Armenia national rugby union team
 | |||
| Union | Rugby Federation of Armenia | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground(s) | Abovyan City Stadium | ||
| Coach(es) |
 Laurent Hairabetian (player-coach) | ||
| Captain(s) | Alain Tchurukdichian | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 Armenia 36 – 6 Norway  (2 June 2004) | |||
| Largest win | |||
Armenia 48 – 0 Israel  (5 June 2004) | |||
| Largest defeat | |||
 Sweden 24 – 0 Armenia (21 October 2006) | |||
| Official website | |||
|
www | |||
The Armenian national rugby union team has recently begun playing in the European Nations Cup. The team is unexpectedly strong due to the large Armenian diaspora in France (as well as other traditionally strong rugby nations). So the team has drawn many players, coaches, and trainers from this experienced pool. The team was undefeated since debuting in European competition in 2004 until 1 October 2006, when they lost to Switzerland 16–29 in Vienne (France). The coach is Laurent Hairabetian.
The loss to Switzerland was Armenia's first loss in international rugby since they began playing tests in 2004. Prior to that loss they had won ten tests in a row progressing up the FIRA-AER divisions until reaching Division 3A in the European Nations Cup tournament. After the loss to Switzerland Armenia then lost 0–24 to Sweden on 21 October 2006. With the revamping of the competition structure Armenia will stay in this division for two seasons, playing home-away matches against Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Serbia.
Results so far in the second round have been impressive. Armenia has defeated Sweden 16–12 (1 September 2007) and Switzerland 28–15 (6 October 2007) to be placed in the middle of the competition table.
Recent squad
- Laurent Hairabetian
- Pierre-Alexandre Vignon
- Laurent Bedrossian
- Eric Laurent
- Vinsent Semirdjian
- Taron Bagdassarian
- Adam Keenor
- Robin Melkonian
- Connor Williams
- Gregory Ounjian
- Johnatan Torossian
- Sergey Budagyan
- Tim Newth
- Jaque Boghossian
- Gareth Burkitt
- Vincent Makinadjian
- Alexandre Tchurukdichian
- Sébastien ADAMKIEWICZ
Undefeated streak (2004–2006)
- 2 June 2004 : Armenia 36 – 6 Norway (Div. 3C)
- 5 June 2004 : Armenia 48 – 0 Israel (Div. 3C)
- 20 October 2004 : Armenia 24 – 11 Belgium (friendly match)
- 7 April 2005 : Armenia 47 – 15 Israel (Div. 3)
- 11 June 2005 : Armenia 31 – 12 Israel (Div. 3)
- 1 October 2005 : Armenia 39 – 12 Luxembourg (Div. 3B/C Playoff)
- 12 November 2005 : Armenia 57 – 17 Bulgaria (Div. 3B)
- 29 April 2006 : Armenia 24 – 13 Hungary (Div. 3B)
- 13 May 2006 : Armenia 42 – 6 Slovenia (Div. 3B)
- 4 June 2006 : Armenia 18 – 3 Lithuania (Div. 3B)
2006–2008 European Nations Cup
| Date | Match | Location | Result |
| 30 September 2006 | Armenia – Switzerland | Vienne | 16–29 |
| 21 October 2006 | Sweden – Armenia | Helsingborg | 24–0 |
| 7 April 2007 | Denmark – Armenia | Odense | 3–11 |
| 1 September 2007 | Armenia – Sweden | Bourgoin-Jallieu | 16–12 |
| 6 October 2007 | Armenia – Switzerland | Nyon | 28–15 |
| 12 April 2008 | Armenia – Denmark | Abovyan | 24–13 |
| 10 May 2008 | Armenia – Serbia | Abovyan | 25–0 |
| 12 April 2008 | Armenia – Serbia | Belgrade | 8–19 |
FIRA-AER, ENC Division 3A standings[1]
| MJ | V | N | D | Diff | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sweden | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 87 | 22 |
| 2. Armenia | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 18 |
| 3. Switzerland | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 16 |
| 4. Serbia | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −69 | 13 |
| 5. Denmark | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | −55 | 11 |
Latest results and fixtures
- Armenia 26 – 17 Andorra
03/04/2010 – Abovyan, Republic of Armenia, 14:00 (GMT +4)
- Armenia 20 – 19 Serbia
10/04/2010 – Abovyan, Republic of Armenia, 14:00 (GMT +4)
See also
- Rugby union in Armenia
- Sports in Armenia
External links
- An article on the Armenian national rugby team
- The Official Website of the Team
- The Official Website of the Federation
- Armenia on IRB.com
- Pictures of the Team in Armenia