Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it 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.
World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rugby competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup.
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days; 42 matches were played in ten cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales, and two in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Romania national rugby union team represents Romania in men's international rugby union competitions, nicknamed Stejarii, is long considered one of the stronger European teams outside the Six Nations. They have participated in all but one Rugby World Cup and currently compete in the first division of the European Nations Cup, which they won recently in 2017. Rugby union in Romania is administered by the Romanian Rugby Federation.
The Rugby Europe International Championships is the European Championship for tier 2 and tier 3 rugby union nations.
The Canada national rugby union team represents Canada in men's international rugby union competitions and is governed by Rugby Canada. Canada is classified by World Rugby as a tier two rugby nation and has competed in competitions such as the Americas Rugby Championship and the Rugby World Cup. Canada traditionally plays in red and white.
The Ivory Coast national rugby union team, nicknamed Les Éléphants, participates in the annual Africa Cup and are considered a third tier rugby team.
The Portugal national rugby union team, nicknamed Os Lobos, represents Portugal in men's international rugby union competitions. 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.
The Russia national rugby union team, nicknamed Medvedi, represented Russia in men's international rugby union international competitions. The team is administered by the Rugby Union of Russia (RUR). The RUR is considered the official successor union of the Soviet Union by World Rugby and the combined CIS team which played in the early 1990s. Since 1992, the team has played as Russia. Its first test match as Russia was against the Barbarians in Moscow in June 1992 and the country's first test against an official Test nation was against Belgium later that same year.
The Nations Cup is a rugby union competition that was first held in 2006 at Estádio Universitário in Lisbon with Argentina A, Italy A, Portugal and Russia taking part. The tournament is part of the International Rugby Board's US $50 million Strategic Investment programme, which also includes the Pacific Nations Cup, the Pacific Rugby Cup and the Americas Rugby Championship.
The 2009 IRB Nations Cup was the fourth edition of the international rugby union tournament, a competition created by the International Rugby Board. It pits the "A" Teams of the stronger rugby nations against some of the Tier 2 and 3 nations.
The 2008 IRB Nations Cup was the third edition of the international rugby union tournament, a competition created by the International Rugby Board. It pits the "A" Teams of the stronger rugby nations against some of the Tier 2 and 3 nations.
The 2007 IRB Nations Cup is the second edition of the international rugby union tournament, a competition created by the International Rugby Board. It pits the "A" Teams of the stronger rugby nations against some of the Tier 2 and 3 nations.
The 2006 IRB Nations Cup was the first edition of the international rugby union tournament, a competition created by the International Rugby Board. It pits the "A" Teams of the stronger rugby nations against some of the Tier 2 and 3 nations.
The 2011 IRB Nations Cup was the sixth edition of the international rugby union tournament, a competition created by the International Rugby Board. It pits the "A" Teams of the stronger rugby nations against some Tier 2 and 3 nations.
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 2012 IRB Nations Cup was the seventh edition of the international rugby union tournament, a competition created by the International Rugby Board. It pitted the "A" Teams of the stronger rugby nations against the Tier 2 (Romania) and Tier 3 nations. And Uruguay played against Romania, Russia and Portugal.
For the most recent Mid-year window go to 2022 July rugby union tests
The Serendib International Cup was an international rugby union competition for emerging nations held in Sri Lanka in 2013. The Serendib Cup was contested by the hosts Sri Lanka and the Malagasy and Polish national rugby teams. The tournament was backed by the International Rugby Board and was played over three match days in Colombo between 26 October and 1 November, coinciding with the 2013 end-of-year rugby union tests.
Rugby Europe is the administrative body for rugby union in Europe. It was formed in 1999 to promote, develop, organise, and administer the game of rugby in Europe under the authority of World Rugby. However, it is not responsible for the organisation of the Six Nations Championship or the competitions run by European Professional Club Rugby.
Argentina XV 
Georgia 
Italy A 
Namibia 
Romania 
Scotland A 
