Gapolania national rugby union team

Gapolania

Nickname(s)	Kolibri
Union	Gapolanese Rugby Union
Head coach	Ivan Galenza
Captain	Alessandro Legastru
Home stadium	Tifone Stadium
First colours Second colours
First international
Gapolania 5–33 Nuvania (Zeta, Gapolania; 12 July 1927)
Biggest defeat
Gapolania 7-145 Satavia (23 September, 1997)
World Cup
Appearances	1 (2021)

The Gapolania national rugby union team is the rugby union team of Gapolania. Unofficially known as Kolibri (Hummingbirds), the team competes in the Kylaris rugby world cup, appearing for the first time in 2021 Rugby World Cup.

The national team was created in the summer of 1925 in the city of Zeta and is commonly associated with the region of Nerio, played initially by Vespasian immigrants and their descendants. Gapolania continued to play internationally, usually against Nuvania, Satavia or Satucin but has lost majority of its matches, winning only 53 of 258 of their test matches. In 2020, for the first time in the sport's history in the nation, Gapolania managed to qualify to the 2021 Kylaris World Rugby Cup.

The team's main stadium is Tifone Stadium in Zeta, used for training and most international matches. The popularity of the rugby union in Gapolania is low but has increased significantly in the 2010s, following a series of successes the team achieved under the coaching of Ivan Galenza, a former rugby union player. The sport's significance is low, however has steadily grown in the recent years, following minor successes of the team on the international sports scene. The team's emblem is the hummingbird and their colors are navy and yellow, mirroring the national colors of the republic.

History

The team that played the first international match against Nuvania on 12 July 1927.

Rugby union first appeared in Gapolania in early 20th century, however it never gained as much attention as soccer. Several teams, including still-functioning Zeta Lions and Patrasi Rugby Team, formed in the first decade of the century. The national team, however, took another 20 years to be formed. This was mostly due to the little focus any government put to sports and dismissal of some disciplines, regarded as descended from the colonial traditions, perceived negatively at that time. Only in 1924, when Marco Fabrizio Moro established the national rugby union association, the players were able to create a nationally recognized team.

In the first years of its operation, the team played mostly against Nuvania, Satavia and Satucin, losing most of the games. Despite that, the sport gained a significant attention, particularly within the Novalian-speaking regions of the country. The national team stopped playing during the Great War and re-assumed its competition in 1937, playing in all of the rugby world cup qualifications. The team came close to advance to the main event on two occasions: in 195X and in 195X. Since 1960s, Gapolania has been continuously falling in the world ranking, to the point of losing X-Y against someone in 197X.

The sport lost most of the coverage in the late 1900s, losing out to more popular soccer and volleyball, where the national teams often qualified for the international events. In 2007 the national rugby union association was granted 30'000$ as a part of the Millenial Sports and Culture Fund. This allowed the union to hire more experienced coaches and invest in the stadium's equipment, which wasn't adjusted properly to answer the team's needs. In 2012, Ivan Galenza, a former team's captain became the coach and, year later, Kolibri managed to score their first major win against someone in 60 years. In 2020, Gapolania advanced to the 2021 Kylaris Rugby Cup, marking their first appearance in the event.

Name and colors

A common sight in the republic, the violet-tailed hummingbird became a symbol of the national team

The term Kolibri first appeared in 1949, when the Gapolanese sports journalist, Filipe Derko, described the team as "hummingbirds - inconspicuous, yet strong, this team will win us the world one day" during the match against Satucin. Despite the overly optimistic review, the name attached to the players and was often used as a cheer. Kolibri itself is a variant of Vespasian colibri, literally a plural form of "hummingbird".

Gapolania alternated yellow and dark blue jerseys in their first international games. After the Great War, the association's president, Andre Corossia, proposed the team wear navy blue tops with yellow shorts. In 1984, several stripes were added to the jerseys, while the secondary kits were changed to involve yellow and white. In 2009, the team found a sponsor in Sentax Gapolania and new kits were designed, including dark blue and yellow stripes.

1925–1936 home

1925-1936 guest

1936-1984 home

1936–1984 guest

1984-2008 home

1984-2008 guest

Records

Below is a table of test matches played by Gapolania up to 26th January 2021. The country played 262 international matches.

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %
Alsland	2	1	1	0	50.00%
Aucuria	12	4	7	1	36.36%
Belmonte	15	5	9	1	33.33%
Caldia	9	0	9	0	0.00%
Cassier	8	1	7	0	12.50%
Template:Country data Estmere	11	1	10	0	9.09%
Etruria	21	2	17	2	9.52%
Garambura	1	0	1	0	0.00%
Gaullica	7	0	7	0	0.00%
Halland	6	0	6	0	0.00%
Adamantina	26	7	18	1	26.92%
Masari	1	0	0	1	0.00%
Nuvania	39	8	28	3	7.69%
Satavia	34	4	28	0	11.76%
Satucin	26	12	12	2	46.15%
Tengaria	2	1	1	0	50.00%
Vinalia	19	8	11	0	42.11%
Zaralaja	13	4	8	1	30.77%

Players

On 7th December, Gapolania named 31-man squad for the 2021 Kylaris Rugby Cup.

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)
Milan Aventu	Hooker	11 June 1993 (age 27)
Robert Salenko	Hooker	4 April 1985 (age 35)
Victor Selba	Hooker	22 April 1990 (age 30)
Martin Farzuche	Prop	2 December 1996 (age 24)
Giacomo di Ellorio	Prop	2 May 1991 (age 29)
Martin Ergol	Prop	7 September 1987 (age 33)
Alessandro Caspar	Prop	30 April 1997 (age 23)
Antero Presutti	Prop	24 November 1995 (age 25)
Fabio Balaso	Lock	21 April 1992 (age 28)
Michele Brala	Lock	3 February 1994 (age 26)
Andreo Lanza	Lock	13 August 1988 (age 32)
Fabrizio Ludango	Lock	10 April 1999 (age 21)
Danielle Anton	Back row	3 March 1988 (age 32)
Iohannes Silva	Back row	11 June 1994 (age 26)
Paolo Moneggini	Back row	29 June 1994 (age 26)
Alessandro Tommerde	Back row	9 February 1989 (age 31)
Mauro Verrata	Back row	24 May 1995 (age 25)
Guido Demàgazzu	Scrum-half	13 November 1992 (age 28)
Jonas Martin Hedelberg	Scrum-half	30 August 1990 (age 30)
Alessandro Opperto	Scrum-half	11 December 1998 (age 22)
Domenico Pegàsia	Fly-half	26 May 1996 (age 24)
Arturo Tolda	Fly-half	8 June 1988 (age 32)
Emmanuel Vinelli	Fly-half	15 February 1990 (age 30)
Gian Federzoni	Centre	15 August 1994 (age 26)
Alessandro Legastru (c)	Centre	10 May 1988 (age 32)
Ivan Seradia	Centre	27 March 1993 (age 27)
Domenico Yutucha	Wing	4 July 1998 (age 22)
Giuseppe di Sarita	Wing	8 January 1990 (age 31)
Carlo Unero	Wing	11 September 1992 (age 28)
Adriano Camino	Fullback	22 November 1989 (age 31)
Martin Zella	Fullback	16 June 1991 (age 29)

Coaches

The national rugby union team was commonly coached by its captain up until 1968, when, following a series of defeats, the GRUA named the team's former captain, Dante Cherrini, its new head coach.

• Dante Cherrini: 1968–1977
• Davide Follori: 1977-1978
• Michele Bernardou: 1978-1980
• Alberto Serra: 1980-1984
• Colin O'Leary: 1984-1985
• Alberto Serra: 1985-1988
• Isaaco Marinèzzu: 1988-1991
• Domenico Nauiga: 1991-2000
• Mauricio Derico-Levadenza: 2000-2003
• Alessandro Pastraci: 2003-2004
• Tomas Volan: 2004-2007
• Kim Che-Song: 2007-2012
• Ivan Galenza: 2012-