Rugby in England may refer to:
 | This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Rugby in England. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. |
Rugby in England may refer to:
| | This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Rugby in England. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. |
Rugby refers to the team sports rugby league and rugby union. Legend claims that Rugby football was started around the time of 1845 in Rugby School, Rugby, Warwickshire, England, although forms of football in which the ball was carried and tossed date to medieval times. Rugby eventually split into two sports in 1895 when twenty one clubs split from the original Rugby Football Union, to form the Northern Union in the George Hotel, Huddersfield, Northern England over the issue of payment to players, thus making rugby league the first code to turn professional and pay its players, rugby union turned fully professional in 1995. Both sports are run by their respective world governing bodies World Rugby and the Rugby League International Federation. Rugby football was one of many versions of football played at English public schools in the 19th century. Although rugby league initially used rugby union rules, they are now wholly separate sports. In addition to these two codes, both American and Canadian football evolved from rugby football.
Rugby union, commonly known in most of the world simply as rugby, is a contact team sport which 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 between two teams of 15 players using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line.
The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament was first held in 1987, when the tournament was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.
Rugby league football is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field. One of the two codes of rugby, it originated in Northern England in 1895 as a split from the Rugby Football Union over the issue of payments to players. Its rules progressively changed with the aim of producing a faster, more entertaining game for spectators.
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions are Ireland, who won the 2018 tournament.
Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, CBE is an English former rugby union player who represented England and the British and Irish Lions. He rose to prominence from 2001 to 2003, before and during the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and is widely acknowledged as one of the best rugby union players of all time.
The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the match between England and Scotland. It is the oldest of several individual competitions that take place under the umbrella of the Six Nations Championship, including: the Millennium Trophy, Centenary Quaich, Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy and the Auld Alliance Trophy.
The England national rugby union team competes in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship outright on a total of 28 occasions, 13 times winning the Grand Slam and 25 times winning the Triple Crown, making them the most successful team in the tournament's history. They are ranked third in the world by the International Rugby Board as of 3 February 2019. England are to date the only team from the northern hemisphere to win the Rugby World Cup, when they won the tournament back in 2003. They were also runners-up in 1991 and 2007.
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It promotes and runs the sport, organises international matches for the England national team, and educates and trains players and officials.
Twickenham Stadium is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, south west London, England. Owned by the governing body of rugby union in England, the Rugby Football Union, the stadium hosts home test matches for the England national rugby union team. Other rugby union games played at the stadium include the Middlesex Sevens, selected Premiership Rugby fixtures, selected Anglo-Welsh Cup matches, the Varsity Match between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and selected European Rugby Champions Cup matches. The RFU headquarters are in the stadium.
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. They are ranked second in the world by World Rugby as of 19 November 2018. The team competes annually in the current Six Nations Championship, which they have won fourteen times outright and shared nine times in its various formats. The team also competes every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions. Ireland is also one of the four unions that make up the British and Irish Lions – players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions.
The Italy national rugby union team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship against the other top rugby teams in Europe. The team is also known as the Azzurri (Azures).
Andrew David Farrell, is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league and rugby union player. He is the defence coach for Ireland.
The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was only one change: Uruguay replaced Russia. This was the first World Cup with no new teams to the tournament.
The England women's national rugby union team first played in 1982. England were the 2014 Rugby World Cup champions after beating Canada in the final. Their coach is Simon Middleton after their coach Gary Street, who had been head coach since 2006, contract wasn't renewed. Street now coaches Harlequins Ladies.
Owen Andrew Farrell is an English professional rugby union player, currently playing for Premiership Rugby side Saracens. Farrell has played international rugby for England since 2012, has previously played for the British and Irish Lions and has been the Captain of England since 2018. He is considered by many to be one of the best currently-active rugby union players in the world, having been nominated for World Rugby Player of the Year in 2012, 2016 and 2017.
The England Under 20 rugby team are the newest representative rugby union team from England. They replace the two former age grade teams Under 19s and Under 21s. They compete in the annual Six Nations Under 20s Championship and World Rugby Under 20 Championship.
Southern Counties South is a league in the Rugby Football Union South West Division, the rugby union governing body for South West England, part of the Rugby Football Union. The league sits at the seventh tier of club rugby union in England and primarily features teams based in Dorset and Wiltshire. The league champions at the end of the season are promoted to South West 1 East while the runners up face the runners up from Southern Counties North for their place. Relegated teams tend to drop to either Dorset & Wilts 1 North or Dorset & Wilts 1 South depending on geographic placement. Although 2nd XV rugby is part of the Dorset & Wilts regional leagues, only 1st XV teams can play in Southern Counties South.
Durham/Northumberland 1 is an English Rugby Union league at the seventh tier of the domestic competition, the top level for local rugby union in North East England. The champions are automatically promoted to North 1 East, a division with a wider geographical area which also encompasses Yorkshire. The runners up participates in a playoff against the 2nd place team from the equivalent regional league, Yorkshire 1, for promotion to North 1 East. The bottom two clubs are relegated to Durham/Northumberland 2.
Yorkshire Division One is an English rugby union division, the seventh tier of the domestic competition, and the top level for local rugby union in Yorkshire. The champions are automatically promoted to North 1 East, a division with a wider geographical area which also encompasses north east England. The runners-up participates in a playoff against the 2nd place team from the equivalent regional league, Durham/Northumberland 1, for promotion to North 1 East. The bottom two clubs are relegated to Yorkshire 2.