Indonesia national rugby union team explained

Indonesia
Nickname:The Rhinos
Badge:IRFU_logo.jpg
Badge Size:175px
Emblem:Javan rhinoceros
Union:Indonesian Rugby Union Federation
Home Stadium:Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex
Coach:Vacant
Captain:Daniel Nugroho
Most Caps:Daniel Nugroho (21)
Top Scorer:Kirk Arundale (107)
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World Rugby Rank:109
World Rugby Rank Date:31 July 2024
World Rugby Max:97
World Rugby Max Year:2014
World Rugby Min:109
First Game:Cambodia 30–12 Indonesia
(Phnom Penh, Cambodia; June 27, 2006)
Largest Win:Indonesia 55–3 Cambodia
(Jakarta, Indonesia; June 19, 2008)
Largest Loss:Indonesia 10–63 China
(Jakarta, Indonesia; June 23, 2019)
World Cup Apps:none

The Indonesia national rugby union team represents Indonesia in rugby union. They are nicknamed the "Rhinos". The team is a full member of World Rugby. They have yet to play in the Rugby World Cup. The Indonesian squad was formed in 2006 to attend the IRB sanctioned Six Division Asian Rugby Football Tournament between Brunei, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia. They currently compete in Division 3 South-East in the Asian Rugby Football Union.

The national side is ranked 109th in the world (as of 31 July 2024).[1]

History

See also: Rugby union in Indonesia.

Early years (1975-1986)

Rugby was first introduced in Indonesia during the Dutch colonial period.[2] In March 1976, an Indonesian Sevens squad, alongside twelve other nations, participated in the inaugural Hong Kong Sevens tournament.[3] Indonesia returned to Hong Kong again for the 1976 tournament where they lost to Tonga in the plate final.[4] Indonesia continued to participate in the tournament until 1986, after which interest began to wane.[2]

ARFU Division 6 (2004-2008)

In the early to mid 2000s, rugby made a resurgence in Indonesia.[5] In 2004, the Indonesian Rugby Football Union was formed and on 27 June 2006 the first ever Indonesian XVs game was played against Cambodia during the first Division 6 ARFU regional tournament in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Indonesia would lose their début test match 30-7. In 2007, Singapore rugby's Ismail Kadir and Justin Sampson took over coaching duties. Later that year, the Rhinos returned once again to the Asian Division 6 Championships in Brunei, recording wins against Laos 17-3 and Cambodia 11-10.[6] Indonesia then went on to defeat tournament hosts Brunei 28-13, taking home the series as well as the Darussalam Cup.[7]

In July 2008, the Rhinos won the HSBC a5n Regional Tournament, which was played at the Universitas Pelita Harapan, Jakarta, Indonesia.[8] The Rhinos defeated Laos 23-11 and Cambodia 55-3 in front of an appreciative home crowd,.[9] The Rhinos finished their time in ARFU Division 6 with an impressive 88% Win–loss record (7 wins, 1 loss), thus earning a promotion Division 3.

ARFU Division 3 (2009- present)

In 2009, Indonesia's coaching staff of Kadir and Sampson was expanded to include former Wallabies player Duncan Hall, who had previously held the head coaching job for the USA national team. In July 2009, Indonesia made their debut in Division 3 at the 2009 Asian Five Nations. In the tournament, the Rhinos recorded two consecutive losses, falling 3-23 to Guam and 13-48 to Iran.[10]

In the years that followed, Indonesia would lose three more matches in the upper tier division before finally posting their first win on 25 June 2011 against Pakistan 20-19 during the 2011 A5N divisional series in Jakarta.[11] Following that win, Indonesia went on to win two of its next four matches, including a thumping win over China 37-13 in Malaysia in 2014. A year later, the Rhinos would face China a second time in the 2014 A5n opener, losing a highly contested match by a four-point differential. Two days later, an 11-10 win against Laos would secure a third-place finish in the series.

In 2015, the rebranded Asia Rugby Championship returned once again to Jakarta where Indonesia faced Guam in the series opener. This would mark Indonesia's first match at home since they defeated Pakistan three years prior.[12] The Rhinos would go winless in the series, first losing the opener to Guam and later China. In 2016 Indonesia would play just one test match against Loas, losing by a large margin, 12-48.

In 2019, the IRFU named former Rhinos veteran and captain Bobby Orlando as head coach for the 2019 Asia Rugby Championship series where Indonesia competed in the newly formed Division 3 South-East division along with India and China. On June 23, Indonesia fell in the tournament opener to a strong Chinese side 63—10,[13] with the Rhino's lone try coming from veteran captain Daniel Nugroho.[14]

Current squad

2019 Asia Rugby Championships roster

Coaches and captaincy

Current coaching staff

PositionName
Head coachVacant
Assistant coach
Backs coach
Forwards coach

Previous head coaches

Indonesia coaches by date, matches and win percentage
CoachPeriod
Nico de Ribas2006
Ismail Kadir2007–2009
Duncan Hall2010–2011
Jamie Johnston2012–2013
Simon Jones2014–2015
J. P. Koen2016
Bobby Orlando2019–2021
Total (2006–present)

Team Captains

Year(s)Name
2006 Nelson Joku
2007 Fikri Al-Azhar
2008 Bobby Orlando
2009–2010 Kirk Arundale
2011 Bobby Orlando
2012–2015 Daniel Nugroho
2016 Stephen Field
2019– Daniel Nugroho

Records

Asian Rugby Championship record

YearDivisionResultPWLDW-L%PFPAPDNotes
2006Regional2nd7360+13
2007Regional1st5628+28
2008South-East1st7817+64promotion
2009Division 34th1371-58
2010Division 34th2362-39
2011Division 33rd4351-8
2012Division 33rd3045-15
2013Division 33rd5246+6
2014Division 3 East3rd1720-3
2015Division 3 East4th2764-37
2016Division 3 East2nd1248-36
2017Division 3 East---------DNP
2018Division 3 East---------DNP
2019Division 3 South-East4th22105-83
Total443617-224

Overall Test record by opponent

OpponentPlayedWonLostDrawnWin %PFPAPD
6534+31
7343+30
97165-68
54160-107
1242-30
1348-35
8536+49
4439+5
Total443567-124

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: World Rugby Rankings . July 31, 2024 .
  2. Web site: Wes. Clark. Islam and Rugby . The Rugby Reader's Review (wesclark.com) . 2 July 2009.
  3. Web site: James. Porteus. How it all began: A jewel discovered. 6 March 2015 . 13 June 2019. South China Morning Post.
  4. Web site: Emil. Signes. History of the Hong Kong Sevens. 11 June 2019. www.rugby7.com.
  5. Web site: Shesar. Andriawan . Introducing Rugby in Indonesia: Already Played Since 30 Years Ago. 3 September 2013. 28 June 2019. www.beritasatu.com.
  6. Web site: Staff. Brunei vs Indonesia - Summary Asian Rugby Championship 2007. 18 July 2007. 11 June 2019. www.espn.co.uk.
  7. Web site: Geoffrey. Gold. Indonesia wins Borneo Cup and Asian Nations Series. 25 July 2007. 13 June 2019. www.aipsmedia.com.
  8. Web site: Staff. A5N Division II set for kick-off. 10 June 2008. 11 June 2019. www.espn.co.uk.
  9. Web site: Staff. Indonesia vs Cambodia - Summary Asian Rugby Championship 2008. 19 July 2008. 11 June 2019. www.espn.co.uk.
  10. Web site: Staff. Indonesia Results - 2009. 2007. 11 June 2019. www.espn.co.uk.
  11. Web site: Staff. Indonesia vs Pakistan - Match Statistics . 25 June 2011. 15 June 2019. www.espn.co.uk.
  12. Web site: Staff. Indonesia to Open Home Rugby Tournament Against Guam . 5 June 2015. 15 June 2019. Jakarta Globe.
  13. Web site: Staff. China storm to Division III ES title. 26 June 2019. 26 June 2019. www.asiarugby.com.
  14. Web site: Staff. Asia Rugby Championship Div 3ES 2019 Fixtures & Results. 23 June 2019. 26 June 2019. www.asiarugby.com.