Cyprus national rugby union team

The Cyprus national rugby union team is nicknamed "The Moufflons" after a kind of horned sheep which is also the republic's national animal, the Cypriot mouflon (Ovis orientalis ophion). It is featured on the 1, 2 and 5 euro cent coins as well. They have won 28 of their 30 games and hold the world record for the most consecutive international rugby union wins with 24, which was ended on 15 November 2014 as they lost to Latvia. They were controversially disqualified from the knock-out phase of the 2015 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers, as they did not meet the necessary membership criteria according to the International Rugby Board.[1]

 Cyprus

Union	Cyprus Rugby Federation
Nickname(s)	The Moufflons
Emblem(s)	Mouflon
Ground(s)	Pafiako Stadium, Paphos
President	Lavrentios Vasiliades
Coach(es)	Andrew Bikinos
Captain(s)	Luke Frixou
Most caps	Georgios Agathokleous (39)
Top scorer	Marcus Holden (272)
Most tries	Georgios Agathokleous (19)
Team kit Change kit
First international
Cyprus 39 – 3 Greece (24 March 2007)
Largest win
Bulgaria 3 – 94 Cyprus (28 May 2012)
Largest defeat
Latvia 31 – 3 Cyprus (7 November 2015)

History

See also: Rugby union in Cyprus

The first international game of the Cyprus Rugby National Team took place on 24 March 2007 against Greece in Paphos. The Cypriot XV won the game by 39-3 in front of 2,500 fans.[3]

In October and November 2007, Cyprus beat Azerbaijan, Monaco and Slovakia to win the 2006–08 European Nations Cup Division 3D, which was a great achievement in their first year on the international scene. However, they lost the play-off game for promotion to Division 3C for the 2008–10 European Nations Cup on 6 September 2008 against Israel by a score of 23-14. This was Cyprus' only loss in international rugby for 6 years.

The following season, Cyprus had another attempt to be promoted as they played Bosnia and Herzegovina, Azerbaijan and Monaco in a round-robin home-and-away basis. They managed to win every game scoring a total of 187 points and conceding only 17. They gained automatic promotion to Division 3B, although, for the following season, the divisions had changed numbers, so instead of moving to Division 3B, they were in fact in Division 2D.

The 2010–12 European Nations Cup saw Cyprus play in Division 2D (the lowest level of the second division) against Bulgaria, Finland, Greece and Luxembourg. They won all their games for the second consecutive year increasing their win success to 15 and making it two consecutive seasons and nearly four years unbeaten. They scored 4 or more tries in each of their games during the 2010–2012 season, including an emphatic 94–3 win over Bulgaria, and were promoted to Division 2C for 2012–2014.

Their 2012–14 European Nations Cup Division 2B campaign kicked off in style with a 54–20 win over Austria. They followed that win with consecutive home and away wins against Slovenia, Bulgaria and Hungary and also a home win over Austria. On 16 March 2013 ahead of their match against Bulgaria, Cyprus were aware of a potential world record of 18 games unbeaten which would overtake the official record of 17 games originally held by both New Zealand (between 1965 and 1969 and again between 2013 and 2014), South Africa (between 1997 and 1998) and Lithuania (between 2006 and 2010). They went on to win the match comfortably 79–10. A month later, Cyprus were informed that they would not be eligible to qualify for the 2015 Rugby World Cup and were disqualified by the International Rugby Board due to 'not meeting the necessary membership criteria'.

Cyprus are now playing in Division 2B for the 2014–16 European Nations Cup, where they are grouped with Lithuania, Latvia, Andorra and Hungary. They have currently played two games as of 15 November 2014. They won against Andorra 30–10 after trailing 10–0, which extended their world record to 24. They then lost 20-39 to Latvia in Riga on 15 November 2014. This was their first loss since losing to Israel in 2008, their second loss in all and also their biggest loss to date. Cyprus sit third in the table.

Motto

The Cyprus Rugby Federation has adopted as its motto the famous Spartan phrase:

Ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς, translating as "either with this or upon this", an idiom that effectively means victory or death. The origin of the motto is ancient Sparta and "this" refers to the shield. Spartans killed in battle were carried home on the shield, while those returning alive and victorious from battle would still have it. A soldier fleeing the battle would have to drop the shield.

Kit

Home

2013/14

Away

2013/14

Records

• World record for most consecutive international rugby union wins (24), which was ended by a 39-20 loss to Latvia on 15 November 2014.[2][3]
• World Record for most consecutive international rugby union wins by greater than a converted try (14). [4]
• World Record for most consecutive international rugby union wins by scoring 4 or more tries (11).
• Won 11 away games in a row.
• Won their last 17 home games.
• Won 10 consecutive games by 30+ points, which was ended by a 16-15 victory over Hungary.
• World Record for largest win in début match (39–3 v Greece in March 2007).
• Scored 1239 points and only conceded 296.
• 26 of their 28 wins were won by more than a converted try.
• Scored a try in every game they have played (30).

Home grounds

Until March 2010, Cyprus did not have a National Stadium, due to the poor recognition of the government they did not supply a stadium. Cyprus' first international was played in Paphos at Kiniras Sports ground. Then a further game at the same ground in the ENC 3D tournament against Slovakia. They then moved to the British Army base playing their games at Happy Valley in Episkopi. Now the national stadium has been recognised as Pafiako Stadium which is situated in the centre of Paphos. It holds a capacity of 10,000.

Ground	Record	Recent Win	Team	Recent Draw	Recent Loss
Pafiako Stadium, Paphos	77,8%	2018	Slovenia	N/A	6 May 2017
Happy Valley, Episkopi	100%	2009	Slovakia	N/A	N/A
Kiniras Sports Ground, Paphos	100%	2007	Slovakia	N/A	N/A

Cyprus Sevens

• Cyprus Sevens Team

International record

Since their first match in 2007, Cyprus have lost only 15 matches out of Fifty. They recorded their first win over Malta on 23 November by 18 to 16 to celebrate their 50th International, which now gives them a 70% winning ratio.

Cyprus are not a full member of the International Rugby Board, so none of their international matches count towards the IRB World Rankings.

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Competition
24 March 2007	Cyprus	39 – 3	Greece	Paphos	Friendly (First International)
29 October 2007	Cyprus	29 – 0	Azerbaijan	Paphos	2006-08 ENC 3D
31 October 2007	Cyprus	19 – 10	Monaco	Nicosia	2006-08 ENC 3D
3 November 2007	Cyprus	38 – 8	Slovakia	Paphos	2006-08 ENC 3D
6 September 2008	Israel	23 – 14	Cyprus	Netanya	2006-08 ENC 3C/3D Play-off
29 November 2008	Azerbaijan	3 – 37	Cyprus	Baku	2008-10 ENC 3D
6 December 2008	Cyprus	24 – 3	Monaco	Episkopi	2008-10 ENC 3D
14 March 2009	Cyprus	33 – 7	Slovakia	Episkopi	2008-10 ENC 3D
21 March 2009	Bosnia and Herzegovina	6 – 8	Cyprus	Zenica	2008-10 ENC 3D
14 November 2009	Monaco	5 – 44	Cyprus	Monaco	2008-10 ENC 3D
6 March 2010	Cyprus	59 – 0	Azerbaijan	Paphos	2008-10 ENC 3D
27 March 2010	Cyprus	15 – 0	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Paphos	2008-10 ENC 3D
20 November 2010	Greece	13 – 33	Cyprus	Athens	2010-12 ENC 2D
12 March 2011	Cyprus	55 – 8	Bulgaria	Paphos	2010-12 ENC 2D
26 March 2011	Cyprus	70 – 10	Finland	Paphos	2010-12 ENC 2D
7 May 2011	Luxembourg	0 – 50	Cyprus	Luxembourg	2010-12 ENC 2D
8 October 2011	Cyprus	48 – 7	Luxembourg	Paphos	2010-12 ENC 2D
28 April 2012	Bulgaria	3 – 94	Cyprus	Pernik	2010-12 ENC 2D
26 May 2012	Cyprus	72 – 5	Greece	Paphos	2010-12 ENC 2D
9 June 2012	Finland	5 – 52	Cyprus	Helsinki	2010-12 ENC 2D
17 November 2012	Austria	20 – 54	Cyprus	Vienna	2012-14 ENC 2C
8 December 2012	Cyprus	49 – 8	Slovenia	Paphos	2012-14 ENC 2C
16 March 2013	Cyprus	79 – 10	Bulgaria	Paphos	2012-14 ENC 2C
20 April 2013	Hungary	15 – 16	Cyprus	Esztergom	2012-14 ENC 2C
9 November 2013	Slovenia	3 – 34	Cyprus	Ljubljana	2012-14 ENC 2C
30 November 2013	Cyprus	22 – 8	Austria	Paphos	2012-14 ENC 2C
26 April 2014	Bulgaria	15 – 46	Cyprus	Sofia	2012-14 ENC 2C
17 May 2014	Cyprus	46 – 13	Hungary	Paphos	2012-14 ENC 2C
1 November 2014	Cyprus	30 – 10	Andorra	Paphos	2014-16 ENC 2B
15 November 2014	Latvia	39 – 20	Cyprus	Riga	2014-16 ENC 2B
28 March 2015	Hungary	15 – 17	Cyprus	Szazhalombatta	2014-16 ENC 2B
2 May 2015	Cyprus	20 – 26	Lithuania	Paphos	2014-16 ENC 2B
7 November 2015	Cyprus	3 – 31	Latvia	Paphos	2014-16 ENC 2B
28 November 2015	Andorra	22 – 13	Cyprus	Andorra la Vella	2014-16 ENC 2B
9 April 2016	Cyprus	15 – 3	Hungary	Paphos	2014-16 ENC 2B
23 April 2016	Lithuania	47 – 15	Cyprus	Vilnius	2014-16 ENC 2B
23 October 2016	Malta	31 – 3	Cyprus	Paola	2016-17 Conference 1 South
12 November 2016	Cyprus	28 – 38	Israel	Paphos	2016-17 Conference 1 South
11 February 2017	Andorra	15 – 14	Cyprus	Andorra la Vella	2016-17 Conference 1 South
6 May 2017	Cyprus	27 – 29	Croatia	Paphos	2016-17 Conference 1 South
11 November 2017	Cyprus	42 – 5	Austria	Paphos	2017-18 Conference 2 South
14 November 2017	Slovakia	6 – 38	Cyprus	Piestany	2017-18 Conference 2 South
24 March 2018	Cyprus	17 – 5	Slovenia	Paphos	2017-18 Conference 2 South
28 April 2018	Serbia	35 – 17	Cyprus	Belgrade	2017-18 Conference 2 South
20 October 2018	Croatia	46 – 24	Cyprus	Split	2018-19 Conference 1 South
10 November 2018	Cyprus	22 – 34	Israel	Paphos	2018-19 Conference 1 South
23 March 2019	Cyprus	10 – 37	Malta	Paphos	2018-19 Conference 1 South
6 April 2019	Bosnia and Herzegovina	22 – 23	Cyprus	Zenica	2018-19 Conference 1 South
19 October 2019	Cyprus	20 – 25	Croatia	Paphos	2018-19 Conference 1 South
23 November 2019	Malta	16 – 18	Cyprus	Paola	2018-19 Conference 1 South

Overall

Against	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points for	Points against	% Won
Andorra	3	1	2	0	57	47	33%
Austria	3	3	0	0	118	33	100%
Azerbaijan	3	3	0	0	125	3	100%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	3	3	0	0	46	28	100%
Bulgaria	4	4	0	0	274	36	100%
Finland	2	2	0	0	122	15	100%
Greece	3	3	0	0	144	21	100%
Croatia	3	0	3	0	71	100	0%
Hungary	4	4	0	0	94	46	100%
Israel	3	0	3	0	64	95	0%
Latvia	2	0	2	0	23	70	0%
Lithuania	2	0	2	0	35	73	0%
Luxembourg	2	2	0	0	98	7	100%
Monaco	3	3	0	0	87	18	100%
Slovakia	3	3	0	0	109	21	100%
Malta	3	1	2	0	31	84	33%
Serbia	1	0	1	0	17	35	0%
Slovenia	3	3	0	0	100	16	100%
Total	50	35	15	0	1615	748	70.00%

Coaches

Name	Years	Tests	Won	Drew	Lost	Win percentage
Niall Doherty	2007–2008	4	4	0	0	100%
Paul Shanks	2008–2014	24	23	0	1	96%
Phil Llewellyn	2014–2015	4	2	0	2	50%
Paul Shanks	2015–2015	1	0	0	1	0%
Alexander Zavallis	2015–2015	1	0	0	1	0%
Andrew Binikos	2016–2018	11	4	0	7	36%
Andrew Barnett	2018–	4	1	0	3	25%

Current squad

• Caps updated for 2018–19 Rugby Europe Conference.

Head Coach: Andrew Binikos

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province Antonis Thoma (captain) Hooker (1977-04-01) 1 April 1977 21 Paphos Tigers Constantinos Constantinides Hooker (1987-01-16) 16 January 1987 8 Limassol Crusaders Christo Kasabi Prop (1985-08-06) 6 August 1985 20 Enfield Ignatians Kyriacos Vatikiotis Prop (1988-10-13) 13 October 1988 10 Manchester Alexander Ioannou Prop (1988-11-30) 30 November 1988 6 Peterborough Lions RFC Marko Mladenovic Flanker (1990-12-24) 24 December 1990 11 Falkirk RFC Dan McFarlane Flanker (1989-01-25) 25 January 1989 13 Limassol Crusaders Chris Dicomidis Number 8 (1985-09-14) 14 September 1985 2 Pontypridd RFC Burhan Torgut Scrum-half (1990-11-27) 27 November 1990 8 UWIC Rugby Club Theo Gabrielides Scrum-half (1999-04-26) 26 April 1999 2 Richmond F.C. Ryan Bennett Scrum-half (1990-04-02) 2 April 1990 8 Charlton Park RFC Alexander Zavallis-Roebuck Fly-half (1990-09-20) 20 September 1990 6 Preston Grasshoppers George Agathocleous Centre (1982-01-23) 23 January 1982 21 Paphos Tigers Reno Ioannides Centre (1984-02-17) 17 February 1984 8 Montluçon Rugby Samuel Emery Centre (1991-04-05) 5 April 1991 7 CS Rugby 1863 Will Booth Centre (1990-12-28) 28 December 1990 1 Limassol Crusaders Andreas Zacharia Wing (1989-04-04) 4 April 1989 9 University of Lincoln Fidias Efthymiou Wing (1990-12-05) 5 December 1990 10 Dings Crusaders RFC Matt King Wing (1989-11-25) 25 November 1989 6 Macclesfield RFC Seyhan Fell Wing (1986-05-09) 9 May 1986 14 Folkestone RFC Marcus Holden Fullback (1987-08-22) 22 August 1987 17 Hilversum RC Staff Head Coach - Andrew Binikos Coach - Andrew Barnett Team Manager - Theo Lenos Sevens Coach - Under Review Cyprus 'A' Coach - Chris Thoma Recent call ups Vaki Antoniou - Maidstone FC Yiannis Loizia Marios Zakakiotis Stevie Awah Will Booth Robert Yiannakou - East London RFC Giovanni Francesco Dall'Amico - Limassol Crusaders Luke Peters - Portsmouth RFC Pantelis Stylianou - Sale FC See also Rugby union in Cyprus Cyprus Rugby Federation References "Cyprus denied Rugby World Cup chance". ESPN Scrum. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2014. "Cyprus clock up record breaking win". ESPN scrum. 16 March 2013. Archived from the original on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013. http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_92843 Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine "Most wins by greater than a converted try". ESPN Scrum. 16 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2019. External links Cyprus Rugby Federation Paphos Tigers - Member of Cyprus Rugby Federation Limassol Crusaders RFC Cyprus university RFC