Related Research Articles
The England men's national rugby union team represents the Rugby Football Union 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 14 times and the Triple Crown 26 times, making them the most successful outright winners in the tournament's history. 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 further occasions.
The Ospreys, formerly the Neath–Swansea Ospreys is one of the four professional rugby union teams from Wales. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team formed as a result of Neath RFC and Swansea RFC combining to create a new merged entity, as part of the new regional structure of Welsh rugby, that began in 2003. They are also affiliated with a number of local semi-professional and amateur clubs, including Welsh Premier Division sides Aberavon RFC, Bridgend Ravens, and original founding clubs Neath and Swansea. The regional area represented by the team has widely become known for rugby purposes as 'Ospreylia'.
The Scarlets are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. The club was originally named the Llanelli Scarlets but was renamed at the start of the 2008–09 rugby season.
Edward Jones is an Australian rugby union coach and former player. He most recently coached the Australia national team from January until October 2023. He previously coached Australia, Japan and England. He returned to the role of Japan head coach in January 2024.
Andrew David Farrell is an English professional rugby union coach and former player for both rugby league and rugby union. Farrell has been head coach of the Ireland national team since 2019.
Alun Wyn Jones is a Welsh former international rugby union player who played as a lock. He played most of his career for Ospreys and for the Wales national team. He is the world's most-capped rugby union player, with 158 caps for Wales and 13 for the British & Irish Lions, and also holds the records for the most Wales caps and the second most Wales caps as captain. He retired from rugby in 2023.
Joseph Jones was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Cilfynydd RFC, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Great Britain and Wales, and at club level for Wigan and Barrow, as a fullback, centre, stand-off, or loose forward.
Joseph William George Marler is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Premiership Rugby club Harlequins and the England national team.
The New Zealand rugby league season 1997 was the 90th season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the Super League Challenge Cup that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. Waikato won the Challenge Cup by defeating Canterbury 34-18 and also ended the season holding the Rugby League Cup.
Michael Patrick Williams is a Zimbabwean rugby player. He previously played for Leicester Tigers, Exeter Chiefs and Bath in Premiership Rugby, and for Worcester Warriors in the RFU Championship. He plays primarily as a lock but he can also play at flanker.
Joshua Dirk van der Flier is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for United Rugby Championship club Leinster and the Ireland national team.
Samuel Gregory Underhill is a professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for Premiership Rugby club Bath. Born in the United States when his father served overseas in the Royal Air Force, he moved back to the UK aged 1 year old. He was brought up in Peterborough and then moved to Gloucestershire where he played for Sir Thomas Rich’s School, Longlevens RFC and Gloucester Academy. He represents England at international level.
Ruaridh McConnochie is an English rugby union player. He was a member of the silver medal winning team in Rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and a full England International, making his debut against Italy at St James's Park in September 2019. He wasn't selected to play again for England since, and as a result has become eligible to play for Scotland through his Scottish parents. His great grandfather James Macdonald represented Scotland in football and his grandfather Hamish Macdonald was a scratch golfer and a member of the R&A in St Andrews.
Joseph Marchant is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for Top 14 club Stade Français and the England national team.
Ben Anthony Curry is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for Premiership Rugby club Sale Sharks and the England national team.
Joe Cokanasiga is a professional rugby union player for the England national rugby union team. He plays wing for Bath, having previously represented London Irish. He helped his former team win promotion from the RFU Championship in 2016–17 season to the English Premiership for the 2017–18 season.
Megan Jones is a Welsh and English rugby union player. She debuted for England against New Zealand in 2015. She plays for Leicester Tigers Women at club level.
Joseph Connor Rhys Heyes is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers and the England national team. He was a Premiership Rugby champion in 2022.
Orlando Bailey is an English professional rugby union player who plays for Bath in the Gallagher Premiership.
