Poland

Nickname(s)	Biało-czerwoni (The White and Reds)
Emblem	Eagle
Union	Polski Związek Rugby
Head coach	Christian Hitt
Captain	Piotr Zeszutek
Most caps	Stanislaw Więciorek (65)
Top scorer	Janusz Urbanowicz (205)
Home stadium	Narodowy Stadion Rugby Stadion ŁKS Stadion Widzewa
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	34 (as of 20 March 2023)
Highest	25 (2012, 2013)
Lowest	42 (2010)
First international
Poland 9–8 East Germany (Łódź, Poland 24 August 1958)
Biggest win
Poland 74–0 Norway (Riga, Latvia 24 September 1994)
Biggest defeat
Portugal 65–3 Poland (Gdansk, Poland 11 February 2023)
Website	www.pzrugby.pl

Men's World Rugby Rankings Top 30 as of 25 December 2023[1]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		South Africa	094.54
2		Ireland	090.57
3		New Zealand	089.80
4		France	087.81
5		England	085.46
6		Scotland	083.43
7		Argentina	080.68
8		Wales	080.64
9		Australia	077.48
10		Fiji	076.38
11		Italy	075.93
12		Japan	074.27
13		Portugal	072.78
14		Georgia	072.68
15		Samoa	072.23
16		Tonga	071.57
17		United States	067.94
18		Uruguay	067.39
19		Romania	063.28
20		Spain	062.86
21		Canada	060.90
22		Namibia	060.56
23		Chile	060.49
24		Hong Kong	059.80
25		Russia	058.06
26		Switzerland	056.29
27		Netherlands	055.84
28		Brazil	055.37
29		Belgium	054.58
30		South Korea	053.46
* Change from the previous week
Poland's historical rankings
See or edit source data.
Source: World Rugby[1] Graph updated to 25 December 2023

The Poland national rugby union team (Polish: Reprezentacja Polski w rugby) represents Poland in men's international rugby union competitions. Nicknamed The White and Reds (Biało-czerwoni), is considered one of the stronger tier 3 teams in European rugby and currently compete in the second division of the Rugby Europe International Championships in the Rugby Europe Trophy, a competition which is just below the Rugby Europe Championship where the top 6 countries in Europe (apart from the teams in the 6 nations) compete. They are yet to participate in any Rugby World Cup and often play in white with red shorts as well as in red with white shorts.

History

Poland made their international debut against East Germany in 1958 in Łódź, which they won by just one point, 9–8. Later that year they played West Germany in Krasnoyarsk, who defeated them 11–3. The following year they played two matches at Dinamo Stadion in Bucharest, defeating Czechoslovakia and then losing to Romania. Poland continued to contest internationals with these nations over the coming years.

They defeated East Germany in Grimma the 1971, this was followed by strong form from the Polish, winning matches against the Netherlands, Morocco, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. In 1975 Poland played Italy in Treviso, and lost 13–28. In 1977 Poland played a France XV again, and lost 9–26; also that year they played Italy, and lost by only six points, with the final score being 6–12. They played a France XV again in 1978, losing 24–35. They also defeated Spain that year.

Poland played Italy in 1979, losing 3–13, and then played a France XV the following year, though they did not perform as well as previous meetings, losing 42–0. A subsequent match against a France XV in 1981 saw the France XV defeat Poland 49–6. A match between the two sides in 1984 produced a good result for the Polish, losing 19–3. A match against the Italian Barbarians the following year produced the same scoreline.

In 1987 Poland played two Italian teams, the Italian Barbarians and Italy under-21, although they lost to the Barbarians, they won against the under-21 team. Poland did not play at the 1987 World Cup. In 1990 they played the full Italy team in Naples, losing 34–3. Poland did not play in the 1991 World Cup in England. From 1992 to 1993 Poland won six matches in a row. Russia won five to 41 in a following match.

Poland played Italy A, but lost 19–107. Poland also played Romania in 1998, losing 74–13. Poland were grouped in Pool D of round two of the 2007 Rugby World Cup European qualify tournament. Poland performed very well in the pool, winning all four of their games, and finishing at the top of the pool. This saw them through to Pool A of Round three, but they were knocked out here, finishing fourth in the pool.

Record

World Cup

World Cup record									World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A		P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	Not Invited								Not Invited
1991	did not qualify								3	1	0	2	61	79
1995									2	1	0	1	28	47
1999									4	1	0	3	58	152
2003									6	5	0	1	177	109
2007									8	5	0	3	188	180
2011									7	3	0	4	94	118
2015									10	5	0	5	208	183
2019									5	3	0	2	73	73
2023									Automatically eliminated
Total	0/9	0	0	0	0	0	0		45	24	0	21	941	862

Overall

Updated on 19 March 2022, after match with  Belgium.

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	% Won
Andorra	5	5	0	0	100%
Belgium	14	8	5	1	57,14%
Bulgaria	1	1	0	0	100%
Croatia	3	2	1	0	66.67%
Czechoslovakia	22	11	10	1	50%
Czech Republic	14	7	6	1	50%
Denmark	3	3	0	0	100%
East Germany	2	1	1	0	50%
France	1	0	1	0	0%
France A1	2	0	2	0	0%
France XV	6	0	6	0	0%
Georgia	2	2	0	0	100%
Germany	12	6	6	0	50%
Italy	9	1	7	1	11.11%
Italy A	1	0	1	0	0%
Latvia	4	4	0	0	100%
Lithuania	1	1	0	0	100%
Madagascar	1	0	1	0	0%
Malta	3	3	0	0	100%
Moldova	10	4	5	1	40%
Morocco	13	11	2	0	84.62%
Netherlands	21	12	8	1	57.14%
Norway	1	1	0	0	100%
Portugal	11	3	8	0	27.27%
Romania	16	0	16	0	0%
Romania A	1	0	1	0	0%
Russia	4	0	4	0	0%
Serbia and Montenegro	1	1	0	0	100%
Spain	16	6	10	0	37.5%
Sri Lanka	1	0	1	0	0%
Sweden	15	13	1	1	86.67%
Switzerland	7	4	3	0	57.14%
Tunisia	6	4	2	0	66.67%
Ukraine	14	3	11	0	21.43%
Soviet Union	21	1	20	0	4.76%
West Germany	7	4	3	0	57.14%
Yugoslavia	2	0	2	0	0%
Total	271	122	142	7	45.02%

Recent Matches

Matches
9 October 2021 12:50 EEST (UTC +3) (1 LBP) Ukraine  24–27  Poland Report Yunist Stadion, Lviv Attendance: 2,000 Referee: John Catteau (Belgium)
13 November 2021 13:00 CET (UTC+01) Poland  21–16  Germany (1 LBP) Report Narodowy Stadion Rugby, Gdynia Referee: Saba Abulashvili (Georgia)
20 November 2021 14:30 CET (UTC+01) Poland  37–25   Switzerland Try: Cooke 7' Haznar 33' Zeszutek 75' Con: Piotrowicz 34', 75' Pen: Piotrowicz 4', 17', 30', 57', 62', 71' Report Try: Rohrig 24' Vial 38' Roberson 80' Con: Porcher 24', 39' Pen: Porcher 53', 68' Stadion Miejski, Warsaw Referee: Eki Fanlo (Spain)

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2021–22 Rugby Europe Trophy match against Switzerland on 20th November 2021.^[2]

Head Coach: Christian Hitt

Caps updated: 22nd November 2021, after match with Switzerland.

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

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Kamil Bobryk	Hooker	(1984-02-09) 9 February 1984	48	CS Vienne
Grzegorz Buczek	Hooker	(1986-05-17) 17 May 1986	22	RC Lechia Gdańsk
Thomas Fidler	Prop	(1986-10-22) 22 October 1986	7	Ogniwo Sopot
Radosław Bysewski	Prop	(1993-12-03) 3 December 1993	25	Ogniwo Sopot
Quentin Cieslinski	Prop	(1997-06-28) 28 June 1997	2	ASV Lavaur
Sylwester Gąska	Prop	(2002-02-22) 22 February 2002	4	Ogniwo Sopot
Edward Krawiecki	Lock	(1995-01-01) 1 January 1995	7	Bromsgrove RFC
Mateusz Bartoszek	Lock	(1990-01-20) 20 January 1990	38	RC Bassin d'Arcachon
Krystian Olejek	Lock	(1995-11-28) 28 November 1995	3	Pogoń Siedlce
Michał Krużycki	Lock	(2000-11-28) 28 November 2000	33	RC Lechia Gdańsk
Jan Cal	Back row	(1995-11-08) 8 November 1995	6	Skra Warsaw
Dawid Rubaśniak	Back row	(2000-09-03) 3 September 2000	5	Ebbw Vale
Piotr Zeszutek (c)	Back row	(1991-01-31) 31 January 1991	27	Ogniwo Sopot
Dawid Plichta	Scrum-half	(1992-01-26) 26 January 1992	20	Orkan Sochaczew
Mateusz Plichta	Scrum-half	(1997-09-04) 4 September 1997	16	Ogniwo Sopot
Wojciech Piotrowicz	Fly-half	(1990-03-23) 23 March 1990	18	Ogniwo Sopot
Daniel Gdula	Centre	(2001-01-08) 8 January 2001	18	RC Posnania
Michal Haznar	Centre	(1994-01-17) 17 January 1994	2	Griquas
Siokivaha Taufui Halaifuana	Centre	(2000-11-28) 28 November 2000	3	Skra Warsaw
Ross Cooke	Wing	(2000-01-01) 1 January 2000	7	Tynedale RFC
Stasio Maltby	Wing	(1998-11-28) 28 November 1998	4	Brighton Blues
Krystian Pogorzelski	Fullback	(1996-10-03) 3 October 1996	10	Master Pharm Rugby Łódź
Patryk Reksulak	Fullback	(1998-02-25) 25 February 1998	15	Master Pharm Rugby Łódź

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the squad within the last 12 months.

Player	Pos	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club	Latest call-up
Michał Gadomski	Prop	(1995-11-28) 28 November 1995	2	Orkan Sochaczew	v. Germany, 13 November 2021
Marcin Siemaszko	Prop	(1997-11-28) 28 November 1997	2	Juvenia Kraków	v. Germany, 13 November 2021
Adam Piotrowski	Lock	(1997-04-22) 22 April 1997		Ogniwo Sopot	v. Ukraine, 9 October 2021
Jakub Małecki	Lock	(1995-10-29) 29 October 1995	1	Burry Port RFC	v. Germany, 13 November 2021
Jędrek Nowicki	Fly half	(1999-06-04) 4 June 1999		CA Pontarlier	v. Ukraine, 9 October 2021
Szymon Sirocki	Wing	(2000-04-04) 4 April 2000	16	RC Arka Gdynia	v. Germany, 13 November 2021
Artur Fursenko		(2001-01-08) 8 January 2001		Orkan Sochaczew	v. Ukraine, 9 October 2021

Current coaching staff

The current coaching staff of the Polish national team:^[3]

Name	Nationality	Role
Maja Lindner	POL	Manager
Christian Hitt	WAL	Head coach
Morgan Stoddart	WAL	Assistant coach
Dr Bartosz Chudzik	POL	Team doctor
Karol Turlo	POL	Physiotherapist

Former coaches

See also

• Rugby union in Poland
• Polski Związek Rugby
• Poland national rugby sevens team
• Poland women's national rugby sevens team
• Sport in Poland

References

External links

• Polski Związek Rugby - Official Site (in Polish)
• Polish Rugby Portal (in Polish)