The Mexico national rugby union team (

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: ''Selección nacional de rugby Mexico'') represents

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 ...

men's international

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 it ...

competitions, they entered the World Rugby Rankings in March 2012, ranked initially in joint 71st place with other new entrants

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Mexico is one of the newest members of

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 ...

, having only been participating consistently in international rugby since the late 2000s; before, the 6 games, including 2 that are not capped by the FMR. Mexico also fields a rugby sevens team, as well as female teams in both the main union game and the 7s. The national side is ranked 42nd in the world (as of August 2021).

History

Mexico played only four test matches before 2008. The National Team played Miami Rugby in November 1977. Mexico's first test match was in 1985, an 18–22 loss against the Cayman Islands. This match was followed by 2 games against Colombia in 1996 (a 46-12 victory and a 10-10 draw), and two losses in 2001 and 2002 against Cayman Islands.

2011 RWC qualifying

Mexico's first official test match, and first participation in Rugby World Cup qualifying, was in March 2008. In that match, Mexico secured a 47-7 victory over

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea w ...

in 2011 Rugby World Cup qualifying. Mexico's record in qualifying was 2-2, finishing 6th place in Round 1A of the Americas qualification zone.

2015 RWC qualifying

A record crowd for a rugby match in Mexico saw the home team dispatch Jamaica 68–14 in Mexico City in front of more than 2,000 vociferous fans at the

Universidad Iberoamericana The Ibero-American University ( es, Universidad Iberoamericana), also referred to by its acronym ''UIA'' but commonly known as ''Ibero'' or ''La Ibero'') is a private, Catholic, Mexican higher education institution, sponsored by the Mexican provi ...

. This match opened their NACRA Caribbean Championship account, and also doubled as the opening Rugby World Cup 2015 qualification match. However, Mexico lost its next qualifying match 13–46 against the Cayman Islands, ending its 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying campaign.

2019 RWC qualifying

Mexico played qualifying matches for the 2019 World Cup during 2016. They won all three of their first-round Americas North (North Zone) group stage games (against the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and The Bahamas), and also won the first round final against South Zone winners, Guyana. As such, they were named champions of the

2016 Rugby Americas North Championship The 2016 Rugby Americas North Championship, the ninth edition of NACRA Rugby Championship, is a rugby union championship for Tier 3 North American and Caribbean teams. Pool play takes place between 3 March and 2 July. Unlike the 2015 edition of t ...

. From here, they progressed to a one-off play-off game against the 2016 CONSUR "B" Rugby Championship, Colombia, which they lost 29-11, ending Mexico's qualifying campaign.

Rankings

Record by opponent

Updated to 11 December 2021.

Current squad

Mexico squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup qualification match against Colombia.

References

External links

Federación Mexicana de Rugby
- Official Site
Wallabies México Rugby Football Club
- Official Site
TEMPLARIOS México Rugby Football Club
- Official Site {{DEFAULTSORT:Mexico National Rugby Union Team Rugby union in Mexico fr:Rugby à XV au Mexique