The Colombia national rugby union team ( es, selección de rugby de Colombia) is classified as a tier three nation by

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

. They have thus far not qualified for a

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

, but have participated in qualifying tournaments. Colombia made their debut against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in 1996. In 2018, the Colombians won their first significant international honour, winning the inaugural

Americas Rugby Challenge The Americas Rugby Challenge is an annual international rugby union tournament between the four best nations below the Americas Rugby Championship. It was created by Rugby Americas and features two teams from Sudamérica Rugby and two from Rugby ...

, the 'B' championship to the

Americas Rugby Championship The Americas Rugby Championship, often informally called the Americas' Six Nations, was an annual international rugby tournament between six North and South American nations: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the United States and Uruguay. Origin ...

. The national side is ranked 33rd in the world (as of 20 March 2021).

History

Colombia attempted to qualify for the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

in Australia, participating in the Americas qualifying tournaments during November 2001. They contested matches in the Round 1 (South) group, against nations including

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

in Round 1. Colombia was involved in qualifying for the World Cup ( France 2007) in 2004 when they contested Round 1b (CONSUR 2nd division). They finished fourth in the final standings which knocked them out of contention, though their fixtures against Peru and Venezuela were close, losing 15-10 and 27-31 respectively. Rugby has little support by the government or media, as football (soccer) has a stronger tradition in the country. The Colombian rugby team is called Los Tucanes. The team has competed in the B Division of the

South American Rugby Championship The South American Rugby Championship refers to the continental rugby union championships for South America, organized by Sudamérica Rugby. The current name of the championships is ''South American Six Nations'', implemented in 2018. Throughout hi ...

since its second edition in 2001. It won the competition in 2009, and again, three times in a row in 2014, 2015 and 2016. However, there is no direct promotion to the A Division; to win promotion it must beat the lowest-place team in the A Division in a playoff. In an attempt to qualify for the 2019 edition of the Rugby World Cup, Colombia showed some progress. Colombia easily beat Ecuador 75-5 then went on to defeat Peru 41-14 and Venezuela 35-10 progressing the team to the next round. This involved Colombia playing Mexico in a Pan-American qualifier, which Colombia won 29-11. Colombia's final qualifying match was played against Paraguay who had come in last place in 2015 South American championship Division A. This was the end of the road for Colombia as they gallantly lost this match 39-27. After winning Sudamericano B three times in a row (Apartadó 2014, Lima 2015 and Lima 2016), Sudamérica Rugby promoted Colombia to the top tier of South America, alongside Uruguay, Chile, Brazil and Paraguay, to start in 2018. The competition changed its format, and a South American Six Nations was played in May 2018. This tournament included the Top 5 teams of South America and Argentina XV. Colombia will have another important competition each year, and it will be Americas Rugby Championship B. This new competition will be structured as the second tier competition of the Americas, after Americas Rugby Championship. Paraguay, Colombia, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago will play it on a yearly basis. The possibility of promotion and relegation between tiers is under study.

Luis Pedro Achard Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

was appointed to oversee the men's and women's national teams in 2024.

World Cup record

* 1987 - Not invited * 1991 - Did not enter * 1995 - Did not enter * 1999 - Did not enter * 2003 - Did not qualify * 2007 - Did not qualify * 2011 - Did not qualify * 2015 - Did not qualify * 2019 - Did not qualify

Current squad

The following squad was selected to play the 2015 South American Rugby Championship repechage against

.2015 South American Championship
/ref> Head Coach: Raul Vesga *Jaider Pemberthy Muñoz (Antioquia) *Manuel Correa Quintana (Antioquia) *Emanuel Mendoza Mosquera (Antioquia) *Andrés Quintero Espinosa (Antioquia) *Jhoann Mantilla (Santander) *Gerson Ortiz Cañas (Antioquia) *Ferney Rodríguez (Antioquia) *Sebastían Mejía Gil (Antioquia) (c) *Jeferson Borja Restrepo (Antioquia) *Emmanuel Bedoya Pulgarín (Antioquia) *Pablo Lemoine Arboleda (Bogotá) *Camilo Cadavid Cardona (Antioquia) *Brayan Campino Riascos (Valle) *Dani Giraldo Mesa (Antioquia) *Jhon Urrutia (Antioquia) *Vásques Eduardo Montoya (Antioquia) *Mauricio Espinal Vargas (Antioquia) *Juan Gabriel Dávila Metaute (Antioquia) *Andrés Tarazona (Lyon OU) *Andrés Echeverri (Antioquia)

Coaches

References

External links

Colombia
on WorldRugby.com

on RugbyData.com {{National rugby teams South American national rugby union teams

National team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...