eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

. This competition is organised by the

Spanish Rugby Federation The Spanish Rugby Federation ( es, Federación Española de Rugby) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Spain. The Spanish Rugby Federation was founded in 1923, and joined the International Rugby Football Board, later known as the ...

. The Basque Country were the inaugural winners of this competition. Since 2001–02 they have also competed in the European Regions Championship. On 8 December 2011 the Basque Country also played a Lisbon XV in the final of the Iberian Regions Cup, losing 22–30.

List of international results

;Notes * Spanish Regions Championship final

Recent results

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Honours

* Spanish Regions Championship **''Winners'': 1983–84, 1984–85, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2010–11: 14 **''Runners-up'': 1987–88, 1994–95, 2000–01, 2000–01, 2001–02 : 5 *Iberian Regions Cup **''Runners-up'': 2011 : 1

References

{{National rugby union teams

Rugby union in the Basque Country (greater region) 1983 establishments in Spain