Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a full-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.
The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere, the Six Nations is a similar tournament in the Northern Hemisphere.
World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rugby competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup.
The England national rugby union team represents England 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 13 times and the Triple Crown 26 times – making them the most successful outright winners in the tournament's history. As of 15 October 2020, England are ranked second in the world by the International Rugby Board. 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 other occasions.
Rugby union has been a men's medal sport at the modern Summer Olympic Games, being played at four of the first seven competitions. The sport debuted at the 1900 Paris games where the gold medal was won by the host nation. It was subsequently featured at the London games in 1908, the Antwerp games in 1920 and the Paris games in 1924.
Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Fiji. It is divided into over 30 provincial unions. The Fiji Rugby Union is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA), along with Samoa and Tonga. There are approximately 80,000 registered players from a total population of around 950,000.
The New Zealand national women's rugby union team, called the Black Ferns, represents New Zealand in women's rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport. The team has won five of the past six Women's Rugby World Cups.
The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific nations: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament will also include the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First held in 2006, the tournament is intended to strengthen the Tier 2 rugby nations by providing competitive test matches in a tournament format.
The Spain national rugby union team, nicknamed Los Leones, represents Spain in men's international rugby union competitions. The team is administered by the Spanish Rugby Federation. The team annually takes part in the European Nations Cup, the highest European rugby championship outside the Six Nations. The national side is ranked 16th in the world.
The Russia national rugby union team, nicknamed Medvedi, represents Russia in men's international rugby union international competitions. The team is administered by the Rugby Union of Russia (RUR). The RUR is considered the official successor union of the Soviet Union by World Rugby and the combined CIS team which played in the early 1990s. Since 1992, the team has played as Russia. Its first test match as Russia was against the Barbarians in Moscow in June 1992 and the country's first test against an official Test nation was against Belgium later that same year.
Rugby union in Samoa is the country's most popular sport. The national teams in both the standard 15-man game and rugby sevens are consistently competitive against teams from vastly more populous nations.
The Denmark national rugby union team is governed by Dansk Rugby Union and has been playing international rugby since 1949.
The Solomon Islands national rugby union team represent Solomon Islands in the sport of rugby union.
The Botswana national rugby union team represents Botswana in the sport of rugby union. Botswana have thus far not played in a Rugby World Cup, but have participated in qualifying tournaments. They are currently ranked 77th in the world.
The Mauritania national rugby union team represents Mauritania in international rugby union. Mauritania are a member of the International Rugby Board (IRB), and have yet to play in a Rugby World Cup tournament. The Mauritania national rugby team played their first ever international against Ghana in 2003, with Ghana winning the game 29 points to 8.
The Benin national rugby union team represents Benin in international rugby union. Benin is not a member of the International Rugby Board (IRB), and have yet to play in a Rugby World Cup tournament.
Rugby Union in Mali is a minor but growing sport.
Rugby union in Mauritania is a minor but growing sport.
Rugby union in Kazakhstan is a fairly popular sport. As of May 2018, they are ranked 61st by World Rugby, and as of June 2009, they had 2335 registered players and twenty clubs.
The American Samoa Rugby Union, or ASRU, is the governing body for rugby union in American Samoa. It was established in 1990, and became fully affiliated to the International Rugby Board (IRB) in 2012.
South Africa 
New Zealand 
1
France 
1
England 
Wales 
Australia 
Ireland 
Scotland 
Argentina 
Japan 
Fiji 
Georgia 
Tonga 
Samoa 
Italy 
United States 
Spain 
Uruguay 
Romania 
Portugal 
Russia 
Hong Kong 
Canada 
Namibia 
Netherlands 
Brazil 
Belgium 
Switzerland 
Chile 
Germany 
Benin 
Burkina Faso 
Botswana 
Chad 
Ghana 
Egypt 
Mauritania 
Niger 
Nigeria 
Senegal 
Togo 
