Pride has been put back into Finnish rugby

ON the eve of the All Blacks winning the 2011 World Cup, Finland were announced as ‘officially the world’s worst rugby team” by The New Zealand Herald.

Finnish rugby’s representatives, led by technical director Stephen Whittaker, kept their sense of humour, and went about changing that stat.

The facts were true as Finnish rugby was then almost entirely expat-led with limited structure, resource or players. Rugby was a Saturday afternoon’s run around to keep the chill out and prepare for the evening’s festivities.

Eight years on Finland have improved both on and off the pitch. They have moved up the ladder to 99th (out of 104 official nations) but that does not tell the story of their progress.

Even now rugby is still virtually unknown in Finland. Chairman of Finnish Rugby George Mossford said: “In Jyväskylä, we played a match beside a ski resort with people watching rugby with their skis on, some were mesmerized as they had never seen rugby before.”

It has moved forward primarily due to the efforts of Whittaker and Mossford. They go beyond the call to keep what little funding they have sustainable to develop the game.

Player recruitment, skill levels and facilities are the top priorities.

Tumppi Finell is Finland’s most capped player and has seen dramatic change from when he started in 2002. He said: “The games I played in back then were crazy. No one knew how to pass the ball or tackle. The skill levels are different now.”

Getting kids interested in rugby and keeping them away from Finland’s mainsports like ice hockey requires Whittaker to spend countless hours in schools. “We occasionally get invited back but a lot of teachers don’t focus on sport,” he adds.

Having beaten Denmark, above them in the ranking, Whittaker believes letting the Finns spread the rugby gospel is the way forward.

“We fielded a team in Norway recently that had one expat player. That was a massive milestone.”