The Ukraine national rugby union team ( uk, Збірна України з регбі) represents Ukraine in men's international rugby union competitions. Nicknamed The Cossacks (''Kozaki''), is one of the tier 3 teams in Europe that currently compete in the second division of the

Rugby Europe International Championships The Rugby Europe International Championships is the European Championship for tier 2 and tier 3 rugby union nations. The tournament is split into 5 levels, each with 5 or 6 teams. Its highest level is now called the Rugby Europe Championship an ...

in the

Rugby Europe Trophy Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, a competition which is just below the Rugby Europe Championship where the top 6 countries in Europe (apart from the teams in the Six Nations) compete. They are yet to participate in any Rugby World Cup.

History

Ukraine made their international debut in 1991 against Georgia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, losing the close game 15-19. The two nations played again three days later, where Georgia won again with the score of 6-0. The following year Ukraine met Georgia once more for a two match series, losing both matches. In their first match of 1993, they defeated Hungary 41-3 for their first ever win since their independence. This was followed by another three wins in succession, against Croatia, Slovenia and Austria. This streak would however end in 1994 with a loss to Denmark. In 1996 Ukraine defeated

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 ...

19-3; the match would be the start of a nine match winning streak) which would be the longest thus far. The wins carried on until 1998, where they lost to the Netherlands 13-35. The late 1990s, Ukraine saw mixed results and defeated teams like Poland and the Czech Republic, but they lost games to the likes of their neighbours Russia, Georgia and Romania. Ukraine played in the first division of 2005-06 European Nations Cup, the tournament where the best teams in Europe outside of the Six Nations and the tournament that also served as a qualifier for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

in France. Ukraine lost all ten of their fixtures and were relegated to Division 2A while within the qualifiers, the bottom three teams went on to Round 4 of the European World Cup qualifiers, so Ukraine would find their selves playing against Russia twice to determine who goes through to the next round of the qualifiers. Ukraine lost both games by the scores 11-25 and 37-17.

Record

World Cup

European Competitions

Overall

Updated after match with .

Recent Matches

Current Players

The following players were selected for the

2021–22 Rugby Europe Trophy The 2021–22 Rugby Europe Trophy is the fifth season of the second premier rugby union competition for European national teams outside the Six Nations Championship which itself is a part of the Rugby Europe International Championships. The confirm ...

match against

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. *Head Coach:

Valerii Kochanov The gens Valeria was a patrician family at ancient Rome, prominent from the very beginning of the Republic to the latest period of the Empire. Publius Valerius Poplicola was one of the consuls in 509 BC, the year that saw the overthrow of ...

Caps updated:

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the squad within the last 12 months.

Coaches

Current coaching staff

Former coaches

Notable players

* Andriy Kovalenco * Vitaly Orlov *

Ivan Soroka Ivan Soroka (born 1 October 1994) is a rugby union player born in Ukraine, and who grew up in Ireland. He plays as a prop. Soroka previously played for Irish provincial side Connacht in the Pro14. Soroka joined Connacht for the 2016–17 s ...

and

Alex Soroka Alex Soroka (born 19 February 2001) is an Irish rugby union player, currently playing for United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup side Leinster Rugby, and represents Clontarf in the All-Ireland League. His preferred positi ...

- Ukrainian qualified Irish underage internationals

References

External links

rugby.org.ua
- Official Site {{DEFAULTSORT:Ukraine National Rugby Union Team Ukraine national rugby union team Rugby union in Ukraine Teams in European Nations Cup (rugby union) European national rugby union teams