The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national team, although they can pick uncapped players who are eligible for any of the four unions. The team tours every four years, with these rotating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in order. The most recent test series, the 2021 series against South Africa, was won 2–1 by South Africa.
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is also the oldest sports tournament ever between Home Nations. The championship holders are Ireland, who won the 2024 tournament.
Test Cricket is a format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of international cricket where two teams in white clothing, each representing a country, compete over a match that can last up to five days. It consists of four innings, maximum of ninety overs are scheduled to be bowled per day making it the sport with the longest playing time. A team wins the match by outscoring the opposition in the batting or bowl out in bowling, otherwise the match ends in a draw.
Gaelic football, commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kicking or punching the ball into the other team's goal or between two upright posts above the goal and over a crossbar 2.5 metres above the ground.
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of players and much terminology. The same game played by women is called camogie, which shares a common Gaelic root.
Croke Park is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Since 1891 the site has been used by the GAA to host Gaelic sports, including the annual All-Ireland finals in Gaelic football and hurling.
Lansdowne Road Stadium was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Aviva Stadium on the same site, which opened in 2010.
Roy Maurice Keane is an Irish football pundit, former coach, and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time alongside Denis Irwin and Ronnie Whelan, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during his time at English club Manchester United. Regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players in 2004.
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in men's international association football. From 1882 to 1950, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association (IFA). In 1921, the jurisdiction of the IFA was reduced to Northern Ireland following the secession of clubs in the soon-to-be Irish Free State, although its team remained the national team for all of Ireland until 1950, and used the name Ireland until the 1970s. The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) organises the separate Republic of Ireland national football team.
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents the Republic of Ireland in men's international football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).
The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Championship, is an annual inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest-tier competition for inter-county hurling in Ireland and has been contested in every year except one since 1887.
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.
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions.
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 Ireland men's cricket team represents all of Ireland in international cricket. The Irish Cricket Union, operating under the brand Cricket Ireland, is the sport's governing body in Ireland, and they organise the international team. The team have a number of home grounds, including Malahide in County Dublin, Stormont, Belfast, Bready in the north-west and Clontarf in Dublin city. A further ground is planned for the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, Dublin for 2030. Due to the short season allowed by the Irish climate, and lack of large scale facilities, Ireland also occasionally play 'home matches' in venues in England and further abroad.
The World Rugby Rankings is a ranking system for national teams in rugby union, managed by World Rugby, the sport's governing body. There are separate men's and women's rankings. The teams of World Rugby's member nations are ranked based on their game results, with the most successful teams being ranked highest. A point system is used, with points being awarded on the basis of the results of World Rugby-recognized international matches. Rankings are based on the team's performance, with more recent results and more significant matches being more heavily weighted to help reflect the current competitive state of a team. The men's ranking system was introduced the month before the 2003 Rugby World Cup, with the first new rankings issued on 8 September 2003, when they were called the "IRB Rankings".
The Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team is a representative team of Irish football players. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland and represents them at Under-21 level against the national teams of other national associations. The team played its first match in 1978 and has competed in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship since 1988.
The Ireland women's cricket team represents Ireland in international women's cricket. Cricket in Ireland is governed by Cricket Ireland and organised on an All-Ireland basis, meaning the Irish women's team represents both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The Northern Ireland national under-21 football team also known as the Northern Ireland under-21s or Northern Ireland U21s, is the national under-21 football team of Northern Ireland and is controlled by the Irish Football Association. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years. To date Northern Ireland haven't yet qualified for the finals tournament.
In association football, the FIFA eligibility rules are the eligibility criteria established by FIFA, the sport's governing body, to facilitate the selection of representative teams for international competitions. Specifically, FIFA maintains and implements rules determining a player's eligibility to represent a particular national team in officially sanctioned international competitions and friendly matches.
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