Rugby union, widely known simply as rugby, is a full-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.
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. The current champions are England, who won the 2020 tournament.
The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professional era.
The Georgia national rugby union team, nicknamed The Lelos, represents Georgia in men's international rugby union. The team is administered by the Georgian Rugby Union and takes part in the annual Rugby Europe Championship and the Rugby World Cup, which takes place every four years.
The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in men's international rugby union 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 2 November 2020, Scotland are 7th in the World Rugby Rankings.
The Italy national rugby union team represents Italy in men's international rugby union. The team is known as gli Azzurri. Savoy blue is the common colour of the national teams representing Italy, as it is the traditional colour of the royal House of Savoy which reigned over the Kingdom of Italy from 1860 to 1946.
The Romania national rugby union team represents Romania in men's international rugby union competitions, nicknamed The Oaks (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 most recently in 2017. Rugby union in Romania is administered by the Romanian Rugby Federation. The team plays in yellow and blue strips.
The United States men's national rugby union team, represents United States of America in men's international rugby union, nicknamed the Eagles it is controlled by USA Rugby. USA Rugby is a member of Rugby Americas North, one of six regional governing bodies under World Rugby. Until rugby returned to Olympic competition, with sevens at the 2016 Rio Games, the United States was the reigning Olympic rugby champion, having defeated the one other competitor in 1920 and the two other competitors at the 1924 Summer Olympics.
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 and it is governed by Rugby Canada, and play in red and white. Canada is classified by World Rugby as a tier two rugby nation. Canada competes in competitions such as the Americas Rugby Championship and the Rugby World Cup.
The Spain national rugby union team represents Spain in men's international rugby union competitions, nicknamed Los Leones, is administered by the Spanish Rugby Federation. The team annually takes part in the European Nations Cup, the highest European rugby championship outside the Six Nations. The national side is ranked 16th in the world.
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".
The Russia national rugby union team represents Russia in men's international rugby union international competitions, nicknamed the Bears, 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.
Cédric Heymans is a former French rugby union footballer. He is currently a coach with Toulouse after retiring from rugby with Bayonne in 2013. He started his club career with CA Brive before moving to SU Agen, where he stayed until the late 1990s, until signing with Toulouse. His usual position was on the wing, though he also started at fullback for France.
Rugby union is a moderately popular team sport played in Romania with a tradition of more than 100 years. The Romanian men's national team are currently 19th in the World Rugby Rankings as of 31 October 2020.
The national rugby union teams of England and Italy have been playing each other in Test rugby since 1991, and by November 2020, they had met in 27 test matches, all of which have been won by England.
Scotland and Romania have played each other on thirteen occasions of which Scotland have won eleven matches and Romania two. The two sides have played against each other on three Rugby World Cup occasions, with Scotland winning all three matches.
Georgia and Romania have played each other on 23 occasions. Georgia have won 13 times, Romania 9 times and 1 match has been drawn. They regularly play each other in the Rugby Europe Championship.
The European Rugby Continental Shield was a rugby union competition, organised by European Professional Club Rugby, Rugby Europe and the Federazione Italiana Rugby, for entry into the European Rugby Challenge Cup.
