The Latvia national rugby union team represents

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

at the sport of

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 ...

. They are governed by the Latvijas Regbija federācija and have been playing international rugby since the early 1990s. They have played most of their games in the Daugava Stadium in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

History

Rugby has increased in popularity in Latvia recently due to a rise in form. Despite minimal playing numbers, Latvia continue to compete at a high level, and had an outside chance of finishing top of Division 2A of the

European Nations Cup European Nations Cup may refer to: *UEFA European Championship, formerly known as European Nations' Cup *Europcar Cup, a European Tour golf tournament *European Nations Cup (golf), a European Ladies Tour golf tournament *European Nations Cup (field ...

. However their hopes took a massive blow, when they failed to capitalise on Poland's surprise home defeat to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, losing 16-13 to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

Paola Paola is a female given name, the Italian form of the name Paula. Notable people with the name include: People In arts and entertainment *Paola Del Medico (born 1950), Swiss singer *Paola e Chiara, pop music duo consisting of two sisters born i ...

. Latvia is an improving rugby team as now more players are playing in Russia, Germany, and Canada. Latvia won the 2018–19 Rugby Europe Conference 2 North and was promoted to Conference 1 North for the 2019–20 season. The national side is ranked 58th in the world (as of 12 August 2019).

Current squad

''The roster for the 2018–19 Rugby Europe Conference 2 North tournament match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

:'' * Head coach: Gary Walker

Notable Players

Uldis Saulite Uldis Saulite ( lv, Uldis Saulīte) (born 28 September 1980) is a Latvian rugby union footballer. He plays as a lock. Career Born in Jelgava, the young Uldis did not play the game until he was 16. Naturally big and strong, he soon caught the e ...

, 28 Caps, Captain of professional Russian rugby side Ensiey-STM, (2000-present), * Jurjis Baranovs, plays for professional Russian rugby side Ensiey-STM, (2001-present), * Robert Davidson, top points scorer (20 Caps, 209 points),

References

External links

Official website
Teams in European Nations Cup (rugby union) European national rugby union teams Rugby union in Latvia Rugby iunion {{National-rugbyunion-team-stub