Costa Rica national rugby union team

Costa Rica national rugby union team
NicknameTicos
UnionFederación de Rugby de Costa Rica (FRCR)
Head coachMiguel Castillo
CaptainLeonardo Muñoz Recalde
First colours
World Rugby ranking
Current99 (as of 4 November 2024)
Highest93 (23 November 2020)
Lowest100 (2024)
First international
  60–0 Panama 
(19 February 2005)
Biggest win
  91–5 Panama 
(27 August 2017)
Biggest defeat
 Colombia 136–0  
(25 September 2024)
World Cup
Appearances0
National Squads 2009 - 2012
Costa Rica in 2009

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:

Against Played Won Lost Drawn % Won
 Brazil 1 0 1 0 0%
 Cayman Islands 1 0 1 0 0%
 Colombia 5 0 5 0 0%
 Ecuador 7 3 3 1 42.86%
 El Salvador 6 4 2 0 66.67%
 Guatemala 5 2 2 1 40%
 Mexico 1 0 1 0 0%
 Nicaragua 2 2 0 0 100%
 Panama 6 5 1 0 83.33%
 Peru 6 0 6 0 0%
 Venezuela 4 0 4 0 0%
Total 43 16 25 2 37.21%

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 Blanco Prop Coronado RC
Guillermo Lavari Prop Stag RFC
Jefry Vargas Prop Cadejos RC
Marvin Taylor Ebanks Prop Montreal Irish RFC
Claudio Carrizo Hooker Stag RFC
Alexis Devitre Lock Universitarios Club de Rugby
Meyer Zúñiga Fernández Lock Cartago RC
Hugo López Póveda Lock Cartago RC
Nicolas Broggi No. 8 Universitarios Club de Rugby
Marlon Cerdas Blanco No. 8 Coronado RC
Fernando Ramírez Esquivel Flanker Wák RC
Pierric Béros Flanker Stag RFC
Sebastián Gutiérrez del Valle Scrum Half Stag RFC
Leonardo Muñoz Recalde Scrum Half Wák RC
Iván Bogantes Miranda Fly Half Universitarios Club de Rugby
Ignacio Maqueda Fly Half Stag RFC
Lucas Withington Fly Half / Center Stag RFC
Rafael Ulloa Beeche Center Wák RC
Franklin Zúñiga Center Stag RFC
Rafael López Póveda Full Back Cartago RC
Ariel Apuy Full Back Universitarios Club de Rugby
Juan José Mata Zúñiga Wing Universitarios Club de Rugby
Gustavo Patiño Wing Cadejos RC
César Salas Wing Cadejos RC
Byron Monge Benavides Wing 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–