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Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union or more often just rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in England in the first half of the 19th century. Rugby 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.
World Rugby is the 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 competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup.
Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. Rugby sevens is administered by World Rugby, the body responsible for rugby union worldwide. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific.
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.
Rugby union in the United States is played at youth, high school, college, amateur, professional, and international levels and governed by USA Rugby. There were over 125,000 players registered with USA Rugby as of 2016. Over 2,500 rugby union clubs exist around the country, including those who are part of college rugby. Professional club competition has existed as Major League Rugby (MLR) since 2017.
Rugby union in South Africa is a highly popular team sport, along with cricket and soccer, and is widely played all over the country. The national team is among the strongest in the world and has been ranked in at least the top seven of the World Rugby Rankings since its inception in 2003. The country hosted and won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and won again in 2007, 2019 and 2023.
Rugby Africa is the administrative body for rugby union within the continent of Africa under the authority of World Rugby, which is the world governing body of rugby union. As of 2018, Rugby Africa has 37 member nations and runs several rugby tournaments for national teams, including the Africa Cup which is the main 15-a-side competition for African national teams.
Rugby union in Kenya is a popular sport, in particular due to the success of the Kenya national rugby sevens team in the rugby sevens format, and tournaments such as the Safari Sevens, which has been growing yearly, and now includes numerous international teams.
The Ghana national rugby union team represents Ghana in international rugby union. Ghana are a member of the International Rugby Board (IRB), and as of 2019 had not played in a Rugby World Cup tournament. Ghana played their first international game during the 2003 season, and defeated Mauritania by 29 points to 8. Since then there have been a number of youth teams in Ghana; the under-18 team won a junior rugby competition. The National Team itself has hosted a tournament and had some credible results on the field.
Women's rugby union is a full contact team sport based on running with the ball in hand. The same laws are used in men's rugby union with the same sized pitch and same equipment. Women's rugby has become popular recently. These days, women's rugby is gaining a higher profile thanks to international tournaments' exposure and financial investment.
Rugby union in Austria is a minor but growing sport. The national team is currently ranked 79th in the World Rugby's world rankings, which ranks only the top ninety-five countries.
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 Eswatini is a minor sport. As of January 2021, the World Rugby Ranking of their men's national team is 98th.
Rugby union in Tanzania is a minor but growing sport.
The Africa Women's Sevens is the continental championship for women's international rugby sevens in Africa. The tournament sanctioned and sponsored by Rugby Africa which is the rugby union governing body for the continent.
The 2010–11 IRB Sevens World Series was the 12th annual IRB Sevens World Series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000.
The Ghana Rugby Association, operating as the Ghana Rugby Football Union, is the governing body for rugby union in Ghana. It is a member of Rugby Africa and a full member of World Rugby since 2017.
The 2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC Sevens World Series, was the 13th annual series of the IRB Sevens World Series tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000.
Rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held over six days in August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. The 2016 Olympics was the debut for rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics, though rugby union was last played at the 1924 games.
Herbert Amponsah Mensah is a Ghanaian businessman, sports administrator, and the President of World Rugby’s African association, Rugby Africa, the governing body of Rugby in Africa.
References
- ↑ "International Rugby Board - GHANA". www.irb.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-16.
- ↑ "International Rugby Board - Ghana hosts North West Africa women's Sevens". www.irb.com. Archived from the original on 2009-08-19.