Winter Wonder Land

Finland Earned Worldwide Infamy In 2011 As The Worst Rugby Team In The World. But Eight Years On The Picture Has Changed Dramatically Says Charlie Inglefield.

They’re the world’s worst rugby team – but the players think otherwise in a happy place.”

This was a headline article written by the Associated Press and published by the New Zealand Herald on 26 September 2011.

The All Blacks at the time were marching triumphantly through the pool stages and on towards a second World Cup title.

Other prominent media outlets like CBS also joined in the bashing of Finnish rugby. Stephen Whittaker, who was the captain of the national team at the time fronted up with a sense of humour to the negative press.

As all eyes descend on Japan later this year for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, it should be noted that Finland are no longer the world’s worst rugby team (for the record they are 99th out of 104 nations).

Isaac Visser, the former national coach, who was playing alongside Whittaker in 2011, said that the coverage actually worked in Finland’s favour.

“Somebody had to be the bottom of the world and it was us. We were amazed by the amount of coverage we got. People had previously no idea that Finland played rugby.”

Eight years on from those headlines and Finland have improved both on and off the pitch.

It has been a collective effort that has seen both ex-pats and native Finns come together to set up a more professional and sustainable structure.

This meant being more professional on and off the pitch. Stevan Thorne, a former board member of the FRF (Finnish Rugby Federation) who now mentor’s Finland’s referees, explains this further.

“Yes, we are amateur but that does not mean being amateur in our approach. We have marketers like myself, entrepreneurs and good business people.”

Significant changes started to happen back in 2008 when the FRF appointed a new board as Thorne remembers.