Costa Rica national rugby union team explained

Union:Federación de Rugby de Costa Rica (FRCR)
Nickname:Ticos
Captain:Leonardo Muñoz Recalde
Coach:Miguel Castillo
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Body1:FF0000
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World Rugby Rank:99
World Rugby Rank Date:4 November 2024
First Game: 60–0
(19 February 2005)
Largest Win: 91–5
(27 August 2017)
Largest Loss: 136–0
(25 September 2024)
World Cup Apps:0
World Rugby Max:93
World Rugby Max Date:23 November 2020
World Rugby Min:100
World Rugby Min Year:2024

The Costa Rica national rugby union team represents Costa Rica in international rugby union. The nation have yet to play in a Rugby World Cup tournament. The Costa Rica national rugby team played their first international in 2005 defeating their opponents Panama by 60–0.

In December, 2007, Costa Rica A & B sides participated in the First Central American Rugby cup. The other competing teams were Panama and Guatemala. Costa Rica A came first in this tournament, Panama 2nd, Guatemala 3rd, and Costa Rica B 4th.

In December 2009, Costa Rica hosted the IRB Consur B tournament. The other competing nations were Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Costa Rica. The final results were Colombia finishing first, Venezuela second, Peru third, and Costa Rica fourth.

After finishing fourth behind Peru, Venezuela and Colombia in the 2010 and 2011 CONSUR B tournaments, Costa Rica played in the newly created CONSUR C tournament in 2012. They won this tournament, beating Guatemala, Ecuador and El Salvador.

Overall Record

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by the Costa Rican national XV at test level up until 23 November 2019:

AgainstPlayedWonLostDrawn% Won
1 0 1 0 0%
1 0 1 0 0%
5 0 5 0 0%
7 3 3 1 %
6 4 2 0 %
5 2 2 1 %
1 0 1 0 0%
2 2 0 0 %
6 5 1 0 %
6 0 6 0 0%
4 0 4 0 0%
Total43 16 25 2 %

Players

Recent squad

In December 2012, Costa Rica played in the newly created CONSUR C tournament. They won this tournament, beating Guatemala by 37 to 10, Ecuador by 33 to 8 and El Salvador by 57 to 3.

This unprecedented achievement was the result a hardworking staff and a 5 months preparation during which more than 100 players were called for trials. Coach Francisco José "El Gordo Secret" Galarreta Apaestegui and his manager Wadya "Dr. Evil" Sauma put up a team united by personal sacrifice, friendship and a common dream that lead them into victory. The 2012 Costa Rican rugby union team demonstrated the country's rugby at its best, displaying some players from every union.

The 2012 CONSUR C 25-player squad:

Player Position Club
Marco BlancoProp Coronado RC
Guillermo LavariProp Stag RFC
Jefry VargasProp Cadejos RC
Marvin Taylor EbanksProp Montreal Irish RFC
Claudio CarrizoHooker Stag RFC
Alexis DevitreLock Universitarios Club de Rugby
Meyer Zúñiga FernándezLock Cartago RC
Hugo López PóvedaLock Cartago RC
Nicolas BroggiNo. 8 Universitarios Club de Rugby
Marlon Cerdas BlancoNo. 8 Coronado RC
Fernando Ramírez EsquivelFlanker Wák RC
Pierric BérosFlanker Stag RFC
Sebastián Gutiérrez del ValleScrum Half Stag RFC
Leonardo Muñoz RecaldeScrum Half Wák RC
Iván Bogantes MirandaFly Half Universitarios Club de Rugby
Ignacio MaquedaFly Half Stag RFC
Lucas WithingtonFly Half / Center Stag RFC
Rafael Ulloa BeecheCenter Wák RC
Franklin ZúñigaCenter Stag RFC
Rafael López PóvedaFull Back Cartago RC
Ariel ApuyFull Back Universitarios Club de Rugby
Juan José Mata ZúñigaWing Universitarios Club de Rugby
Gustavo PatiñoWing Cadejos RC
César SalasWing Cadejos RC
Byron Monge BenavidesWing Universitarios Club de Rugby

Coaches

Coach Tenure
Pablo Gonzales Lucas 2009
Charles 2010
Larry Grech 2011
Francisco José Galarreta Apaestegui 2012
Rodrigo Etchart 2020–2021
Rony Reperger 2022–2023
Miguel Castillo 2024–

External links