Lithuania national rugby union team
The Lithuania national rugby union team (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Nacionalinė Regbio Sąjungos Komanda) represents Lithuania in men's international rugby union competitions. Nicknamed The Knights (Vytis), is considered one of the relatively stronger tier 3 teams in European rugby and currently compete in the second division of the Rugby Europe International Championships in the Rugby Europe Trophy, a competition which is just below the Rugby Europe Championship where the top 6 countries in Europe (apart from the teams in the 6 nations) compete. They are yet to participate in any Rugby World Cup and play in black with a pattern involving the colours red, yellow and green (the colours of the Lithuanian flag).
 | |
| Nickname | Vytis (The Knights) |
|---|---|
| Emblem | Vytis (Knight Riding on a Horse) |
| Union | Lietuvos Regbio Federacija |
| Head coach |  Gediminas Marcišauskas |
| Captain | Tautvydas Krasauskas |
| Most caps | Mindaugas Misevičius Laurynas Tipelis (45) |
| Top scorer | Kęstutis Marcišaukas (372) |
| Home stadium | Šiaulių Savivaldybės Stadionas |
| World Rugby ranking | |
| Current | 40 (as of 16 January 2023) |
| Highest | 34 (2018, 2019) |
| Lowest | 70 (2005) |
| First international | |
 Germany 31-5 Lithuania (Berlin, Germany; 1 May 1993) | |
| Biggest win | |
 Serbia 5-77 Lithuania (Belgrade, Serbia; 24 April 2010) | |
| Biggest defeat | |
 Denmark 83-6 Lithuania (Copenhagen, Denmark; 29 May 1999) | |
| Website | regbis.lt |
History
editRugby was first introduced into Lithuania in 1961. However, as the country was a part of USSR, the national team could not be formed. After the collapse of the USSR, Lithuania could finally form their very own national team where they would start playing unofficial friendlies against Latvia, their traditional rivals as well as representative team from Kaliningrad before finally playing their first official game against Germany, in 1993 where they lost with the score 31-5.
After the reestablishment of independence in 1990, Lithuania's rugby authorities worked to gain international recognition after gaining continental recognition in 1991 by FIRA Europe (as it was known at the time) and by 1993, the national team were participating in the qualifying for the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Lithuania also participated in the 1992-1994 FIRA Trophy competition at the bottom of the pyramid but failed to win any of their games. Later on in 1996, Lithuania had achieved their first official victory against Luxembourg during the qualifying competition for the 1999 World Cup. Overall, the 1990s were a poor decade for the national team, yet it must be considered that they were a relatively new country, never mind the fact that Lithuania started playing test match rugby in 1993.
Up until 2006, Lithuania was lingering in the middle of the third division of the European Nations Cup. However, a 100 percent record in their 2006-2008 European Nations Cup Third Division campaign earned them promotion from Division 3B to Division 3A. This effort was followed by another perfect record in the 2008-2010 European Nations Cup Third Division and a further promotion to Division 2A. Moreover, victories over Israel and the Netherlands would take them to the semifinal round of the European qualification tournament for a spot in the 2011 Rugby World Cup Final Place Play-off. The rise in form of the national had thus resulted in an increase in the popularity of the sport in Lithuania.
During their 2008–10 European Nations Cup campaign, Lithuania was credited with setting a new record for consecutive Test wins in men's rugby. Their 77–5 away win over Serbia on April 24, 2010 was listed as their 18th straight, surpassing the previous record set by New Zealand in 1965–69 and by South Africa in 1997–98.[1] This undefeated campaign, which could have led to a Lithuanian presence at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, ended in the 27–16 loss to Ukraine in the European qualifying semifinal. However, on later review, it was found that the first game in the 18-game sequence was in fact a loss, and as such are now credited with having held an equal record with South Africa and New Zealand (the record would later be broken by Cyprus in 2013).[2]
Record
editWorld Cup
edit| World Cup record | World Cup Qualification record | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | P | W | D | L | F | A | P | W | D | L | F | A | |
  1987 |
Part of USSR: Not an independent country | Part of USSR: Not an independent country | ||||||||||||
   1991 |
Part of USSR: Not an independent country | Part of USSR: Not an independent country | ||||||||||||
 1995 |
did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 38 | |||||||
 1999 |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 70 | 157 | ||||||||
| 2003 |
5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 127 | 89 | ||||||||
| 2007 |
6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 169 | 130 | ||||||||
| 2011 |
10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 239 | 83 | ||||||||
 2015 |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 69 | 109 | ||||||||
 2019 |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 93 | 47 | ||||||||
| 2023 |
Automatically eliminated | |||||||||||||
| Total | 0/9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 18 | 1 | 16 | 778 | 653 | |
European Competitions
edit- ^ Following Lithuania's win in the European Nations Cup Second Division 2B, Rugby Europe reorganised their international championships for the following season. This resulted in them being placed into the Rugby Europe Conference 1 North for 2016-17.
- ^ Lithuania's first place finish in the 2017–18 Rugby Europe Conference 1 North saw them advance into the Promotion play-off against Rugby Europe Conference 1 South winners Malta which they won 81-10. This resulted in them being promoted into the Rugby Europe Trophy.
Overall
editBelow is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Lithuania national XV at test level up until 26 October 2024:
| Opponent | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | % Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Andorra |
5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 80% |
 Armenia |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Austria |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75% |
 Belgium |
2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0% |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Bulgaria |
5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 80% |
 Croatia |
5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 60% |
 Cyprus |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Czech Republic |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 33.33% |
| Denmark |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Germany |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
 Hungary |
8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 75% |
 Israel |
5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Latvia |
12 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 58.33% |
 Luxembourg |
7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 71.43% |
 Malta |
7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 42.86% |
 Moldova |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0% |
 Monaco |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Netherlands |
5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 25% |
 Norway |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Poland |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
 Portugal |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Serbia |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Serbia and Montenegro |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
 Slovenia |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0% |
 Sweden |
11 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 18.18% |
 Switzerland |
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 44.44% |
 Ukraine |
7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 42.86% |
| Total | 121 | 63 | 55 | 3 | 52.07% |
Recent Matches
edit| Matches | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Current squad
editThe following players are in the match day squad for the 2021–22 Rugby Europe Trophy game against Switzerland on 13th November 2021.[3]
- Head Coach:
Gediminas Marcišauskas
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.
Recent call-ups
editThe following players have also been called up to the squad within the last 12 months.
| Player | Pos | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Club | Latest call-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lukas Gylys | Prop | BaltRex Šiauliai
|
v. Germany, 30 October 2021
| ||
| Naglis Dunčikas | Lock | Azuolas Kaunas
|
v. Germany, 30 October 2021
| ||
| Airidas Savickas | Lock | RK Vairas Šiauliai
|
v. Ukraine, 23 October 2021
| ||
| Domantas Tautkus | Back row | 2 June 1993 (age 28) | Azuolas Kaunas
|
v. Germany, 30 October 2021
| |
| Deniss Aleksejevs | Back row | RK Geležinis Vilkas
|
v. Ukraine, 23 October 2021
| ||
| Kęstutis Riskus | Back row | RK Vairas Šiauliai
|
v. Ukraine, 23 October 2021
| ||
| Alanas Alasauskis | Centre | Azuolas Kaunas
|
v. Ukraine, 23 October 2021
| ||
| Rokas Lipnickas | RK Vairas Šiauliai
|
v. Germany, 30 October 2021
| |||
| Domas Malinauskas | Azuolas Kaunas
|
v. Ukraine, 23 October 2021
|
Current coaching staff
editThe current coaching staff of the Lithuanian national team:[4]
| Name | Nationality | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Austeja Minkeviciute | LTU |
Manager |
| Gediminas Marcišauskas | LTU |
Head coach |
| Zygimantas Radzius | LTU |
Assistant coach |
| Dr Liutkus | LTU |
Team doctor |
| Arūnas Auga | LTU |
Physiotherapist |
| Mantvydas Tveraga | LTU |
Water Carrier |
Former coaches
edit| Name | Years | Tests | Won | Drew | Lost | Win percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Verbickas
|
2021 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0% |
| Gediminas Marcišauskas
|
2021 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50% |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Lithuania set new Rugby World Record". International Rugby Board. 2010-04-26. Archived from the original on 2012-05-06. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
- ^ "Cyprus on verge of historic win". Scrum.com. 2013-03-15. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
- ^ "Switzerland vs Lithuania game sheet" (PDF). Rugby Europe. 14 November 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ "Switzerland vs Lithuania Game Sheet" (PDF). www.rugbyeurope.eu. Rugby Europe. 14 November 2021.
External links
edit- Lietuvos Regbio Federacija - Official Site (in Lithuanian)