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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.
A scrum is a method of restarting play in rugby football that involves players packing closely together with their heads down and attempting to gain possession of the ball. Depending on whether it is in rugby union or rugby league, the scrum is used either after an accidental infringement or when the ball has gone out of play. Scrums occur more often, and are now of greater importance, in union than in league. Starting play from the line of scrimmage in gridiron football is derived from the scrum.
Rugby sevens, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. Rugby sevens is administered by World Rugby, the body responsible for rugby union worldwide. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific.
Neil Antony Back MBE is a former international rugby union footballer for England and the British & Irish Lions who also played for Nottingham RFC, Leicester Tigers, and captained both England and Leicester during his career.
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".
Graham Christopher Rowntree is an English rugby union former player and current coach. He played loosehead prop for Leicester Tigers and England. He was capped 54 times for England, despite having to compete for his position with the world's second most capped forward, Jason Leonard. Rowntree was born in Stockton-on-Tees. He was educated at John Cleveland College, Hinckley, Leicestershire, which has also produced other rugby union players.
Bristol Bears are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
Sydney John Dawes was a Welsh rugby union player, playing at centre, and later coach. He captained London Welsh, Wales, the 1971 British Lions and the Barbarians. He is credited with being a major influence in these teams' success, and in the attractive, attacking, free-flowing rugby they played. Dawes also had considerable success as a coach with Wales, and coached the 1977 British Lions. He was made an OBE in the 1972 New Year Honours List for services to sport.
Jeff Probyn is an English former Rugby Union player.
John Sydney Millar is a former rugby union prop from Northern Ireland who played international rugby for Ireland and the British Lions. After retiring from playing rugby he became a rugby coach and later a rugby administrator. He became chairman of the Irish Rugby Union in 1995, and from 2003 until 2007 was the chairman of the International Rugby Board.
Malone RFC is a rugby union club based in Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It is currently in the Division 1B of the All-Ireland League. The club is affiliated with the Ulster Branch, itself part of the Irish Rugby Football Union. It is one of the last remaining Belfast rugby clubs not to have amalgamated and still plays at its original ground. As well as its successful Senior teams, it has a thriving Youth and Mini structure, and was the first Mini rugby team from Ireland to play in the renowned Fundacion Cisneros International rugby tournament in Madrid.
Flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Each team of 15 players includes two flankers, who play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside or openside flankers, numbers 6 and 7 respectively. The name comes from their position in a scrum in which they 'flank' each set of forwards. They compete for the ball – most commonly in rucks and mauls. Flankers also assist in pushing in a scrum, but are expected to detach from the scrum as soon as the ball is out to get to the play before the opposition's forwards. Flankers also participate in line-outs, either being lifted to contest or win possession, or to lift other players. Flankers are usually the key participants in the tackling process. The flankers, especially the openside, are often the fastest forwards on the team but still relied upon for tackling.
Dicky Owen was a Welsh international scrum-half who played club rugby for Swansea RFC Owen is seen as one of the greatest Welsh scrum-halves and won 35 caps for Wales between 1901 and 1912, a record that was unbeaten until 1955 when Ken Jones surpassed him.
Mini rugby, also known as New Image Rugby, is a form of rugby union designed to introduce the sport to children. It uses a smaller ball and pitch than standard rugby, and has eight to ten players a side.
John Evans was a Welsh international rugby union forward who later 'went North', switching to the professional rugby league code. Evans played for several teams, but is most notable for playing club rugby for Llanelli, and international rugby for Wales.
Between October 1966 and March 1967 the Australia national rugby union team – the Wallabies – conducted a world tour on which they played five Tests and thirty-one minor tour matches. Under the captaincy of John Thornett they toured UK, Ireland, France and Canada winning nineteen matches, losing fourteen and drawing three. At one stage they failed to win in four successive matches although in the Test match against England they gave the home side its heaviest defeat in 16 years. The tour marked the climax of the successful "Thornett Era" of Australian Rugby, buoyed by the leadership skills of skipper John Thornett and the outstanding abilities of greats of the game like Ken Catchpole, Peter Johnson and Rob Heming. Dick Marks and Peter Crittle also toured and would later become among the most influential administrators of Australian rugby.
Sean David Corkery is a retired Irish rugby union player. In his career he played for Cork Constitution, Munster and Bristol, as well as winning 27 caps for Ireland between 1994 and 1999.
Pat O'Hara is a retired Irish rugby union wing-forward. Born in Hornchurch, Essex, on 4 August 1961, he played for Sundays Well, Cork Constitution Munster and Ireland, winning 15 caps between 1988 and 1994.
Allen forward was a Welsh rugby union forward who favoured the position of flanker. Forward played club rugby for Pontypool and various Police teams. He played in six internationals for Wales and was part of the 1952 Grand Slam winning side. Forward also played for an invitational touring team, the Barbarians, and twice met international opposition for Pontypool: South Africa in 1951 and New Zealand in 1954.
John Morton Dykes was a Scottish rugby union international who represented Scotland in the 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901 and 1902 Home Nations Championships.
References
- ↑ John Davis | Rugby Union Players and Officials | ESPN Scrum J. L. Davis at Scrum.com
- ↑ Irish Rugby Football Union (2007) 'Irish Rugby : Player search'. IRFU Profile
- ↑ Jones, Stephen (1994). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1994-95. Headline. ISBN 0-7472-7850-4.
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