Rugby union

Not to be confused with Rugby league.

Rugby Union
South African Victor Matfield takes a line-out against New Zealand in 2006.
Highest governing bodyWorld Rugby
Nicknames
  • Rugby
  • Rugger
Registered players8,400,000[2][nb 1]
Characteristics
ContactFull
Team members15 (with up to 8 substitutes)
Mixed-sexSeparate competitions
Type
Equipment
VenueRugby field
Presence
Country or regionWorldwide (most popular in certain European and Commonwealth countries)
OlympicPart of the Summer Olympic programme in 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924
Rugby sevens included since 2016
Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox sport with unknown parameter "first played"

Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union or more often just rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in England in the first half of the 19th century. Rugby is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is played between two teams of 15 players each, using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch. The field has H-shaped goalposts at both ends.

Rugby union is a popular sport around the world, played by people regardless of gender, age or size.[3] In 2023, there were more than 10 million people playing worldwide, of whom 8.4 million were registered players. World Rugby, previously called the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) and the International Rugby Board (IRB), has been the governing body for rugby union since 1886, and currently has 116 countries as full members and 18 associate members.

In 1845, the first laws were written by pupils at Rugby School; other significant events in the early development of rugby include the decision by Blackheath F.C. to leave The Football Association in 1863 and, in 1895, the split between rugby union and rugby league. Historically rugby union was an amateur sport, but in 1995 formal restrictions on payments to players were removed, making the game openly professional at the highest level for the first time.[4]

Rugby union spread from the Home Nations of the United Kingdom and Ireland, with other early exponents of the sport including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France. The sport is followed primarily in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, New Zealand, Australia, Pacific Islands - Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Georgia, Oceania, Southern Africa, Argentina, and in recent times also, Italy, Japan, South America, the United States, Canada and Eastern Europe,[5][6][7] its growth occurring during the expansion of the British Empire and through French proponents (Rugby Europe) in Europe. Countries that have adopted rugby union as their de facto national sport include Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar,[8] New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, and Wales.

International matches have taken place since 1871 when the first game was played between Scotland and England at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh. The Rugby World Cup, first held in 1987, is held every four years. The Six Nations Championship in Europe and The Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere are other important international competitions that are held annually.

National club and provincial competitions include the Premiership in England, the Top 14 in France, the Bunnings NPC in New Zealand, the League One in Japan and the Currie Cup in South Africa. Other transnational club competitions include the United Rugby Championship of club teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa and Wales, European Rugby Champions Cup in Europe, and Super Rugby in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

  1. ^ Else, David (2007). British language & culture (2nd ed.). Lonely Planet. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-86450-286-2.
  2. ^ "119 countries... 8.4 million players" (PDF). IRB. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  3. ^ Brawley, Sean; Guoth, Nick (2013). Australia's Asian Sporting Context, 1920s – 30s: Sport in the Global Society – Contemporary Perspectives. Routledge. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-317-96632-6. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023.
  4. ^ Scianitti, Matthew (18 June 2011). "The world awaits for Canada's rugby team". National Post. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  5. ^ "U.S Rugby Scholarships – U.S. Sports Scholarships". Archived from the original on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Rugby: Fastest growing sport in the U.S. also one of the oldest – Global Sport Matters, Rugby: Fastest growing sport in the U.S. also one of the oldest – Global Sport Matters". 19 July 2018. Archived from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Madagascar take Sevens honours". International Rugby Board. 23 August 2007. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2013.


Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).