Hungary national rugby league team

The Hungary national rugby league team, known as the Magyar Bulls, represents Hungary in the sport of rugby league football. Making their debut against the Czech Republic in July 2011, they played their first ranked international against Greece in October 2013.

Hungary
Team information
NicknameMagyar Bulls
Governing bodyHungarian Rugby League Federation
RegionEurope
Head coach Jonathan Wilson
CaptainDane Weatherill, James Kovac, Nathan Farkas
Most capsSimon Kalafusz, Joel saaghy (9)
RLIF ranking21st
Team results
First game
 Hungary 16–38 Czech Republic 
(Kecskemét, Hungary; July 2011)
Biggest win
 Hungary 56–4 Poland 
(Budapest, Hungary; July 2017)
Biggest defeat
 Hungary 0–90 Greece 
(Budapest, Hungary; October 2013)
World Cup
Appearances0

History and setting up
Official Men's Rankings as of November 2019
RankChange*TeamPts%
1 2 New Zealand
2 1 Australia
3 1 England
4  Tonga
5  Fiji
6 4 Papua New Guinea
7  Samoa
8 2 France
9 1 Scotland
10 1 Lebanon
11 5 Greece
12  Ireland
13 1 Italy
14 3 Wales
15 4 Serbia
16 1 Malta
17 1 Norway
18 3 United States
19 4 Poland
20 7 Jamaica
21 1 Hungary
22 3 Czech Republic
23 5 Cook Islands
24 7 Turkey
25 1 Netherlands
26 4 Spain
27 6 Canada
28  Nigeria
29 2 Solomon Islands
30 10 Sweden
31 4 Germany
32 1 Chile
33  Ghana
34 16 Morocco
35 3 Vanuatu
36  South Africa
37 8 Russia
38  Cameroon
39 2 Ukraine
40 1 Colombia
41 4 Brazil
42  Belgium
43 4 Denmark
44 4 Bulgaria
45 4 Latvia
*Change from July 2019

Magyar Bulls RLFC, Hungary's National Rugby league team was founded in Budapest in May 2011 by members of the Budapest Exiles RFC, keen to try rugby league and with an open invitation to other teams in Hungary to send players - all with the objective of honouring an invitation to play in the CEE European Bowl competition vs. the Czech Republic.

From small beginnings on a Monday evening, on Margit Island, in the middle of the Danube, the squad has grown to be able to select a nucleus of 20 players to play against the Czech Republic on 23 July.[1] The pull of playing international RL has seen enquiries to train and play from a number of other clubs in Hungary as well as players of Hungarian origin who have travelled back to play from Italy and the UK.

In June 2013, Hungary was granted Observer status by the RLEF.[2] They subsequently played their first fully sanctioned international against a Greece team featuring professional players Michael Korkidas and Braith Anasta.

In 2014, Tour in Paris again and Hungary competed in the inaugural Balkans Cup tournament in Serbia. This was Hungary's first International tournament. Hungary finished the overall tournament in fourth place. They also made history in the tournament, as they recorded their first ever international try in their match with Bosnia.[3] In 2015 Tour in Belgrade on Euro 9' Tournament.

Current Squad

Squad selected for the 2018 Emerging Nations World Championship;[4]

  • Karoly Acsai
  • Benjamin Bronzon
  • Mark Czifra
  • Andras Eglesz
  • Aaron Farkas
  • David Farkas
  • Jared Farkas
  • Nathan Farkas
  • Stuart Flanagan
  • Jayson Gerecs
  • Lenard Grimm
  • Istvan Krupp
  • Zsolt Lukacs
  • Paul McKewin
  • Gergely Nagy
  • Gyula Nikoletti
  • Josh Institoris
  • Daniel Ivan
  • Paul Ivan
  • Simon Kalafusz
  • James Kovac
  • Stephen Kovacs
  • Paul Mozar
  • Billy Mozer
  • Lachlyn Mulford
  • Joel Saaghy
  • Shane Stevens
  • Joseph Toth
  • Cruize Turay
  • Josh Warner
  • Dane Weatherill
  • Brent Varga

Hungarian National Rugby League in Australia

In 2016, Hungary began searching for players in Australia of Hungarian heritage to play for Hungary. This was met with resounding response, with many quality players putting their name down. Several training sessions were held in Sydney by coach John Wilson and manager Stephen Németh.

On Saturday the 4th of February 2017, Hungary played their first test match outside of Europe against Uruguay who were making their International debut, in front of 500 spectators. Hungary ran away with the game 50-4 in a dominant display. The team consisted of only Australian players with Hungarian heritage. This was also Hungary's first test match victory across any continent. The four Farkas brothers were outstanding, scoring 30 of the 50 points between themselves alone, with Aaron Farkas accumulating 16 himself in a spectacular performance at hooker. Alexander Fricska scored a try on debut.

On Wednesday the 8th of February 2017, just 4 days after the first test played outside of the Europe, Hungary played their second against a stronger Thailand side, featuring ex NRL and Super league coach Brian Smith, in front of 100 spectators. Hungary opened up the scoring with 2 quick tries, before scoring 2 more before the half. Thailand came out strong in the second half scoring first points, however Hungary were too strong and ran out 44-10 winners becoming just their second test match victory since the teams origin 6 years prior. The game was almost called off as the night before, a storm washed out the majority of Sydney's Rugby League fields. Just hours before kickoff, the game was rescheduled at Endeavor Sports High School, instead of the original venue, Erskineville Oval.

Results

A † denotes that the match did not contribute to the RLIF World Rankings.

Overall record

Cap Number and playing record

As of 8 February 2017.

Cap NumberNameTotal CapsTotal Points
1Imre Szalontai20
2Federico Sciotti20
3Gergo Zubornyak20
4Laszlo Harangozo30
5Scott Torrance28
6Adam Nunn20
7Peter Fustos10
8Lajos Bihari24
9Joel Jimenez20
10Zsolt Haboczki20
11Geza Goletz30
12Andre Brand20
13Matyas Bihari20
14Luca Tramontin10
15Cedric Gaidet20
16Phil Angel14
17Nandor Szabo20
18Arno Franken10
19Mehdi Benaniba20
20Geza Juhas10
21Mark Tolnai10
22Benjamin Antal30
23Zoltan Solti10
24David Farkas10
25Adam Timar10
26Adam Belencsak10
27Balint Kosa10
28Sandor Lakatos30
29Adam Csiri30
30Viktor Zelenka30
31Zoltan Bertyak10
32Norbert Csapkai30
33Jozsef Surman10
34Marko Nikowitz30
35David Orsi10
35Zsolt Lukacs20
36Nathan Farkas28
37Marty Schneider20
38Daniel Bridges20
39Stephen Németh12
40Alexander Fricska24
41Jared Farkas26
42David Farkas212
43Joseph Toth20
44Aaron Farkas228
45Karoly Acsai28
46Chris Schneider10
47Brent Varga212
48Eddie Ertl10
49Max Feast10
50Josh Institoris28
51Matthew Pankasz20
52Shane (Geoffrey Stevens)20
53Paul Graham10
54Paul Ivan10
55Paul Mckewin18
56Stephen Toth10

See also

References
  1. Mouret, Aimé (December 2011). "Hongrie". Le Who's Who du rugby à XIII (in French). Toulouse: Ixcéa. p. 131. ISBN 978-2-84918-118-8.
  2. "Hungary and Saudi Arabia Awarded Observer Status". RLEF. 21 June 2013. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. https://www.rlenwc.com/teams/hungary/ Hungary RLENWC
  • Official website
  • Magyar Bulls RLFC blog page
  • Magyar Bulls RLFC YouTube channel
  • RLEF (Rugby League Europe Federation News site - Squad announcement
  • RLEF (Rugby League Europe Federation News site - Official match report for the first game
  • RLEF (Rugby League Europe Federation)
  • "An appetite for Rugby League?" - Forty-Twenty Magazine - article dated 30 June (pages 38–39)- Adam Nunn and Phil Caplan
  • "Reality Czech" - Rugby League World magazine - article dated August 2011 (pages 65–67) - Tom Coates
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