Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated in England 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.
Richard Andrew Robinson OBE is an English rugby union coach and retired player. He was the director of rugby at Bristol until November 2016. He is the former head coach of Scotland and England. As of September 2019, he is the manager of Romania's national rugby team.
Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
Sir Clive Ronald Woodward is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the England team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, losing the test series 3-0. He is currently a pundit for ITV Sport, working on their coverage of the Six Nations and Rugby World Cup.
The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasions – winning the Grand Slam 13 times and the Triple Crown 26 times – making them the most successful outright winners in the tournament's history. As of 5 July 2021, England are ranked third in the world by the International Rugby Board. They are currently the only team from the Northern Hemisphere to win the Rugby World Cup, having won the tournament in 2003, and have been runners-up on three other occasions.
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards and seven backs. In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16–23. Players are not restricted to a single position, although they generally specialise in just one or two that suit their skills and body types. Players that play multiple positions are called "utility players".
Jeremy Clayton Guscott is a British former rugby union outside centre who played for Bath, England and the British and Irish Lions. He also appeared for England on the wing.
Gavin Lloyd Henson is a Welsh former professional rugby union player, who played as a fly-half, fullback and inside centre.
Ieuan Cennydd Evans is a former rugby union player who played on the wing for Wales and the British and Irish Lions. He is the fourth highest try scorer for Wales behind Shane Williams, George North and Gareth Thomas and joint 24th in the world on the all-time test try scoring list. Evans held the record for the most Wales caps as captain with 28, a record overtaken by Ryan Jones in 2012.
Felipe Contepomi is an Argentine rugby coach who is currently the backs coach at Leinster Rugby. He was a rugby union footballer who played fly-half or centre; his last club was Club Newman, in the first division of the URBA championship. He was also a key player for Argentina, having played 15 years for the national team. His twin brother Manuel was also a Puma. In June 2015 he was appointed coach of Argentina XV. Contepomi was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in November 2017.
The Rugby World Cup host nation is selected by World Rugby at a meeting six years before each tournament. Each of the Rugby World Cups from 1987 to 2015 were hosted by countries that are considered the traditional powers in World Rugby. The first non Rugby Championship or Six Nations country to host a Rugby World Cup was Japan in 2019, after failed bids for the 2011 and 2015 tournaments.
Nicholas Patrick James Walshe, is a rugby union coach and former player. He was capped twice for England, and was Head Coach of the England Under 20 taking them to successive victories in the 2013 and 2014 IRB Junior World Championship.
Matthew Andrew Banahan is a Jerseyman who plays rugby union for Gloucester in the Aviva Premiership in international rugby union. He is also a former England international. His main position is wing, however he can also operate as an inside or outside centre.
Benjamin Ryder Youngs is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Leicester Tigers and England. In 2019 he became England's most capped scrum-half.
Rhys Webb is a Welsh rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Ospreys. Born in Bridgend, he is a product of the Ospreys academy and played club rugby for Bridgend RFC and Aberavon RFC before breaking into the regional side in 2008. He played for the Ospreys for 10 years before moving to French club Toulon in 2018, but terminated his contract with them in 2020 and agreed a return to the Ospreys; however, he was unable to join the Ospreys immediately and signed for Bath for the remainder of the 2019–20 season before returning to the Ospreys.
Frederick Charles Belson was an English international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Clifton and Bath, and county rugby for Somerset. Belson played international rugby for the British Isles on their 1899 tour of Australia.
David William Egerton was an English rugby union international who represented England from 1988 to 1990. At club level, Egerton played for Bath Rugby between 1985 and 1995. After retiring, Egerton worked as a coach for Bristol United and Bridgwater & Albion.
Max Lahiff is an English rugby union footballer who plays as a loosehead prop for Bristol in the Gallagher Premiership.
Kyle Sinckler is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a tighthead prop for Premiership club Bristol Bears and the English national team. He has previously played for Harlequins, Richmond and Ealing Trailfinders.
Callum Braley is an English-born Italian rugby union player who plays for Benetton in the Pro14.
