Madagascar national rugby union team

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The Madagascar national rugby union team represents Madagascar in the sport of rugby union. They are classified as a tier-three nation by the International Rugby Board (IRB), and have thus far not qualified for a Rugby World Cup, but have participated in qualifying tournaments to do so. They also compete annually in the Africa Cup, and were runners-up to Morocco in 2005.

[edit] History

Madagascar played their first ever international rugby match in 1970, where they met Italy in Tananarive, losing 9 points to 17. The second of the series of two games was also won by Italy, 6 points to 9. The team got their first international win during 1987 when they defeated Kenya 22 to 16.

During 2001 Madagascar competed in the Africa qualification tournaments for the 2003 Rugby World Cup to be held in Australia. They started off in Pool B of Round 1, where they contested matches against Botswana and Swaziland. They won both their games and finished at the top of the pool to advance to the next round. In Round 2 they defeated Kenya and Cameroon to secure the top finish and advance to Round 3, which took place in 2002. Madagascar made their exit in Round 3, losing to Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Madagascar attempted to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. They started off in Pool 2 of Round 1b of the qualifying tournament, where they were grouped with Kenya and Uganda. After drawing with Kenya, they lost to Uganda and finished third in the standings, knocking them out of qualification. They were semi-finalists at the 2006 Africa Cup.

[edit] External links

• Madagascar on IRB.com
• Madagascar on rugbydata.com