The Trinidad and Tobago national rugby union team has thus far not qualified for the

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 has participated in qualifying tournaments since 1999. They are classed 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 ...

. The national side is ranked 52nd in the world (as of 29 July 2019).

History

Trinidad and Tobago played their first ever rugby international in 1979 in Georgetown against

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. Trinidad and Tobago lost the contest 8 points to 42. Trinidad and Tobago attempted to qualify for the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professi ...

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 ...

. Their first match of the Americas qualifying tournament was a one-off Round 1 match against

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 ...

in Port of Spain. Trinidad and Tobago won the game 41 points to nil and advanced to Round 2, where they faced

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and Bermuda in a pool series. Trinidad and Tobago lost their first match 6-35 against Chile, and lost their second against Bermuda 52-6, and were knocked out of the qualifying tournaments. The team were involved in qualifying tournaments 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 as well, participating in the Round 1 Americas tournament. The team defeated

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

51-5 in their first match, and went on to win 12-8 over the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

in their second game. Trinidad and Tobago then won their third match 23-12 over Bermuda to advance to Round 2. There the team was narrowly defeated 10-11 by Brazil, and then nil to 9 in the second match, and Trinidad and Tobago were knocked out of the tournament. In 2005 Trinidad and Tobago participated in qualifying tournaments 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. They were grouped in the South of the pool of Round 1a along with

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

and

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

. Trinidad and Tobago won their first match 82-8 over Saint Lucia, though they lost to Barbados and Guyana, finishing third in the pool which ended their qualifying campaign. Trinidad and Tobago compete in the

Caribbean Championship The Caribbean Cup was the championship tournament for national association football teams that are members of the Caribbean Football Union. The first competition, established by Shell and run by former England Cricket fast bowler Fred Rumsey, wa ...

, a tournament which includes

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

, the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

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, and

.Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ) p78 Trinidad and Tobago win in the Caribbean Cup made them advance to the next round of the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

qualification, where they had to face

. The "Calypso Warriors" faced the notorious improvement of their South Americans counterparts and they lost both games, 31-8 at home and 24-12 away, ending their hopes to qualify again. In

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, Trinidad and Tobago won the NACRA Rugby Championship, defeating Mexico 30-16 in the final.

Results

World Cup

* 1987 - Not invited * 1991 - 1995 - Did not enter * 1999 - 2015 - Did not qualify

NACRA / Rugby Americas North

* Champions in 1967, 1973, 1983, 1985, 1997, 1999 (co-champions), 2001, 2008,

Overall

Current squad

Squad to 2012 NACRA Championship 23 June 2012

References

External links

Trinidad and Tobago
on IRB.com
Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Football Union

Trinidad and Tobago
on rugbydata.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trinidad And Tobago National Rugby Union Team Rugby union in Trinidad and Tobago Caribbean national rugby union teams

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 ...

1979 establishments in Trinidad and Tobago