The Iran national rugby union team (Persian: تیم ملی راگبی یونیون ایران) is a sporting side that represents Iran in rugby union and is controlled by the I.R. Iran Rugby Federation. The I.R. Iran Rugby Federation is a member of World Rugby and the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU).[1]
 | |||
| Nickname | Team Melli | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Emblem | Faravahar | ||
| Union | Iran Rugby Federation | ||
| Head coach | Alireza Fazlollah Arabi | ||
| Captain | Soroush Mohammad Hoseini Nokhandan | ||
| Home stadium | Azadi Training Pitch 4 | ||
| |||
| World Rugby ranking | |||
| Current | 95 (as of 4 November 2024) | ||
| Highest | 94 (2023) | ||
| First international | |||
 Iran 22–11 Pakistan  (18 August 2007) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Iran 52–3 China  (2 June 2012) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Malaysia 48–10 Iran (4 June 2013) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 0 | ||
The team currently competes in Division 3 (West) of the Asian Rugby Championship.
History
editOn August 18, 2007, Iran played its first international friendly as part of the Pakistan Tour and won 22–11 in Lahore, Pakistan.[2]
Results summary
editTheir test match record against all nations (listed alphabetically), updated to April 19, 2016, is as follows:
| Against | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | %Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Chinese Taipei |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0% |
 Guam |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 India |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Indonesia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Jordan |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Kyrgyzstan |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Lebanon |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| Malaysia |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| Pakistan |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Philippines |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0% |
 Qatar |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0% |
 Thailand |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50% |
 Uzbekistan |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Total | 21 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 61.9% |
Honours
edit- 2007 IRB Singer Rugby Asiad Shield Championship
- 2008 Asian Five Nations Central Asia Regional tournament Champions[3]
- 2010 Asian Five Nations Division III tournament Champions
- 2013 West Asia Championship in Dubai
Coaches
edit
Sadegh Nabidoust (2007)- Emil Vartazarian (2007)
Rob Yule (2008–2009)- Sadegh Nabidoust (2010)
- Wayne Marsters (2010–2011)
- Sadegh Nabidoust (2011)
- Mahyar Askari (2012)
- Pedram Baniamerian (2013)
Liam Dunseath (2016)- Mahyar Askari 2019–present
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ "International Rugby Board - Iran becomes 118th IRB Member Union". Archived from the original on 2010-11-28. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
- ^ "Iran taking their rugby seriously". theroar.com. Retrieved 2007-08-18.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "International Rugby Board - Iran clinch central Asian tournament". Archived from the original on 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
External links
edit- I.R. Iran Rugby Federation Archived 2020-12-03 at the Wayback Machine
- Iran on WorldRugby.com
- Iran Archived 2009-09-13 at the Wayback Machine on RugbyData.com