The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national 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.
The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Football League.
The Rugby Europe International Championships is the European Championship for tier 2 and tier 3 rugby union nations.
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 1875, making it the third oldest rugby union in the world after the RFU (England) and the SRU (Scotland), which were both founded in 1871.
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.
The Netherlands national rugby union team, nicknamed The Oranges (Oranje), is considered one of the stronger tier 3 teams in European rugby. They currently compete in the second division of the Rugby Europe International Championships in the Rugby Europe Trophy, a competition which is just below the Rugby Europe Championship where the top six countries in Europe compete. They are yet to participate in any Rugby World Cup.
The Luxembourg national rugby union team is a minor team, and is ranked as a third tier nation. They are currently competing in the 2024-2025 Rugby Europe Trophy. Since 1996 Luxembourg also competes in the sevens circuits in Europe Luxembourg national rugby sevens team.
The Russia national rugby union team, nicknamed Medvedi, represented 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.
The Czech Republic national rugby union team is the third tier rugby national team of the Czech Republic.
The Belgium national rugby union team, nicknamed Diables Noirs / Zwarte Duivels, currently competes in the first division of the Rugby Europe International Championships, which they have been playing in since 2023. They have yet to participate in a Rugby World Cup. Rugby union in Belgium is administered by the Belgian Rugby Federation.
The Israel national rugby union team is governed by Rugby Israel, which oversees all rugby union in Israel. As of 24 January 2022, Israel is ranked 60th in the IRB World Rankings.
The Moldova national rugby union team, nicknamed Haiducii, are a Rugby Europe national team that play in the Conference 2 North competition and are administered by the Moldovan Rugby Federation. They are yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.
The Malta national rugby union team are governed by the Malta Rugby Football Union (MRFU). Although Malta has yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup, the island state has made remarkable progression since its first international in 2000.
The Denmark national rugby union team is governed by Danish Rugby Union and has been playing international rugby since 1949.
The Hungary national rugby union team is governed by the Hungarian Rugby Union. They have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup, although they have entered qualifiers for all the tournaments from the 1995 edition onwards. They compete annually in the European Nations Cup, currently in Division 2C.
Lyon Olympique Universitaire Rugby or LOU is a French professional rugby union team based in Lyon that currently competes in the Top 14, the highest level of the country's professional league system, having been most recently promoted for the 2016–17 season after winning the 2015–16 title of the second-level Pro D2. The club has bounced between the top two levels in recent years, having also been promoted in 2011 and 2014 and relegated in 2012 and 2015.
The Switzerland national rugby union team, nicknamed The White Flowers (Edelweiss), is considered one of the stronger tier three teams in European rugby. They currently compete in the second division of the Rugby Europe International Championships in the Rugby Europe Trophy, a competition which is just below the Rugby Europe Championship where the top six countries in Europe compete. They are yet to participate in any Rugby World Cup. They often play in all red, while their alternative kit is all white.
The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising eleven clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when English clubs were first organised into leagues.
Rugby Europe is the administrative body for rugby union in Europe. It was formed in 1999 to promote, develop, organise, and administer the game of rugby in Europe under the authority of World Rugby. However, it is not responsible for the organisation of the Six Nations Championship or the competitions run by European Professional Club Rugby.
This page covers the major events of 2017 in rugby union.
Alex Laybourne 
Sweden 6–0 Denmark 
Luxembourg 3–116 Sweden
Soviet Union 72–0 Sweden 
