The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland. The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where adult men's Irish rugby union international matches are played. In addition, the Union also owns the Ravenhill Stadium in Belfast, Thomond Park in Limerick and a number of grounds in provincial areas that have been rented to clubs.
Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won once. Ulster were the first Irish team and the first team outside England and France to win the European Cup in 1999.
Rugby union is a popular team sport on the island of Ireland, organised on an all-Ireland basis, including players and teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Its governing body, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), was founded in 1879, making it the third oldest rugby union in the world after the RFU (England) and the SRU (Scotland).
The IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series, previously known as the IWRFU Interprovincial Championship, is the top level women's rugby union competition in Ireland. It is organised by the Irish Rugby Football Union. It is the women's equivalent of the IRFU Interprovincial Championship. The competition takes place every December and features four teams representing Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. The competition effectively acts as a selection trials process for the Ireland women's national rugby union team that competes in the subsequent Women's Six Nations Championship. Since 2016 the IRFU has also organised a similar under 18s competition.
The Irish Exiles is a rugby union representative team featuring players selected from the Irish diaspora, many based in Great Britain. The team was established in 1989 by Tom Kiernan. It was officially recognised by the Irish Rugby Football Union and during the 1990s was effectively a fifth provincial team along with Leinster, Ulster, Munster and Connacht. Between 1992 and 1993 and 1995–96 the Irish Exiles entered the IRFU Interprovincial Championship. The Irish Exiles also acts as an academy system for players from the Irish diaspora who wish to play for the men's national team and other IRFU national teams including the women's national team, the men's sevens team and the women's sevens team.
Fiona Coghlan is a former Ireland women's rugby union international. Coghlan represented Ireland at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 Women's Rugby World Cups. She also captained the Ireland team that won the 2013 Women's Six Nations Championship. In 2013 Coghlan was named The Irish Times / Irish Sports Council Sportswoman of the Year after captaining Ireland to their first ever Six Nations, Grand Slam and Triple Crown titles. Coghlan was a member of the first Ireland teams to defeat France, England and New Zealand. She was the Ireland captain on the latter two occasions. In addition to captaining Ireland, Coghlan also captained her club team, UL Bohemians, her provincial team, Leinster and was captain of the first ever Barbarians women's team.
Fiona Hayes is an Irish former rugby union player. She was a member of the Ireland teams that won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships, and that defeated New Zealand at the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup. Hayes has also played association football at intervarsity and intermediate level.
The IRFU Interprovincial Championship was a rugby union competition between the four provinces of Ireland – Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connacht – run by the Irish Rugby Football Union. It was run as a distinct competition from 1946–47 to 2000–01, with the 2001–02 fixtures being fulfilled by the match-ups in the newly formed Celtic League. For a time in the 1980s, the IRFU ruled that Irish diaspora players should play for Connacht, in an attempt to strengthen the weakest of the four provinces. The Irish Exiles took part for four years.
The 2016 GAA Interprovincial Championships was a senior GAA competition in which the four provinces of Ireland competed in Gaelic football and hurling. The provincial squads are made up of players from the county panels in each province.
Joy Neville is a former Ireland women's rugby union international and rugby union referee. As a player, Neville represented Ireland at both the 2006 and 2010 Women's Rugby World Cups. In 2009 Neville captained the first Ireland team to defeat France. In 2013 she was also a member of the first Ireland women's team to win the Six Nations, Grand Slam and Triple Crown titles.
Sene Naoupu is an Ireland women's rugby union international. Naoupu was a member of the Ireland team that won the 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship. She also represented Ireland at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. She is also an Ireland women's rugby sevens international. Naoupu is a Samoan New Zealander who originally emigrated to Ireland in 2009 with her former husband, George Naoupu, the former Highlanders, Harlequins and Connacht rugby union player. Naoupu is also a lifestyle coach and fitness trainer and operates her own business, Senshaper. In 2016, Naoupu was listed by The Irish Times as one of the thirty most influential women in Ireland.
The 2017 IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series was won by Munster who clinched the title following an 11–5 win over Leinster on the final day of the competition. Munster and Leinster both finished the competition with two wins and ten points each. Munster were subsequently declared champions on points difference. Munster were coached by Laura Guest and captained by Siobhan Fleming.
Leinster versus Ulster is the oldest fixture in Irish rugby, with the first ever interprovincial match taking place between the sides in 1875. As such, a healthy rivalry has developed between the two provincial rivals.
Munster versus Ulster is a rivalry that dates back to the foundation of the game in Ireland in 1879. Games between the two have occurred on an annual basis since the inception of the IRFU Interprovincial Championship in 1946. Since the beginning of the inter-provincials in 1946, Ulster hold a 55–41 advantage in overall wins, with ten draws. Additionally, since the inception of the Celtic League in 2001–02, Munster hold a slender 23–21 advantage in wins, with two draws in that time.
Munster versus Connacht is a rivalry that dates back to the foundation of the game in Ireland in 1879. Games between the two have occurred on an annual basis since the inception of the IRFU Interprovincial Championship in 1946. Since the beginning of the inter-provincials in 1946, Munster hold an 87–13 advantage in overall wins, with three draws. Additionally, since the inception of the Celtic League in 2001–02, Munster hold a 35–9 advantage in overall wins, with one draw in that time.
Connacht Rugby and Leinster Rugby are two Irish rugby union provincial teams that possess a rivalry that dates back to their IRFU Interprovincial Championship clashes during the amateur era. That rivalry has continued and even intensified since the emergence of the professional era in the late 1990s. Connacht and Leinster comprise two of the four Irish provincial teams competing in the Pro14. As such, the two sides regularly face each other during the regular season, and occasionally during the knock-out rounds.
Chloe Pearse is an Irish rugby player from Limerick. She plays for UL Bohemians, Munster Rugby and the Ireland women's national rugby union team.
Connacht Rugby and Ulster Rugby are two Irish rugby union provincial teams that possess a rivalry that dates back to their IRFU Interprovincial Championship clashes during the amateur era. That rivalry has continued during the professional era and intensified as Connacht have more competitive in the domestic league, winning 2015-16 Pro12 championship. Connacht and Ulster comprise two of the four Irish provincial teams competing in the United Rugby Championship. As such, the two sides regularly face each other during the regular season. Typically, Ulster have had the advantage in the series with Connacht failing to achieve a single victory over Ulster between 1965 and 1982. Following Connacht's victory in 1983, it would not be until the 1997–98 season until they would achieve their next victory over Ulster. Connacht also went 58 years without winning a match in Belfast.
The 2001–02 season was Ulster Rugby's seventh under professionalism, and their first under head coach Alan Solomons. They competed in the Heineken Cup, the IRFU Interprovincial Championship, and the inaugural Celtic League. Flanker Andy Ward was captain.
The 2023–24 season was Ulster Rugby's 30th season since the advent of professionalism in rugby union. They competed in the United Rugby Championship the European Rugby Champions Cup, and the EPCR Challenge Cup. It was Dan McFarland's sixth season as head coach. Despite some good results, including a home win against Racing 92 in the Champions Cup and an away win against Leinster in the URC, Ulster slipped back in the league, and poor performances against Bath, Harlequins and Toulouse dumped them out of the Champions Cup. After an away defeat in the URC against Ospreys in February, McFarland left his position, replaced by former Ireland under-20 head coach Richie Murphy. CEO Jonny Petrie also left, replaced on an interim basis by Hugh McCaughey. Murphy oversaw two away losses in South Africa and a quarter-final exit in the Challenge Cup, but form improved in the league, with four straight wins, including a home win against Leinster, and a losing bonus point away to Munster secured a quarter-final place, losing away to a full-strength Leinster side, and qualification for next season's Champions Cup.
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