The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in South Africa, and the BKT United Rugby Championship in the competition's other territories, the split branding mirroring the format previously adopted in Super Rugby. The Championship represents the highest level of domestic club or franchise rugby in each of its constituent countries.
Rugby union is a popular team sport on the island of Ireland, organised on an all-Ireland basis, including players and teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Its governing body, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), was founded in 1879, making it the third oldest rugby union in the world after the RFU (England) and the SRU (Scotland).
Aviva Stadium also known as Lansdowne Road or Dublin Arena is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators. It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and replaced it as home to its chief tenants: the Irish rugby union team and the Republic of Ireland football team. The decision to redevelop the stadium came after plans for both Stadium Ireland and Eircom Park fell through. Aviva Group Ireland signed a 10-year deal for the naming rights in 2009, and subsequently extended the arrangement until 2025.
Craig Gilroy is an Irish rugby union player who played wing for Ulster, and a former Ireland international. He was Ulster's player of the year in 2014–15, and was named in the Pro12 Dream Team twice.
Niamh Briggs is a former Ireland women's rugby union international. She represented Ireland at the 2010 and 2014 Women's Rugby World Cups. She was also a member of the Ireland teams that won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships. Briggs was a member of the first Ireland teams to defeat France, England and New Zealand. She was captain of the Ireland team when they won the 2015 Six Nations title and was the top points scorer during both the 2013 and 2015 Six Nations championships. Briggs is also an Ireland women's rugby sevens international and has also played senior ladies' Gaelic football for Waterford. Briggs is a Garda Síochána officer based in Limerick.
Nora Stapleton is a former Ireland women's rugby union international. Stapleton represented Ireland at the 2010, 2014 and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups. She was also a member of the Ireland teams that won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships. Stapleton was a member of the first Ireland teams to defeat both England and New Zealand. Stapleton has also played two other football codes at a senior level. As a women's association football player, she played for UCD in FAI Women's Cup finals and UEFA Women's Cup campaigns. She has also played senior ladies' Gaelic football for Donegal.
Claire Molloy is an Ireland women's rugby union international from Galway. Molloy represented Ireland at the 2010, 2014 and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups. At the 2014 tournament she was a member of the Ireland team that defeated New Zealand and she captained Ireland at the 2017 tournament. She was also a member of the Ireland teams that won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships. She is also an Ireland women's rugby sevens international and captained the Ireland team at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Molloy also played ladies' Gaelic football for Galway and featured in the 2005 All-Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship final.
Fiona Hayes is an Irish former rugby union player. She was a member of the Ireland teams that won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships, and that defeated New Zealand at the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup. Hayes has also played association football at intervarsity and intermediate level.
Lindsay Peat is an Ireland women's rugby union international. Peat represented Ireland at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. Peat is an all-round sportswoman. In addition to representing Ireland at women's rugby union, she has also played for the Republic of Ireland women's national association football team at U-18 level, captained the Ireland women's national basketball team and played senior Ladies' Gaelic football for Dublin. Between 2009 and 2014 she played in three All-Ireland finals. She was a member of the Dublin team that won the All-Ireland title in 2010 and she scored two goals in the 2014 final.
Cliodhna Moloney is an Irish women's rugby union player from Kilconly, County Galway, Republic of Ireland. She currently plays for Railway Union RFC, Leinster Rugby (province) and the Ireland women's national rugby union team as a hooker.
Sene Naoupu is an Ireland women's rugby union international. Naoupu was a member of the Ireland team that won the 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship. She also represented Ireland at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. She is also an Ireland women's rugby sevens international. Naoupu is a Samoan New Zealander who originally emigrated to Ireland in 2009 with her former husband, George Naoupu, the former Highlanders, Harlequins and Connacht rugby union player. Naoupu is also a lifestyle coach and fitness trainer and operates her own business, Senshaper. In 2016, Naoupu was listed by The Irish Times as one of the thirty most influential women in Ireland.
Katie Fitzhenry is a women's rugby union player from Coolcotts in Wexford, County Wexford, Republic of Ireland. She plays as a centre for Blackrock College RFC, Leinster Rugby, the Ireland women's national rugby union team and the Ireland women's national rugby sevens team.
Hannah Tyrrell is an Ireland women's rugby union international. Tyrrell represented Ireland at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. She was also a member of the Ireland team that won the 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship. Tyrrell is also an Ireland women's rugby sevens international. She has also played two other football codes at a senior level. As a women's association football player, Tyrrell played for St Catherine's in two FAI Women's Cup finals and played for Shamrock Rovers in the Women's National League. She also plays senior Ladies' Gaelic football for Dublin in the Ladies' National Football League.
Beibhinn Parsons is an Ireland women's rugby union international. She plays wing for Blackrock College RFC, Connacht and the Ireland women's national rugby union team. She made her senior international debut in 2018 aged 16, making her the youngest player, male or female, to play senior rugby for the Irish Rugby Football Union.
Kathryn Dane is a rugby union player from Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. She plays scrum half for Old Belvedere and Ulster Rugby and has represented Ireland since the 2018 Women's Six Nations Championship. She works as a physiotherapist.
Stacey Flood is an Irish rugby player from Rathmines in Dublin. She plays for the Ireland women's national rugby Sevens team and the Ireland women's national rugby union team.
Laura Feely is an Irish rugby player from County Donegal. She plays prop forward for Blackrock College, Connacht and the Ireland women's national rugby union team. She works as a biomedical engineer in Dublin.
Neve Jones is an Irish rugby player from Ballymena. She plays for Gloucester-Hartpury, Ulster and the Ireland women's national rugby union team.
Emma Hooban is an Irish rugby player from Portlaoise, Co Laois. She plays for St Mary's College RFC, Leinster and the Ireland women's national rugby union team.
Brittany Hogan is an Irish rugby player from Killinchy, Co Down. She plays for Old Belvedere, Ulster, the Ireland women's national rugby union team and the Ireland women's national rugby sevens team. She graduated from DCU with a First class honours in sports science and health in February 2022.
