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The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians, is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, players from 31 countries had played for them. Traditionally at least one uncapped player is selected for each match.
The England 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 Wales national rugby union team represents the Welsh Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played their first international against England. The team plays its home matches at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, which replaced Cardiff Arms Park as the national stadium of Wales in 1999.
The Ireland national rugby union team is the men's representative national team for the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and in the Rugby World Cup. Ireland is one of the four unions that make up the British & Irish Lions – players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions.
The France national rugby union team represents the French Rugby Federation in men's international rugby union matches. Colloquially known as Le XV de France, the team traditionally wears blue shirts with a Gallic rooster embroidered on the chest, white shorts and red socks in reference to the French national flag. Les Bleus mostly play home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, near Paris. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship along with England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. France have won the tournament on 26 occasions, winning the Grand Slam 10 times.
The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States of America Rugby Football Union in men's international rugby union. USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States, and 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 won gold at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics.
Richmond Rugby Club is a rugby union club in Richmond, London, England. It is a founding member of the Rugby Football Union, and is one of the oldest football clubs. It fields teams in both men's and women's rugby; the men's first team currently play in National League 1 following their relegation from the RFU Championship at the end of the 2022–23 season, while the women's first team play in the Women's Championship.
In 1974, the British & Irish Lions toured South Africa, with matches in South West Africa and Rhodesia. Under the leadership of Willie John McBride, the Lions went through the tour undefeated, winning 21 of their 22 matches and being held to a draw in the final match, albeit in controversial circumstances. The 1974 squad became known as 'The Invincibles' and regarded as the greatest rugby tour in history.
A World XV is a rugby union team organised on an unofficial, ad hoc basis and typically composed of invited players from various countries. Several World XVs have been arranged by various bodies since the 1970s, often to take part in celebration and testimonial games, usually against national teams, but these are not considered test matches by most nations.
The Oxford University Rugby Football Club is the rugby union club of the University of Oxford. The club contests The Varsity Match every year against Cambridge University at Twickenham.
Ian Stephens is a former Wales international rugby union player. A prop who toured twice with the British & Irish Lions, visiting South Africa in 1980 and New Zealand in 1983. At the time, he played club rugby for Bridgend RFC. Ian was a tough, hard-nosed prop who had the rare ability to play both sides of the scrum at the highest level, though his preferred position was loosehead. Ian is also known as Ike or Ikey.
| ru_amclubcaps = | ru_amclubpoints = | ru_amupdate = | repteam1 = England | repteam2 = British Isles | repyears1 = 1971–1980 | repyears2 = 1977 | repcaps1 = 43 | repcaps2 = 1 | reppoints1 = 19 | reppoints2 = 0 | ru_ntupdate = | coachteams1 = | coachyears1 = | ru_coachupdate = | school = De La Salle College, Salford | university = Liverpool University }}
Michael Anthony Charles Slemen was an England international rugby union player. He toured South Africa in 1980 with the British and Irish Lions and at the time played club rugby for Liverpool.
The 1981 Ireland rugby union tour of South Africa was a series of matches played by the Ireland national rugby union team in South Africa in the May and June of 1981. The Irish team played seven matches, of which they won three. They lost the Test Series 2–0 to the Springboks.
Since 1989, the British & Irish Lions have developed a regular 12-year cycle of tours visiting one of the following three Southern Hemisphere nations, in turn, every four years:
Established in 1950, the East Africa rugby union team is a multi-national rugby union team drawing players from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, though the vast majority of these came from Kenya which has traditionally been the strongest rugby playing nation in the region. The team has played against incoming international, representative and club touring sides and it conducted seven tours between 1954 and 1982.
Broughton Park FC, is one of the oldest rugby union clubs in England and was established in 1882, just one year after the Lancashire County Rugby Football Union was founded and eleven years after the formation of the national Rugby Football Union. The first XV played in North 1 West, a sixth level league in the English league system following their promotion as champions of South Lancs/Cheshire 1 at the end of the 2017-18 season.
Tony Bond, is a former rugby union international who represented England from 1978 to 1982.
Michael Patrick Haley is an English-born, Irish-qualified rugby union player who plays as a fullback for United Rugby Championship club Munster.
Philip "Flippie" Rudolph van der Merwe is a South African former rugby union player who played six test matches for the South Africa national rugby union team from 1981 to 1989.
References
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