All Blacks-beating world record holder calls it quits after 18 years

After 18 years of service, split equally between playing and coaching, Andrew Binikos’s involvement with the Cypriot national team ended at the weekend.

The South African with Cypriot grandparents did not get the swansong he wanted as his team slipped to a 28-19 defeat at the hands of Andorra in the Rugby Europe Conference.

But the former fly-half, who once coached the Sharks academy, can look back with pride at a Test career that has lasted longer than most and included many years coaching with his best mate and Cyprus forwards coach, Andy Barnett, who has also moved on.

Binikos was there from the very start, when Cyprus played their inaugural Test match in 2007, and was in the team that still holds the record for most consecutive wins (24) in men’sTest history, a run which started with a 37-3 win over Azerbaijan and finished six years later with a 39-20 defeat to Latvia. It still eclipses the records of all other nations, with the All Blacks and England enjoying the best runs other than Cyprus, having won 18 on the bounce.

His teammates from that record-breaking era have long gone, but Binikos has remained a loyal servant to the Cyprus Rugby Union, replacing Paul Shanks as head coach once he’d won his 16th and final cap in 2016. Only Warren Gatland, in his first spell in charge of Wales (2008-2019), has probably enjoyed a longer run in charge of a Test team.

“I’ve been there all the way through from the very first game in 2007 to the weekend just gone. We had a joke that I was the ‘Last of the Mohicans.’ There is no one left from my era, so it was a memorable and emotional day, but times have changed, and everything moves on,” said Binikos.

“I got a good send-off. Nine of the original boys came to the last game, which was exceptional. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the result we’d hoped for, but it is hard when you only have two training sessions together. Everyone is an amateur and working, so there are a lot of challenges in the way. It is a pity we didn’t come out on top this time.”

Cyprus have played in dust bowls, trained in car parks, stayed in hostels and once took a six-hour taxi ride to fulfil their fixture against Bosnia & Herzegovina during Binokos’ time with the team – a far cry from the environment he is used to as Head of Rugby at the prestigious Edinburgh school, Loretto, where he will continue to work alongside his role as part-time backs coach at Musselburgh RFC.

Cyprus’ record run of 24 straight wins:

2008
Azerbaijan 37 – 3 (away)
Monaco 24 – 3 (home)

2009
Slovakia 33 – 7 (home)
Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 – 6 (away)
Monaco 44 – 5 (away)

2010
Azerbaijan 59 – 0 (home)
Bosnia and Herzegovina 15 – 0 (home)
Greece 33 – 13 (away)

2011
Bulgaria 55 – 8 (home)
Finland 70 – 10 (home)
Luxembourg 50 – 0 (away)
Luxembourg 48 – 7 (home)

2012
Bulgaria 94 – 3 (away)
Greece 72 – 5 (home)
Finland 52 – 5 (away)
Austria 54 – 20 (away)
Slovenia 49 – 8 (home)

2013
Bulgaria 79 – 10 (home)
Hungary 16 – 15 (away)
Slovenia 34 – 3 (away)
Austria 22 – 8 (home)

2014
Bulgaria 46 – 15 (away)
Hungary 46 – 13 (home)
Andorra 30 – 10 (home)