South Africa national rugby league team information
Rugby league football team that represents South Africa
South Africa
Team information
Nickname
The Rhinos
Governing body
South African Rugby League
Region
Asia-Pacific
Head coach
Darryl Fisher
Captain
Shane Gillham
Home stadium
Brakpan Stadium
IRL ranking
25th
Uniforms
First colours
Team results
First international
Great Britain 49 – 30 South Africa (Durban, South Africa; 23 August 1962)
Biggest win
Brazil 0 – 82 South Africa (Noosa, Australia; 5 June 2022)
Biggest defeat
Australia 86 – 6 South Africa (Gateshead, England; 10 October 1995)
World Cup
Appearances
2 (first time in 1995)
Best result
Group stage, 1995, 2000
The South Africa national rugby league team (Afrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse nasionale rugbyleaguespan) to date have competed at two Rugby League World Cups in 1995 and 2000.
Rugby league was originally introduced to South Africa in the 1950s with the staging of several series tournaments within the country that saw fixtures between the English and the French however this concept failed to generate the needed interest and was not upheld. The South Africans did not see further international rugby league until the 1960s where the first national side undertook fixtures against the visiting British and a tour to Australia. From the 1960s onwards the international fixture list for the South Africans was minimal and it was not until the early 1990s when they began to play with some lasting regularity.
Since they began playing international rugby league South Africa have always found it difficult to compete against the more established nations and so progress and improvement have been slow. Possibly their greatest achievement to date has been the qualification and participation in two World Cups in both 1995 and 2000 where South Africa failed to win a fixture after being seeded in tough groups at both tournaments where they had to play world champions Australia along with England, Fiji, France, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.
South Africa traditionally play in a predominately green uniform with black shorts, they have commonly been referred to as The Rhinos since the early 1990s. The South African emblem is a red and yellow King Protea plant which is the national flower of South Africa. South African internationals are played at a variety of venues throughout the country with no singular home ground being used.
It has often been said that South Africa has great potential for rugby league, but the sport has a relatively low profile in the country with rugby union being the predominant and more established code. This is exacerbated by the fact that very few schools offer rugby league as an extracurricular activity and there are relatively few youth clubs. The popularity of the South Africa national rugby union team and South Africa national rugby sevens team in the country further hinders the development of rugby league as potential players are groomed to play in the national and provincial Rugby union teams and the national Rugby sevens team from a young age.
and 29 Related for: South Africa national rugby league team information
Rugbyleague is a team sport played in SouthAfrica. There has been three dynasties of rugbyleague in SouthAfrica that attempted to establish a thriving...
United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, SouthAfrica, and Wales...
This is a history of the SouthAfricanationalrugbyleagueteam. Rugbyleague would first gain attention in SouthAfrica when the English and French would...
The Australian nationalrugbyleagueteam, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugbyleague football competitions since the establishment...
significant role in SouthAfrican culture. The three most popular mainstream sports in the country — cricket, football and rugby — reflect the country's...
previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and SouthAfrica. Super Rugby started as the Super 12 in the 1996 season with 12 teams from Australia, New...
was formed in 1998. South Africa portal Sports portal Rugbyleague in SouthAfricaSouthAfricanationalrugbyleagueteam "RLEF". Archived from the original...
The Fiji nationalrugbyleagueteam, nicknamed the Bati (pronounced [mˈbatʃi]), has been participating in international rugbyleague football since 1992...
consisting of four national governing bodies: the SouthAfricanRugby Union, New Zealand Rugby Union, Rugby Australia and the Argentine Rugby Union. The inaugural...
Rugby union in SouthAfrica is centrally administered by the SouthAfricanRugby Union, which consists of fourteen provincial unions – the Blue Bulls Rugby...
The France nationalrugbyleagueteam (French: équipe de France de rugby à XIII) represents France in international rugbyleague matches. They are referred...
Great Britain nationalrugbyleagueteam represents Great Britain in rugbyleague. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed...
The Queensland rugbyleagueteam represents the Australian state of Queensland in rugbyleague football. Nicknamed the "Maroons" after the colour of their...
The England nationalrugbyleagueteam represents England in international rugbyleague. The team, largely formed from the Great Britain team which also...
The Namibia nationalrugby union team represents Namibia in men's international rugby union competitions nicknamed the Welwitschias, are a tier-two nation...
Country New South Wales rugbyleagueteam is a representative rugbyleague football team. Between 1987 and 2017 there were two tiers: the Origin team that consisted...
LeagueRugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition for clubs in North America. In the 2023 season it was contested by twelve teams:...
Scotland nationalrugbyleagueteam represent Scotland in international rugbyleague football tournaments. Following the break-up of the Great Britain team in...
The Australia nationalrugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative nationalteam in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia...
Lebanon nationalrugbyleagueteam (Arabic: المنتخب اللبناني للرجبي ليغ, French: Équipe du Liban de rugby à XIII) represents Lebanon in rugbyleague football...
Global Information
Great Britain 49 – 30 South Africa 
Brazil 0 – 82 South Africa 
Australia 86 – 6 South Africa 
