The El Salvador national rugby league team (Spanish: rugby league equipo nacional de El Salvador), nicknamed El Trueno Azul (English: Blue Thunder), represents El Salvador in rugby league. They had their first international 9's tournament in 2015 in Australia along with Chile in Latin America at the Cabramatta International Nines.[1]
| ||||||
| Team information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | El Trueno Azul | |||||
| Governing body | - | |||||
| Region | - | |||||
| Head coach | Fredy Salvador Arteaga Figueroa | |||||
| Captain | Alvaro Alarcon | |||||
| Most caps | Eric Orellana | |||||
| Top try-scorer | Daniel Godinez (5) | |||||
| Top point-scorer | Alvaro Alarcon, Daniel Godinez (20) | |||||
| IRL ranking | 41st | |||||
| Team results | ||||||
| First international | ||||||
 Chile 58–20 El Salvador  (Sydney, Australia; 31 January 2015) | ||||||
| Biggest win | ||||||
 Colombia 10-48 El Salvador (Rochedale, Brisbane; 21 October 2018) | ||||||
| Biggest defeat | ||||||
| Chile 58–20 El Salvador (Sydney, Australia; 31 January 2015) | ||||||
| World Cup | ||||||
| Appearances | 0 (first time in -) | |||||
| Best result | - | |||||
History edit
| Official rankings as of 21 December 2023 | |||
| Rank | Change | Team | Pts % |
| 1 |  |
 Australia |
100.00 |
| 2 | |
 New Zealand |
91.00 |
| 3 |  1 |
 England |
74.00 |
| 4 |  1 |
 Samoa |
70.00 |
| 5 | |
 Tonga |
54.00 |
| 6 | |
 Papua New Guinea |
50.00 |
| 7 | |
 Fiji |
49.00 |
| 8 | 1 |
 France |
24.00 |
| 9 | 1 |
 Lebanon |
24.00 |
| 10 | 3 |
 Cook Islands |
22.00 |
| 11 | 1 |
 Serbia |
19.00 |
| 12 | 6 |
 Netherlands |
17.00 |
| 13 | 1 |
 Italy |
15.00 |
| 14 | 5 |
 Malta |
15.00 |
| 15 | 1 |
 Greece |
14.00 |
| 16 | 4 |
 Ireland |
14.00 |
| 17 | 6 |
 Wales |
13.00 |
| 18 | 3 |
 Jamaica |
10.00 |
| 19 | 2 |
 Scotland |
9.00 |
| 20 | 8 |
 Ukraine |
7.00 |
| 21 | 6 |
 Czech Republic |
7.00 |
| 22 | 1 |
 Germany |
6.00 |
| 23 | 10 |
 Philippines |
6.00 |
| 24 | 5 |
 Poland |
6.00 |
| 25 | 1 |
 South Africa |
5.00 |
| 26 | 4 |
Chile |
5.00 |
| 27 | 4 |
 Kenya |
0.00 |
| 28 | 6 |
 Norway |
4.00 |
| 29 | 6 |
 Nigeria |
4.00 |
| 30 | 6 |
 Ghana |
4.00 |
| 31 | 6 |
 Brazil |
4.00 |
| 32 | 12 |
 Turkey |
3.00 |
| 33 | 4 |
 United States |
3.00 |
| 34 | 1 |
 Bulgaria |
3.00 |
| 35 | 5 |
 Cameroon |
2.00 |
| 36 | 2 |
 Montenegro |
2.00 |
| 37 | 5 |
 Spain |
2.00 |
| 38 | 6 |
 Japan |
1.00 |
| 39 |  |
 Albania |
1.00 |
| 40 | 4 |
Colombia |
1.00 |
| 41 | 6 |
El Salvador |
1.00 |
| 42 | |
 North Macedonia |
1.00 |
| 43 | 1 |
 Morocco |
1.00 |
| 44 | 3 |
 Sweden |
0.00 |
| 45 | |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
0.00 |
| 46 | 3 |
 Canada |
0.00 |
| 47 | |
 Niue |
0.00 |
| 48 | 9 |
 Solomon Islands |
0.00 |
| 49 | 1 |
 Belgium |
0.00 |
| 50 | 10 |
 Hungary |
0.00 |
| 51 | 5 |
 Vanuatu |
0.00 |
| 52 | 3 |
 Argentina |
0.00 |
| 53 | 3 |
 Denmark |
0.00 |
| 54 | 3 |
 Latvia |
0.00 |
| 55 | |
 Estonia |
0.00 |
| Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT | |||
Rugby league Has yet to be played on El Salvador soil but efforts are in place to bring rugby league to Central and South America through the Latin Heat Rugby League. In the very first full Latino team 4 Salvadorans were included.[2] After the Latin Heat fielded enough Salvadoran players to make up a Rugby league nines team they entered into the Cabramatta International Nines tournament in 2015.[1]
On 17 October 2015 The El Salvador national rugby league team debuted in the Latino Rugby League Sevens Tournament on 17 October 2015. They finished 1-1.[3]
The El Salvador national rugby league team entered the 2016 Cabramatta International Nines on 30 January with a 15-man squad. Their pool consisted of Ireland, DV Koori and Malta.[4][5][6]
On June 11, 2016 The Trueno Azul made their full 13-a-side debut playing latino rivals Chile at Henson Park, Sydney. El Salvador lost 58-20.
Current squad edit
The El Salvador national team selected for the 2016 Cabramatta International Nines tournament were:
| Other Nat. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Wing | Javier Alarcon | 20 July 1995 | 3 | 0 |
| Australia | Wing | Eric Orellana | 3 June 1991 | 8 | 0 |
| Australia | Centre,Second-row | Michael Alarcon | 14 February 1995 | 5 | 4 |
| Australia | Centre,Wing | Michael Zamora-Rivera | 19 June 1991 | 3 | 0 |
| Australia | Five-eighth | Miguel Gonzalez | 31 August 1990 | 3 | 4 |
| Australia | Halfback | Alvaro Alarcon | 21 February 1991 | 5 | 20 |
| Australia | Prop | Fredy Artega Figueroa | 22 March 1981 | 5 | 6 |
| Australia | Prop | JC Mendez | 29 January 1993 | 5 | 0 |
| Australia | Prop | Josh Guzman | 1 September 1998 | 8 | 0 |
| Australia | Prop | Roque-Joel Perez Mejia | 13 December 1988 | 6 | 0 |
| Australia | Hooker | Ronnie Rivas | 18 June 1983 | 6 | 0 |
| Australia | Second-row | Walter Godinez | 23 November 1974 | 8 | 0 |
| USA | Second-row | Edgar Ayala | 28 August 1992 | 3 | 0 |
| Australia | Second-row | Junior Alarcon | 31 July 1997 | 5 | 4 |
| Australia | Lock | Daniel Godinez | 31 March 1985 | 6 | 20 |
Record edit
Below is table of the representative rugby league nines matches played by El Salvador up until 12 October 2015:[7]
| Opponent | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Win % | For | Aga | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 American Samoa |
1 | - | 1 | - | 0% | 4 | 46 | -42 |
| Chile |
1 | - | 1 | - | 0% | 20 | 34 | -14 |
| Malta |
1 | - | 1 | - | 0% | 4 | 30 | -26 |
| Niue |
1 | - | 1 | - | 0% | 10 | 24 | -14 |
 Thailand |
1 | - | 1 | - | 0% | 10 | 20 | -10 |
 Uruguay |
1 | 1 | 0 | - | 100% | 22 | 14 | 8 |
| Total | 5 | 1 | 4 | - | 17.667% | 70 | 164 | -98 |
The following is a table of full 13-a-side test matches.
| Opponent | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Win % | For | Aga | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chile |
1 | - | 1 | - | 0% | 20 | 58 | -38 |
| Uruguay |
1 | - | 1 | - | 0% | 46 | 10 | 36 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | 0% | 20 | 58 | -38 |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b NRL. "Cabra 9s Results - NSWRL". nswrl.com.au. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
- ^ "Salvadoran brothers will turn up heat | The Courier Mail".
- ^ "Latin Heat Rugby League | Latino Rugby League Festival for Sydney". latinheatrl.com. Retrieved 2015-10-12.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Six New Nations To Light Up Cabramatta Nines - NSWRL".
- ^ "South America emerges as international force - NRL".
- ^ "PM - Latin American rugby league players dream big 01/02/2016".
- ^ "Chile claim inaugural Latino Sevens tournament - Asia Pacific Rugby League".