Dragons RFC are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup/European Rugby Challenge Cup. The region they represent covers an area of southeast Wales including Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen with a total population approaching 600,000 and they are affiliated with a number of semi-professional and amateur clubs throughout the area, including Pontypool RFC, Caerphilly RFC, Cross Keys RFC, Ebbw Vale RFC and Newport RFC.
Rugby union in Wales is considered a large part of Welsh national culture. Rugby union is thought to have reached Wales in the 1850s, with the national body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) being formed in 1881. Wales are considered to be one of the most successful national sides in Rugby Union, having won the most Six Nations Championships after England, as well as having reached 3 World Cup semi finals in 1987, 2011 and 2019, having finished 3rd in the inaugural competition and having finished 4th in 2011 in a repeat of the first third place play-off. The Welsh team of the 1970s is considered to be arguably the greatest national team of all time, prompting many experts in the game to suggest that had the Rugby World Cup existed during this period, Wales would be amongst the list of World Cup winners. As of November 2021, they are ranked 8th in the world.
Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after which relocating to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since.
The Welsh Premier Division, known for sponsorship reasons as the Indigo Group Premiership, is a rugby union league in Wales first implemented by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) for the 1990–91 season.
Pontypool Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in the town of Pontypool, which plays in the WRU SUPER RYGBI CYMRU league. Since the regionalisation of Welsh rugby in 2003, Pontypool RFC is now a feeder club to the Dragons regional team. Pontypool play their home matches at Pontypool Park. Their traditional home kit is a red, white and black-hooped shirt and socks with white shorts, although they did gradually shift to wearing black shorts post-2003.
Waunarlwydd Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in the village of Waunarlwydd, Swansea. Waunarlwydd are a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and are a feeder club for the Ospreys.
Bridgend Ravens are a semi-professional rugby union club based in Bridgend, South Wales.
Carmarthen Quins Rugby Football Club are one of two Welsh rugby union clubs based in Carmarthen in West Wales, the other being Carmarthen Athletic.
Bridgend Athletic RFC are a Welsh rugby union club based in Bridgend in South Wales. They are members of the Welsh Rugby Union playing in the National League Division 1 West and are a feeder club for the Ospreys.
Dominic Day is a Welsh rugby union player.
The Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy is a Welsh rugby union competition open to all non-premier Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) clubs playing in the Glamorgan area.
Welsh regional rugby is the top tier of professional Welsh club rugby and is composed of the Scarlets, Ospreys, Cardiff Rugby and the Dragons which compete in the United Rugby Championship.
Matthew Silva is a Welsh rugby union coach, who is the current coach of RGC 1404. He is a former rugby union and professional rugby league footballer, who played from the 1980s to the 2000s. In rugby union (RU), he played as a number eight, fly-half, centre, wing and fullback. In rugby league (RL), he played as a fullback, i.e. number 1.
The 2010–11 Principality Premiership is the sixteenth Principality Premiership season and the seventh under its current format. The season began in August 2010 and will end in May 2011. Fourteen teams are playing each other on a home and away basis, with the standard bonus point system determining placement—4 points for a win, 2 for a draw, and separate bonus points for scoring four or more tries in a match and losing by seven points or less.
The 2013–14 British and Irish Cup was the fifth season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. Leinster A were the defending champions having won the 2012–13 Final with a 78th minute penalty by Noel Reid to beat Newcastle Falcons 18–17 at their home ground Kingston Park. There has been four different winners and four different losing finalists of the competition in the first four seasons of its existence.
The 1998–99 rebel season in rugby union occurred when two clubs affiliated to the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), Cardiff RFC and Swansea RFC, refused to play in the WRU-sanctioned Welsh Premier Division that season and instead opted to play friendly matches against clubs from the English Premiership. The two clubs' position came about after the WRU rejected requests by the club to pursue changes to the league structure in Welsh club rugby and in particular to set up a cross-border league involving other clubs in Britain, and the two clubs refused to sign up to a loyalty agreement with the WRU committing them to the current league setup.
The 2018–19 WRU Championship was the seventh season of the WRU Championship, the second tier of club rugby in Wales run by the Welsh Rugby Union. It was the third season to feature 12 teams, reduced from 14 in previous seasons. For this season, "ring-fencing" was abolished and the winner would play-off against the 12th placed team in the 2018–19 Principality Premiership at a neutral venue to determine the 12th team for the 2019–20 season. The competition was won by Pontypool for the third consecutive year and completed the season unbeaten for the second year running. The bottom four clubs relegated were Bedlinog, Newbridge, Newcastle Emlyn and Rhydyfelin.
The 2018–19 Principality Premiership was the third season of the new format of the Principality Premiership, the top tier of club rugby in Wales run by the Welsh Rugby Union. It was contested by sixteen Welsh clubs following an expansion from twelve teams at the start of the 2016–17 season. The 2018–19 season saw the end of "ring-fencing" and relegation returned for this season with four teams being automatically relegated to the 2019–20 WRU Championship and a fifth team avoiding relegation by winning a play-off. The competition was won by Merthyr for the third consecutive year.
The 2023–24 Indigo Group Premiership is the fifth season of the current format of the rugby union competition Welsh Premier Division. It began on 2 September 2023.
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