The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for any of the Home Nations – the national teams of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The Lions are a Test side and generally select international players, but they can pick uncapped players available to any one of the four unions. The team currently tours every four years, with these rotating among Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The most recent series, the 2017 series against New Zealand, was drawn 1-1.
Newport Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, South Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division. Newport RFC are based at Rodney Parade situated on the east bank of the River Usk.
Rugby union in Wales is the national sport and is considered a large part of national culture. Rugby union is thought to have reached Wales in the 1850s, with the national body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) being formed in 1881.Wales are considered to be one of the most successful national sides in Rugby Union, having won the most nations championships in Northern Hemisphere competition, as well as having reached 2 World Cup semi finals in 1987 and 2011, having finished 3rd in the inaugural competition and having finished 4th in 2011 in a repeat of the first third place play-off. The Welsh team of the 1970's is considered to be arguably the greatest national team of all time, prompting many experts in the game to suggest that had the Rugby World Cup existed during this period, Wales would be amongst the list of World Cup winners. They go in to the 2019 competition amongst the favourites, sitting second in the world rankings, above fellow Northern Hemisphere contenders Ireland and England.
The Tonga national rugby union team is nicknamed ʻIkale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a war dance – the Sipi Tau. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. The Ikale Tahi achieved a historic 19–14 victory over France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but having lost to New Zealand and Canada, were unable to achieve what would have been their first ever presence at the quarter-finals.
The Canada national rugby union team is governed by Rugby Canada, and play in red and white. Canada is classified by World Rugby as a tier two rugby nation. There are ten tier one nations, and thirteen tier two nations. Canada competes in competitions such as the Americas Rugby Championship and the Rugby World Cup.
Rugby league is a sport played in Wales. The governing body of the game in Wales is the Wales Rugby League.
Raymond William Robert "Ray" Gravell was a Welsh rugby union centre who played club rugby for Llanelli RFC. At international level, Gravell earned 23 caps for Wales and was selected for the 1980 British Lions tour to South Africa.
Gareth John James Jenkins is a former Welsh rugby union rugby player, and former head coach of the Welsh national team. After a long and distinguished career at Llanelli RFC, Jenkins was appointed Wales coach in 2006, succeeding Mike Ruddock. He was sacked by the Welsh Rugby Union on 30 September 2007, following Wales' failure to qualify for the quarter-finals of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He left the role with just six wins from twenty test matches.
Penygraig Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Penygraig, Wales. Penygraig RFC formed in 1877, one of the earlier rugby clubs to emerge, and by the 1890s were a strong voice in the Welsh Rugby Union, one of four clubs from the Rhondda Valley that held WRU representation.
Jonathan Davies is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays at centre for the Scarlets and the Wales national team.
Ian Martin Buckett is a former international rugby union front row forward who played for Swansea and London Welsh and played county rugby for North Wales. He was a championship winning player, an international and an academic.
The 1980 New Zealand tour of Wales was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the New Zealand All Blacks against Wales that also took in two international games in North America en route to South Wales. This was a single test tour against each of the countries played, with four games against Welsh club opposition.
The 1908 British Isles tour to New Zealand and Australia was the seventh tour by a British Isles team and the fourth to New Zealand and Australia. The tour is often referred to as the Anglo-Welsh Tour as only English and Welsh players were selected due to the Irish and Scottish Rugby Unions not participating. It is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 1950.
The 1964 Wales rugby union tour of Africa was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the Wales national rugby union team to Africa. The tour also took in five matches against African regional and invitational teams with one test against South Africa. This was the first official Wales tour to the southern hemisphere; Wales' first match outside Europe was played against East Africa on Tuesday May 12 1964.
The 1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of the British Isles was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the Australia national rugby union team against invitational and national teams from England and Wales, as well as several games against sides from North America. This was the first Australian tour of the Northern Hemisphere and the side is sometimes referred to as the "First Wallabies".
Anthony Alexander Shaw is an Australian former rugby union player. A Queensland state and national representative flanker, Shaw captained the national side consistently from 1978 to 1981.
Since 1989, the British and Irish Lions have developed a regular 12-year cycle of tours visiting one of the following three Southern Hemisphere nations, in turn, every four years:
The 2012 autumn internationals, also known as the autumn tests, November tests and, in the Southern Hemisphere, the end of year tests, were international rugby union matches. They were predominantly played between visiting Southern Hemisphere countries and European nations.
The 2016 mid-year rugby union internationals are international rugby union matches that were mostly played in the Southern Hemisphere during the June International Window.
