Andorra national rugby union team

Andorra

Union	Federació Andorrana de Rugby
Nickname(s)	Els Isards
Coach(es)	Jeannot Martinho
Captain(s)	Jonathan Garcia
Team kit Change kit
First international
Andorra 24 – 3 Luxembourg  (1 July 1987)
Largest win
Andorra 76 – 3 Norway  (4 September 2004)
Largest defeat
Andorra 3 – 62 Spain  (8 November 1997)

The Andorra national rugby union team, nicknamed Els Isards (which is a Pyrenean Chamois) represent Andorra in international rugby union competitions. They are currently ranked 61st out of 100 Rugby playing nations by the International Rugby Board (IRB). They play most of their home games in Andorra la Vella, the country's capital, though have had some matches in Foix, which is in France.

They compete in the European Nations Cup, and are currently in the second division. As well as playing numerous friendlies they have also taken part in the qualification stages of the Rugby World Cup, competing in every tournament since 1995.

History

Andorra played their first rugby international in 1987 against Luxembourg. Andorra won the match 24–3.

Andorra first tried to qualify for the Rugby World Cup in 1995. They competed in the preliminary round in the west group of the European qualification. They defeated Denmark, but lost to Switzerland, and were knocked out.

Andorra also attempted to qualify for the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Andorra started off in Pool 3 of Round 1, and won all four of their fixtures, finishing at the top of the final standings to advance through to Round 2. However they were then knocked out of qualifying after Round 2 coming last in a five team group.

They competed in Pool B of Round 1 in attempting to qualify for the 2003 World Cup, but did not advance to the next stage coming third in a six team group.

The 2007 tournament saw many more fixtures and gained the small nation some greater publicity by playing in the first match of the tournament, beating Norway 76–3. They won a 2 leg match, came third in the ensuing five team group thus qualifying for a further 2 leg playoff, victory in which led to a further five team group in which they were last. Competing with the more populous Moldova, Netherlands, Spain and Poland, having beaten Norway, Hungary, Slovenia and Sweden certainly brought Andorra to the attention of more rugby followers, all in spite of a small population of just 70,000.

Popularity

The popularity of football in Andorra has been on the decline due to a poor record at home and away. This has left room for Andorran rugby to rise out of the shadows. Mainly affected by the fanatical popularity of rugby in southern France, Els Isards continue to impress on the international stage. This has led to the rapid increase in the number of registered players in Andorra. Many are now suggesting that rugby in Andorra has grown to such an extent that it has now become the tiny nation's national sport.

As well as a men's 15 aside team, the men have competed in the European Sevens competition since 2005. In 2005 they won promotion to the next division and in both 2006 and 2007 made the finals of the competition.

Also Andorra have a women's set up. They have only played sevens so far, competing in 2006 and 2007.

Youth rugby in Andorra is less developed and has to date only consisted of training camps.

Results Men's 15 aside

Analysis

Andorra have played friendlies, FIRA competitions and World Cup Qualifiers. The full results list including details of unplayed games can be found below. The various game types can be summarised as follows – note that unfulfilled and defaulted games are NOT included in the analysis although they do count towards the game count in the full list. Also if a game has been both a World Cup and FIRA game then it is only recorded here in the World Cup figures.

Match Type	P	W	D	L	%	F	A	D	Notes
Friendly	6	2	0	4	33	41	65	−24
Regional	43	16	1	26	38	618	897	−279
World Cup	31	14	0	17	45	651	736	−85
All Games	80	32	1	47	41	1310	1698	−388

Matches against individual teams can be summarised as follows

Nation	GP	W	D	L	%	PF	PA	PD	Notes
Norway	2	2	0	0	100	99	12	87
Austria	2	2	0	0	100	77	15	62
Monaco	2	2	0	0	100	43	16	27
Armenia	1	1	0	0	100	36	10	26
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1	1	0	0	100	23	13	10
Israel	1	1	0	0	100	19	13	6
Denmark	2	2	0	0	100	11	5	6
Hungary	4	3	0	1	75	116	58	58	There is also one unfulfilled fixture
Yugoslavia	4	3	0	1	75	56	43	13	There is also one unfulfilled fixture
Luxembourg	7	4	1	2	64	124	66	58
Slovenia	4	2	0	2	50	85	70	15
Lithuania	2	1	0	1	50	64	50	14
Malta	2	1	0	1	50	41	47	−6
Sweden	4	2	0	2	50	67	79	−12	There is also one win by default
Bulgaria	6	2	0	4	33	95	95	0
Czech Republic	3	1	0	2	33	26	104	−78
Croatia	4	1	0	3	25	41	62	−21
Tunisia	4	1	0	3	25	48	80	−32
Latvia	2	0	0	2	0	30	54	−24	There is also one unfulfilled fixture
Moldova	1	0	0	1	0	16	23	−7	There is also one unfulfilled fixture and one defeat by default
Serbia	1	0	0	1	0	7	32	−25
Morocco	2	0	0	2	0	19	63	−44
Germany	1	0	0	1	0	11	56	−45
Switzerland	4	0	0	4	0	48	94	−46	There is also one win by default
Portugal	3	0	0	3	0	32	115	−83
Poland	5	0	0	5	0	43	154	−111
Spain	3	0	0	3	0	17	129	−112
Netherlands	3	0	0	3	0	16	140	−124
TOTALS	80	32	1	47	41	1310	1698	−388

Full Match List

Defaulted games (3), unfulfilled games (5) and non-Internationals (3) do not count towards the match tally.

Sequence	Date	Opponents	F	A	Venue	Type	Notes
1	1 July 1987	Luxembourg (1)	24	3	A Luxembourg	FIRA C	First International for Andorra
2	8 July 1987	Luxembourg (2)	12	3	H Andorra La Vella	Friendly	First Home match
3	28 May 1988	Bulgaria (1)	6	30	A Sofia	FIRA C	First defeat
4	1 July 1988	Bulgaria (2)	7	21	H Andorra	Friendly
5	8 April 1989	Tunisia (1)	7	19	H Andorra La Vella	Friendly	First game against an African team
6	23 April 1989	Luxembourg (3)	8	10	A Cessange	FIRA C
7	28 May 1989	Bulgaria (3)	7	21	H Andorra La Vella	FIRA C
8	1 July 1989	Luxembourg (4)	6	10	A	Friendly
9	8 April 1990	Tunisia (2)	6	12	H Andorra La Vella	Friendly	9th consecutive defeat
10	29 April 1990	Luxembourg (5)	26	6	H Andorra La Vella	FIRA C
11	26 May 1990	Yugoslavia (1)	9	3	A Split	FIRA C
12	9 March 1991	Morocco (1)	9	25	H Andorra La Vella	FIRA C
13	23 March 1991	Portugal (1)	15	33	A Coimbra	FIRA C
14	4 May 1991	Tunisia (3)	16	14	H Andorra La Vella	FIRA C
15	9 November 1991	Tunisia (4)	19	35	A Tunis	FIRA C	First match in Africa
16	28 March 1992	Portugal (2)	6	29	H Andorra La Vella	FIRA C
17	25 April 1992	Morocco (2)	10	38	A Casablanca	FIRA C
18	1 October 1992	Denmark (1)	3	0	H	Friendly	Some sources list this as the WC game but it appears to be separate
19	27 October 1992	Denmark (2)	8	5	H Andorra La Vella	WC 1995	First World Cup match
20	31 October 1992	Switzerland (1)	0	14	H Andorra La Vella	WC 1995	First game without scoring
21	28 November 1992	Netherlands (1)	6	40	A Hertogenbosch	FIRA B1
22	17 April 1993	Poland (1)	6	19	H Andorra La Vella	FIRA B1
23	15 May 1993	Czech Republic (1)	6	3	H Andorra La Vella	FIRA B1
24	11 September 1993	Sweden (1)	6	25	A Nassjo	FIRA B1
25	6 November 1993	Poland (2)	10	30	A Sochaczew	FIRA B1
26	26 March 1994	Netherlands (2)	10	49	H Andorra La Vella	FIRA B1
27	12 April 1994	Czech Republic (2)	0	56	A Prague	FIRA B1
Def	15 May 1994	Sweden	w/o		H Default	FIRA B1	Won by default
Non Int	25 March 1995	Catalunya	6	66	A St Boi		Friendly – non-International
28	22 April 1995	Croatia (1)	0	16	H Andorra La Vella	FIRA B3
Def	7 May 1995	Switzerland	w/o		A Default	FIRA B3	Won by default
29	13 May 1995	Luxembourg (6)	18	18	A Cessange	FIRA B3	First draw
30	26 November 1995	Slovenia (1)	28	23	H Andorra La Vella	FIRA B3
31	24 March 1996	Yugoslavia (2)	30	12	A Ursag	FIRA B2
32	20 April 1996	Bulgaria (4)	13	8	H Andorra La Vella	FIRA B2
33	19 October 1996	Lithuania (1)	54	24	H Andorra La Vella	WC 1999	Pool 3 Round A
34	2 November 1996	Sweden (2)	21	20	H Andorra La Velle	WC 1999	Pool 3 Round A
35	15 March 1997	Luxembourg (7)	30	16	A Cessange	WC 1999	Pool 3 Round A
36	14 June 1997	Hungary (1)	34	5	A Budapest	WC 1999	Pool 3 Round A, 7th consecutive win and 8th unbeaten
37	13 September 1997	Czech Republic (3)	20	45	A Tatra Smichov Stadium	WC 1999	Pool 3 Round B
38	4 October 1997	Germany (1)	11	56	H Andorra La Velle	WC 1999	Pool 3 Round B
39	8 November 1997	Spain (1)	3	62	H Andorra La Velle	WC 1999	Pool 3 Round B, biggest defeat
40	30 May 1998	Portugal (3)	11	53	A Lousa	WC 1999	Pool 3 Round B
41	26 September 1998	Switzerland (2)	14	15	H Andorra La Velle	FIRA D
42	31 October 1998	Bulgaria (5)	3	5	A	FIRA D
43	27 February 1999	Monaco (1)	29	6	H Andorra La Velle	FIRA D
44	12 June 1999	Israel (1)	19	13	A	FIRA D
45	30 October 1999	Slovenia (2)	3	16	A	FIRA D1
46	5 February 2000	Monaco (2)	14	10	A	FIRA D1
47	26 February 2000	Hungary (2)	32	10	H Andorra La Velle	FIRA D1
48	13 May 2000	Austria (1)	21	12	H Andorra La Velle	FIRA D1
49	14 October 2000	Yugoslavia (3)	12	9	H Andorra La Velle	WC 2003	EURO Round A
50	28 October 2000	Hungary (3)	21	27	A Szazhalombatta	WC 2003	EURO Round A
51	5 May 2001	Switzerland (3)	25	33	H Andorra La Velle	WC 2003	EURO Round A
52	12 May 2001	Bulgaria (6)	59	10	H Andorra La Velle	WC 2003	EURO Round A
53	26 May 2001	Bosnia Herzogovina (1)	23	13	H Andorra La Velle	WC 2003	EURO Round A
54	13 October 2001	Austria (2)	56	3	H Andorra La Velle	FIRA B	Pool A
55	11 November 2001	Slovenia (3)	16	26	A Ljubljana	FIRA B	Pool A
Non Int	27 March 2002	Northwestern University (USA)	40	5	H Andorra La Velle		Touring team
56	5 May 2002	Yugoslavia (4)	5	19	H Andorra La Velle	FIRA B	Pool A
Def	1 June 2002	Moldova		w/o	A Chisnau	FIRA B	Pool A – Lost by default
Unf	22 September 2002	Moldova					Probably FIRA B, this game is shown as a fixture
Unf	26 October 2002	Hungary,	24	18	Százhalombatta Rugby Stadium		Probably FIRA B, this game is shown as a fixture
Unf	3 November 2002	Yugoslavia					Probably FIRA B, this game is shown as a fixture
Unf	2 March 2003	Latvia					Probably FIRA B, this game is shown as a fixture
57	4 September 2004	Norway (1)	76	3	H Andorra La Velle	WC 2007	Round 1 – first game of the tournament, biggest victory
58	18 September 2004	Norway (2)	23	9	A Bergen	WC 2007	Round 1
59	23 October 2004	Hungary (4)	29	16	A Esztergom, Vasas Sportsfiled	WC 2007	Round 2 Pool A
60	20 November 2004	Croatia (2)	7	18	A Stadium Metalac, Sisak	WC 2007	Round 2 Pool A
61	12 February 2005	Spain (2)	14	36	H Andorra La Velle	WC 2007	Round 2 Pool A
62	30 April 2005	Slovenia (4)	38	5	H Andorra La Velle	WC 2007	Round 2 Pool A
63	28 May 2005	Sweden (3)	30	20	H Andorra La Velle	WC 2007	Round 2 playoff
64	4 June 2005	Sweden (4)	10	14	A Vanersborg	WC 2007	Round 2 playoff
65	29 October 2005	Poland (3)	14	18	A	WC 2007	Round 3 Pool A
66	26 November 2005	Netherlands (3)	0	51	A Amsterdam	WC 2007	Round 3 Pool A
67	11 March 2006	Spain (3)	0	31	H Andorra La Vella	WC 2007	Round 3 Pool A
68	6 May 2006	Moldova (1)	16	23	H Andorra La Vella	WC 2007	Round 3 Pool A
69	7 October 2006	Poland (4)	8	54	A	ENC 2B
70	4 November 2006	Latvia (1)	21	34	H Andorra La Vella	ENC 2B	7th consecutive defeat
71	7 April 2007	Croatia (3)	24	13	H Andorra La Vella	ENC 2B
72	12 May 2007	Malta (1)	24	31	A Valletta	ENC 2B
73	29 September 2007	Poland (5)	5	33	H Andorra La Vella	ENC 2B
74	24 November 2007	Latvia (2)	9	20	A Riga	ENC 2B
75	19 April 2008	Croatia (4)	10	15	A Split	ENC 2B
76	17 May 2008	Malta (2)	17	16	H Andorra la Vella	ENC 2B
77	8 November 2008	Lithuania (2)	10	26	H Andorra la Vella	ENC 3A & WC 2011
78	6 December 2008	Serbia (1)	7	32	A Semderevo	ENC 3A & WC 2011	A squad of only 18 went to this game
79	14 March 2009	Switzerland (4)	9	32	A Avusy, Geneva	ENC 3A & WC 2011
80	21 March 2009	Armenia (1)	36	10	H Andorra la Vella	ENC 3A & WC 2011
	Unknown	Lithuania (3)			A	ENC 3A & WC 2011
	Unknown	Armenia (2)			A	ENC 3A & WC 2011
	Unknown	Switzerland (5)			H	ENC 3A & WC 2011
	Unknown	Serbia (2)			H	ENC 3A & WC 2011

Current Squad

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player Position Date of Birth (Age) Caps Club/province Oscar Cabanes Hooker {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV David Martinez Hooker {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Alexandre Fernandez Prop {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Stefano Tosatti Prop {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Gala Gagnidze Prop {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} UA Saverdun (Fed.3) Edisher Jamrulidze Prop {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Joan Fite Lock {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV David Kirikashvili Lock {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Arnaud Olive Wing {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Peter Ambor Flanker {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} Baby Nyn's (3e série) Jeremy Berrier Flanker {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Pol Uriguen Flanker {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Toni Carmona Flanker {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Aurelien Casse Number 8 {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Marc Aransanz Number 8 {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} RC L'Hospitalet (DHB) Jonathan Garcia Scrum-half {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Flavien Sayo Scrum-half {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} ?? Roger Fite Fly-half {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Julien Langeard Fly-half {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} Servian Boujan (Honneur) Eduard Vergara Fly-half {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Albert Canturri Centre {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Esteve Perez Centre {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Esteve Dolsa Wing {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} RC L'Hospitalet (DHB) Marc Gispert Wing {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Benjamin Taurinya Wing {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} Leucate XV (Fed.3) Cristian Garcia Wing {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Marc Abello Fullback {{{age}}} {{{caps}}} VCP Andorra XV Results Men's 7s To date Andorra (men) have played in fourteen International Sevens Tournaments (WC Qualifier 1996 (1 round), WC Qualifier 2000 (1 round), FIRA-AER 2003 Qualifiers (1 round), FIRA-AER 2004 Qualifiers (2 rounds), FIRA-AER 2005 Qualifiers (2 rounds), FIRA-AER 2006 Qualifiers (2 rounds) and Finals, FIRA-AER 2007 Qualifiers (2 rounds) and Finals, FIRA-AER 2008 Qualifiers). In FIRA-AER, each year a number of tournaments take place across Europe and each nation takes part in two tournaments to decide on a final 12. In 2007 Andorra were joint 12th with Croatia but qualified on points difference. The FIRA-AER qualifiers have seen placings of 5th (5 times), 4th (1 time) and 3rd (2 times). Both appearances in the finals have seen 12th (last) but notable teams have failed to qualify. Current Squad The following 20-men squad was announced on 29 May 2008 for the WCQ tournaments. Paul Alieu – David Kirikashvili – Toni Carmona – Peter Ambor – Gerard Soteras – Jonathan Garcia – Esteve Perez – Marc Abello – Renaud Calvel – Roger Fite – Marc Gispert – Josep Magallon – Sergi Lucas – Miquel Barbolla – Kim Jordan – Emmanuel Sarti – Benjami Taurinya – Flavien Sayo – Maxim Taurinya – Gerard Gimenez Women's squad Myriam García Ramón – Iolanda Gispert Sancho – Marilia Ferreira Gomes – Carla Ferreira Gomes – Sílvia Cuaresma – Sandra Guerrero Soria – Magali Paradelle – Tània Albino Ferreira – Mariona Vila Torrents – Anna Casals Casas – Beatriz Candela Callejero – Gisela Escolà i Marsal – Olga Arrú Solana – Juana Gutierrez Lopez – Judith Riba Mateu – Cèlia Ferreira Gomes – Carol Dañobeitia – Lorena Ledesma Torres – Sònia Llopis Carreras – Isabel Tejero Cano – Sílvia Arrú Solana Youth Rugby There are only limited records for Andorran youth rugby. A training camp (with Spain and Portugal) took place in 2001/2002. A similar camp took place at Tarazones from 7 to 12 April 2006 with 23 players and 3 coaches attending. These are both for Under 17s. A camp is planned for 14 to 19 March 2008 in Spain, with Spain and Portugal. This too is for under 17s. Andorra took part in the 1996 Junior World Cup (winning group C) and also took part in the pre-classification stages in 2000. Andorra currently have a "school of rugby" and over 100 individuals are currently signed up Groupama Tournament March 2009. The 13 years group saw Andorra with 15 players, Pamiers with 20 and Couserans with 30. The final standings were Couseran I (26pts), Andorra (12pts), Pamiers (9pts), Couseran II (3pts) The 15years group saw Andorra with 15 players, Pamiers with 16 and Couserans with 26. The final standings were Couseran I (25pts), Pamiers (11pts), Andorra (7pts), Couseran II (2pts) Veterans Andorra is currently locating veterans – they must be Andorran, over 35 and not playing currently. If there are enough then they will look to participate in relevant competitions Off Field Not counting youth training camps (which are mentioned in that section) and hosting tournaments, Andorra also endeavours to be involved in non-playing activities. 1993 Hosts 52nd FIRA conference 20 to 22 January 2009 Two delegates sent to IRB/FIRA-AER Educator Course at Rome Sources IRB ITV FIRA-AER Websites of unions mentioned Scrum.com Rugbyinternational.net External links Federació Andorrana de Rugby – Official Site – Andorran Rugby Fan Site Andorra on IRB.com