Andorra national rugby union team
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| Union | Federació Andorrana de Rugby |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Els Isards |
| Coach(es) | Jeannot Martinho |
| Captain(s) | Jonathan Garcia |
| First international | |
 Andorra 24 – 3 Luxembourg  (1 July 1987) |
|
| Largest win | |
Andorra 76 – 3 Norway  (4 September 2004) |
|
| Largest defeat | |
Andorra 3 – 62 Spain  (8 November 1997) |
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The Andorra national rugby union team, nicknamed Els Isards (which is a Pyrenean Chamois) represent Andorra in international rugby union competitions. They are currently ranked 61st out of 100 Rugby playing nations by the International Rugby Board (IRB). They play most of their home games in Andorra la Vella, the country's capital, though have had some matches in Foix, which is in France.
They compete in the European Nations Cup, and are currently in the second division. As well as playing numerous friendlies they have also taken part in the qualification stages of the Rugby World Cup, competing in every tournament since 1995.
Andorra played their first rugby international in 1987 against Luxembourg. Andorra won the match 24–3.
Andorra first tried to qualify for the Rugby World Cup in 1995. They competed in the preliminary round in the west group of the European qualification. They defeated Denmark, but lost to Switzerland, and were knocked out.
Andorra also attempted to qualify for the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Andorra started off in Pool 3 of Round 1, and won all four of their fixtures, finishing at the top of the final standings to advance through to Round 2. However they were then knocked out of qualifying after Round 2 coming last in a five team group.
They competed in Pool B of Round 1 in attempting to qualify for the 2003 World Cup, but did not advance to the next stage coming third in a six team group.
The 2007 tournament saw many more fixtures and gained the small nation some greater publicity by playing in the first match of the tournament, beating Norway 76–3. They won a 2 leg match, came third in the ensuing five team group thus qualifying for a further 2 leg playoff, victory in which led to a further five team group in which they were last. Competing with the more populous Moldova, Netherlands, Spain and Poland, having beaten Norway, Hungary, Slovenia and Sweden certainly brought Andorra to the attention of more rugby followers, all in spite of a small population of just 70,000.
The popularity of football in Andorra has been on the decline due to a poor record at home and away. This has left room for Andorran rugby to rise out of the shadows. Mainly affected by the fanatical popularity of rugby in southern France, Els Isards continue to impress on the international stage. This has led to the rapid increase in the number of registered players in Andorra. Many are now suggesting that rugby in Andorra has grown to such an extent that it has now become the tiny nation's national sport.
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