The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Prior to the 2012 tournament, when Argentina joined, it was known as the Tri Nations. The competition is administered by SANZAAR, a consortium consisting of four national governing bodies: the Argentine Rugby Union, Australian Rugby Union, the New Zealand Rugby Union and the South African Rugby Union.
Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, CBE is an English former rugby union player who represented England and the British and Irish Lions. He rose to prominence from 2001 to 2003, before and during the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and is widely acknowledged as one of the best rugby union players of all time.
The England national rugby union team competes in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on a total of 28 occasions, 13 times winning the Grand Slam and 25 times winning the Triple Crown, making them the most successful outright winners in the tournament's history. They are ranked fourth in the world by the International Rugby Board as of 18 March 2019. England are to date the only team from the northern hemisphere to win the Rugby World Cup, when they won the tournament back in 2003. They were also runners-up in 1991 and 2007.
Brian Gerard O'Driscoll is a retired Irish professional rugby union player. He played at outside centre for the Irish provincial team Leinster and for Ireland. He captained Ireland from 2003 until 2012, and captained the British and Irish Lions for their 2005 tour of New Zealand. He is regarded by critics as one of the greatest rugby players of all time.
The Scotland national rugby union team is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and participates in the Rugby World Cup, which takes place every four years. As of 18 March 2019, Scotland are 7th in the World Rugby Rankings.
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. They are ranked third in the world by World Rugby as of 18 March 2019. The team competes annually in the current Six Nations Championship, which they have won fourteen times outright and shared nine times in its various formats. The team also competes every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions. Ireland is also one of the four unions that make up the British and Irish Lions – players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions.
Bryan Gary Habana OIS is a South African former rugby union player who played as a wing. He most recently played for Toulon in the French Top 14 competition, and for the South Africa national team.
Jean de Villiers is a former South African rugby union player. He started his career at wing, but played most of his career as an inside centre. De Villiers previously played for Western Province in the Currie Cup, the Stormers in Super Rugby, Leicester Tigers in Premiership Rugby and internationally for South Africa, for whom he was named captain in June 2012.
Thomas John Bowe is an Irish former rugby union player from County Monaghan, Ireland. He played on the wing for Ulster, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. In March 2012, after four years with Ospreys in Swansea, Wales, Bowe returned to Ulster for the 2012/13 season.
The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was only one change: Uruguay replaced Russia. This was the first World Cup with no new teams to the tournament.
The Portugal national rugby union team is rated as a performance team in the World Rugby four-band classification system, the second highest. Portugal had their first match in 1935 and now compete in the European Nations Cup and occasionally in the IRB Nations Cup. The team as well as all rugby union in Portugal is administered by the Federação Portuguesa de Rugby. Portugal qualified for their first Rugby World Cup in 2007 where they were grouped in Pool C along with New Zealand, Italy, Romania and Scotland. They are nicknamed Os Lobos, Portuguese for "The Wolves".
Jaque Fourie is a former South African rugby union rugby player. He was a versatile backline player whose usual position was in the centres. He was a member of the 2007 Rugby World Cup winning team, playing at outside centre for 6 out of 7 matches, including all 80 minutes of the World Cup Final, which South Africa won 15-6.
Benjamin James Foden is a rugby union player who plays for Rugby United New York (RUNY) and England. He plays at fullback or scrum-half, but can also operate on the wing. He scored his first try for England against France in the 2010 Six Nations.
The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship.
Robert “Rob” Kearney is an Irish rugby union rugby player who currently plays fullback for UCD, Leinster and Ireland. As a youth he also played rugby union for Clongowes Wood College and Gaelic football for Louth in the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship.
Keith Gerard Earls is an Irish rugby union player for Munster in the Pro14 and European Rugby Champions Cup. Internationally, Earls plays for Ireland and represented the British and Irish Lions on their 2009 tour to South Africa. Earls began his career as a centre, but now plays primarily on the wing and has occasionally provided cover at fullback.
The Rugby League Four Nations, known as the Ladbrokes Four Nations for sponsorship, is a biennial rugby league football tournament run in partnership between the Australian Rugby League Commission, Rugby Football League and New Zealand Rugby League representing the top three nations in the sport: Australia, England and New Zealand. The tournament replaced the previous Tri-Nations format by including a fourth nation that qualifies by winning their respective regional competition in a rotation between Europe and the South Pacific. France accepted an invitation to play in the inaugural tournament in 2009. The tournament is sponsored by Ladbrokes and therefore officially known as the Ladbrokes Four Nations. No tournament was contested in 2012 to allow teams to prepare for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.
Shaun Johnson is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a halfback or five-eighth for the Cronulla Sharks in the NRL. He has played previously for the New Zealand Warriors. In 2014 Johnson won the Golden Boot Award for the world's best player.
The 2010 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was a rugby union competition held between February and March 2010. Ireland won the tournament and the Triple Crown but no team won the Grand Slam.
The 2019 Six Nations Championship was the 20th Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales, and the 125th edition of the competition.
