Formation | 1886 (as the International Rugby Football Board) |
---|---|
Type | International sport federation |
Headquarters | Dublin, Ireland |
Coordinates | 53°20′13″N6°15′08″W / 53.33694°N 6.25222°W |
Region served | Worldwide |
Membership | 113 member unions 17 associated unions |
Official languages | |
Chairman | Bill Beaumont |
Vice-Chairman | Bernard Laporte |
CEO | Alan Gilpin |
Affiliations | International Olympic Committee |
Website | www |
Formerly called | International Rugby Football Board (1886-1998) International Rugby Board (1998-2014) |
World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. [1] World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. [2] 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.
World Rugby's headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland. [3] [4] Its membership now comprises 133 national unions. [5] Each member country must also be a member of one of the six regional unions into which the world is divided: Africa, North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and Oceania. [6]
World Rugby was founded as the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) in 1886 by Scotland, Wales and Ireland, with England joining in 1890. [7] Australia, New Zealand and South Africa became full members in 1949. [7] France became a member in 1978 and a further 80 members joined from 1987 to 1999. [7] The body was renamed the International Rugby Board (IRB) in 1998, and took up its current name of World Rugby in November 2014. [8] In 2009, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to include rugby sevens in the 2016 Summer Olympics. [9] World Rugby gained membership of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) in 2010. [10]
Until 1885 the laws of rugby football were made by England as the founder nation. However, following a disputed try in an international between Scotland and England in 1884, letters were exchanged in which England claimed that they made the laws, and the try should stand. [11] Scotland refused to play England in the 1885 Home Nations Championship. Following the dispute, the home unions of Scotland, Ireland and Wales decided to form an international union whose membership would agree on the standard rules of rugby football. The three nations met in Dublin in 1886, though no formal regulations were agreed upon.
On 5 December 1887, committee members of the Irish Rugby Football Union, Scottish Rugby Union (named the Scottish Football Union at the time) and Welsh Rugby Union met in Manchester and wrote up the first four principles of the International Rugby Football Board. England refused to take part in the founding of the IRFB, stating that they should have greater representation, as they had more clubs. [12] The England Union also refused to accept the IRFB as the recognised lawmaker of the game. [12] This led to the IRFB taking the stance of member countries not playing England until they joined, and no games were played against England in 1888 and 1889. [13] In 1890 England joined the IRFB, gaining six seats while the other unions had two each. [13] The same year, the IRFB wrote the first international laws of rugby union. [14]
In 1893, the IRFB was faced with the divide between amateurism and professionalism, which was nicknamed the "Great Schism". Following the introduction of working-class men to the game in Northern England, clubs began paying "broken time" payments to players, due to the loss of earnings from playing on a Saturday. [15] Cumberland County Union also complained of another club using monetary incentives to lure players, leading to the IRFB conducting an enquiry. The IRFB was warned by all the chief clubs in Lancashire and Yorkshire that any punishment would lead to the clubs seceding from the union. [15] The debate over broken time payments ultimately caused the 22 leading clubs in Yorkshire and Lancashire to form the Northern Rugby Football Union. The competing unions' laws of the game diverged almost immediately; the northern body's code eventually became known as rugby league football. [15]
England's seats on the IRFB were reduced from six to four in 1911. The Australian Rugby Union,New Zealand Rugby Football Union and South African Rugby Board joined the board with one seat each in 1948, with England's seats being reduced to two, the same as the other home nations. The three Southern Hemisphere unions were given a second seat each in 1958. [16] The French Rugby Federation was admitted in 1978, the Argentine Rugby Union, Italian Rugby Federation and USA Rugby Football Union in 1987, and the Canadian Rugby Union, and Japan Rugby Football Union were admitted in 1991. [13] In 2016, the Georgia Rugby Union, Romanian Rugby Federation, and the USA were added to the voting Council with one vote each. Additionally, current Council members Argentina, Canada and Italy were granted a second representative and vote. The six regional associations represented on the council also received an additional vote. [17]
After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, World Rugby suspended Russia from international and European continental rugby union competition. In addition, the Rugby Union of Russia was suspended from World Rugby. [18] [19]
In the 1960s Australians Harold Tolhurst and Jock Kellaher suggested a World Rugby Championship be held in Australia but the IRFB refused. [20] In 1983 and 1984 respectively, the Australian and New Zealand Rugby Football Unions each proposed hosting such a tournament. [21] The following year the board committed to conduct a feasibility study. A year later another meeting took place in Paris, and the Union subsequently voted on the idea. The South African Rugby Board's vote that proved crucial in setting up a tied vote, as they voted in favour, even though they knew they would be excluded due to the sporting boycott because of their apartheid policies. English and Welsh votes then changed, and the vote was won 10 to 6. [21]
As at June 2024, World Rugby has 113 member unions and 17 associate member unions. [22]
Membership of World Rugby is a four-step process: [23]
Regional Unions
Six regional associations, which represent each continent, are affiliated with World Rugby and help to develop the fifteen-a-side game as well as Rugby sevens across the world. Not all members of the regional associations are members of World Rugby. Below is a list of member and associate unions and their regional associations with the year that they joined World Rugby. Associate unions are in italics.
There are 21 World Rugby members and 6 World Rugby associates:
Suspended unions:
Notes:
*Denotes associate membership date.
There are 22 World Rugby members, and 6 World Rugby associates: [Asia 1]
Notes:
*Denotes associate membership date.
There are 37 World Rugby members, and 2 World Rugby associates:
Suspended unions:
Notes:
*Denotes associate membership date.
There are 12 World Rugby members, and 1 World Rugby associate:
Notes:
*Denotes associate membership date.
There are 9 World Rugby members, and 2 World Rugby associates:
Notes:
*Denotes associate membership date.
There are 11 World Rugby members:
World Rugby's largest members, ranked by number of participants in 2019, are: [29]
The World Rugby Council meets twice a year and manages and controls the affairs of World Rugby. [30] The Council formulates and oversees the implementation of World Rugby's strategic plan and application of policy decisions, and selects the host nation(s) for the Rugby World Cup. The Council considers recommendations of the General Assembly. The Council may admit or expel member nations. The council is also the supreme legislative authority of World Rugby. Most Council decisions require approval of simple majority, but to amend the World Rugby's by-laws, regulations, or the Laws of the Game requires approval of three quarters of the council.
Prior to 2016, the council had 28 voting members from 12 national unions. In November 2015, World Rugby announced that they would add more unions to the voting council and give the six regional associations two votes each on the council. [31] [17]
As of October 2023 [update] , the council had 52 members including the non-voting chairman, so there were 51 voting members from 17 national unions and 6 regional associations, allocated as follows: [32] [33]
In total, Europe has 22 votes; Oceania 9 votes; South America 6 votes; Africa 5 votes; Asia 5 votes and North America 4 votes.
A Chairman and Vice Chairman are elected from among the council members. [34] These positions are held by Bill Beaumont of England and Bernard Laporte of France, respectively, elected as of April 2020 [update] . [35] [36]
The executive committee, in accordance with bye-laws 9.14–9.16, ensures the effective management and operation of the World Rugby. [37] The Committee formulates and monitors the implementation of the World Rugby's strategic plan, business plan, operational plan and budget. In 2016, as part of the reforms to the World Rugby Council, the executive committee was increased to 12 members. The Chairman, Vice-chairman, nine elected officials, including two independent members, and the Chief Executive sit on the World Rugby Executive Committee. [38]
A General Assembly of the full membership is convened every two years. [4] The General Assembly may make recommendations to the council, and may consider business that the council has referred to it, [39] but the General Assembly has no legislative powers. [40]
The current Chair of World Rugby is Brett Robinson who was elected following the Executive Council vote on 14 November 2024. [41]
Previous chairmen include Bill Beaumont (2008 to 2024), Bernard Lapasset (2008 to 2016), Syd Millar (2002 to 2007) and Vernon Pugh, QC (1994 to 2002).
In July 2012, Brett Gosper was appointed as the new Chief Executive of what was then the IRB. [42] He will leave this role at the end of 2020 to become head of the National Football League's operations in Europe. [43]
In 2013 World Rugby released £18.6 million of funding over three years for developing rugby in Canada, the United States, Japan, Romania, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. Argentina also received additional support to enable it to retain its tier one status. The money, built up from successful World Cups, was released following a report commissioned by World Rugby highlighting the growing disparity between tier one and tier two nations. [44] This is in addition to the £10–12 million it normally gives out grants and tournament costs. The emphasis is on three areas infrastructure, high performance units and cross border competitions. In April 2006, tier-3 rugby nations Georgia, Portugal, Tunisia and Russia were identified as key investment nations over the next three years. The program was designed to increase the competitiveness of international rugby union.
World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition, which has been held every four years since 1987. [2] Despite the profitability of the World Cup, the majority of its revenues and viewers come from a small number of countries. For the 2007 Rugby World Cup final, 97% of viewers came from the founding nations, including: England, France, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, with just 3% of viewers coming from all other countries. [40]
The most recent Rugby World Cup was held in France in 2023. South Africa defeated New Zealand 12–11 in the Rugby World Cup final, winning a record fourth title.
World Rugby also organises the women's Rugby World Cup, also held every four years. It was first held by the IRB in 1998, though tournaments in 1991 and 1994 were retrospectively recognised in 2009. The women's World Cup is contested by fewer teams than the men's Cup, with only the 1998 and 2002 editions featuring more than 12 teams (these competitions both had 16 teams, compared to the 20 teams in the men's Rugby World Cup).
On 21 August 2019, World Rugby announced that all future men's and women's World Cups would officially be known as "Rugby World Cup", with no sex or gender designations. The first tournament to be affected by this policy was the 2021 Rugby World Cup, for women's team in New Zealand. [45]
World Rugby organised three international sevens tournaments - two annual Sevens Series (one for men and one for women) which are now defunct. The quadrennial Rugby World Cup Sevens is still active.
The men's season-long annual Sevens Series took place over 10 legs, each held in a different country. The women's Sevens Series is held over five- or six-legs. Both tournaments followed the same principle—points are awarded based on a teams position in each round of the series, and the team with the most points at the end of the Series is crowned champions. Following the inclusion of rugby sevens into the Olympics, beginning with the 2014–15 series, the series prior to an Olympic event (i.e. the series which ends in the year before the Olympics takes place) forms the first phase of Olympic qualification. When Olympic Qualification was included, the top four teams from both the men's and women's series qualified for the Olympic Games, and remaining teams competed in regional competitions for one of the remaining places.
The quadrennial Rugby World Cup Sevens includes both the men's and women's world cup tournaments. It was originally due to be discontinued after the inclusion of rugby sevens into the Olympic Programme. However, it was later decided to retain the tournament, as it involved a significantly larger number of teams than the Olympics would, and to move the tournament so as to create a more even sevens calendar (with the major sevens events alternating every two years). As a result, the most recent tournament was the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco, US. [46] The men's and women's competitions at this event were both won by New Zealand.
In 2023 World Rugby re-branded the Sevens series to a new World Rugby SVNS Series known as the HSBC SVNS. The new format will showcase the twelve best men’s and women’s teams, which will conclude in a Grand Final weekend where the top eight teams will compete to be crowned Series champions. The teams ranked ninth to twelfth will compete against the top four teams from a new Challenger Series in a relegation play-off to see who secures their place in the 2024-2025 season. Both men and women’s teams will earn the same with equal participation fees. Both men and women will play in joint tournaments in eight cities around the world. Starting in December 2023 in Dubai, Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore and will conclude in Madrid in June 2024. The tournament is set to bring about a festival type atmosphere and serve as a build up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. [47] [48]
World Rugby organizes annual international competitions involving Tier 2 nations.
World Rugby organizes two competitions for under-20 national teams, the World Rugby Under 20 Championship and the World Rugby Under 20 Trophy. These competitions were created following the merger of under-19 and under-21 representative teams, into an under-20 age group
The sport of rugby union has been played at the Summer Olympics on four occasions, with the last being in 1924. The winners, and thus the reigning champions, were the U.S. team. Rugby union made one more appearance as a demonstration event but was then removed from the Games. World Rugby has most recently been very keen to see it return to the Games and is adamant that the sport (specifically referring to rugby sevens) satisfies every respect of the criteria set out in the Olympic Charter.
The main problem for reintroducing the 15-man game to the Olympics is the 7-day turnaround required by World Rugby regulations for players to rest between games. Since the Olympics only officially run for 16 days, with only slight expansions allowed to accommodate sports such as football, this effectively makes it impossible to conduct a 15s tournament within the current Olympic schedule. This limitation does not apply to sevens, as games last only 14 minutes instead of the 80 minutes in the 15s game. All of the events in the current men's and women's Sevens Series, which feature a minimum of 16 national teams for men and 12 for women, are conducted within a single weekend.
But in furthering the World Rugby cause, the organisation became an International Olympic Committee Recognised International Federation in 1995, marked by a ceremonial signing by President Juan Antonio Samaranch prior to a match between Wales and South Africa in Cardiff. [49]
World Rugby cites rugby union's global participation, with men playing the game in well over 100 countries and women playing in over 50 as well; the organisation's compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code; and that a rugby sev3ns tournament could be (and generally is) accommodated in one stadium and is relatively inexpensive to play. [49] Not only is the sevens game successful in the context of the Sevens World Series and World Cup Sevens, it is also very successfully played in the Commonwealth Games; the sevens tournament at the 2006 Games in Melbourne set all-time attendance records for a sevens tournament.
As a result of this, World Rugby applied to the International Olympic Committee for a Sevens tournament to form part of the Olympics. Subsequently, Sevens was accepted into the Summer Olympic Games and was first played in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro which was won by Fiji in the men's competition (defeating Great Britain) and by Australia in the women's competition (defeating New Zealand). In the Tokyo Olympics 2020 edition, the Fiji 7s men's team and the New Zealand 7s women's team claimed the gold medals in their respective competitions. [50]
The laws of rugby union are controlled by a standing Laws Committee, which is established by the World Rugby Council. The current chairman of the committee is Bill Beaumont. The Laws of the Game are formulated by World Rugby, and are then circulated by the national Unions. The official laws of the game are written in English, French, Russian and Spanish. There are variations for under-19 and Sevens rugby. There are 21 regulations in total, these regulations range from definitions, eligibility, advertising, disciplinary, anti-doping and a number of other areas. World Rugby also approves equipment, which are tested at an Approved Testing House.
In 2006, the IRB initiated proposals for variations to the laws, which were formulated and trialled initially at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Further trials were set down for 2007 and 2008. The law variations aimed to push the balance between defensive and attacking play more in favour of attacking play, and to reduce stoppages for penalties and infringements.
World Rugby is compliant with the WADA code. The World Rugby anti doping programme includes testing at the under 19 and under 21 level, sevens and senior 15 a side. Testing is a mix of in-competition at World Rugby organised events, as well as out-of-competition testing, which can occur during a specified one-hour time slot designated by a player. In 2003, World Cup year, the World Rugby member unions undertook approximately 3,000 tests. [51] "Keep Rugby Clean" is a campaign message run by the World Rugby Anti-Doping Manager Tim Ricketts. The programme is supported by stars such as Brian O'Driscoll. [52]
World Rugby publishes and maintains the World Rugby Rankings of the men's national rugby union teams (and more recently also for women's teams [53] ). The concept was launched in October 2003, at the start of that year's world cup in Australia. The rankings are calculated using a Points Exchange system, whereby nations take points off each other based on a match result. Several years of research went into developing the rankings system, using an extensive database of international matches that date back to 1871.
The system's reliability is assessed in a number of objective ways, which includes predictions of current strength and responds to changes in form. The system takes into account home advantage, in that the home nation is treated as though it has an extra three rating points, effectively handicapping them, as they will gain fewer ranking points for a win, and lose more should they lose. In the case of a freak result, there is a maximum number of movements on the ranking that any nation can gain from one match.
If a nation does not play for a number of years they are considered dormant, and excluded from the rankings, upon returning, picking up from where they were excluded. If a nation is to merge or split, the highest rating of any of the rankings is inherited.
Currently all capped international matches are equally weighted, whether or not they take place within a competition or are played as tests; the sole exception to this is the World Cup final tournament.
The World Rugby Awards were introduced in 2001, to honour outstanding achievements in rugby union. Prior to 2009, all of the awards were announced at an annual ceremony; the most recent such ceremony was held in London on 23 November 2008.
However, as a response to the Great Recession, the annual ceremony only saw the International Player, Team, and Coach of the Year Awards presented in 2009 and 2010; all other awards were presented at different times throughout the year. The IRB reinstated a single year-end ceremony in 2011 after the 2011 Rugby World Cup. [54] Since then, it has chosen to present some awards at times relevant to those specific prizes—such as Sevens awards after the London Sevens, the final event of the Sevens World Series, and the Junior Player award after the final of the Junior World Championship. The bulk of awards will be presented at the year-end Awards ceremony.
The current awards are:
At the year-end ceremony, the International Rugby Players' Association also hands out the following awards:
In the past, the following awards have also been awarded:
The awards that recognise achievements in the preceding 12 months tend to be won by that season's most successful nation(s): France in 2002, England in 2003, South Africa in 2004, New Zealand in 2005, South Africa again in 2007. For those award categories that have nominees, a shortlist is drawn up by an independent panel of judges, who are all former internationals. The panel then reconvenes to choose a winner. The current judges are Jonathan Davies, Will Greenwood, Gavin Hastings, Michael Jones, Dan Lyle, Federico Méndez, Francois Pienaar and past Player of the Year winners Fabien Galthié and Keith Wood, with John Eales as convenor. The judges have a total of over 500 caps between them.
In 2006 a Hall of Fame was established to chronicle the achievements and special contribution of the sport's players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other individuals. The Hall of Fame was inaugurated at the 2006 IRB Awards, when William Webb Ellis and Rugby School were named as the first two inductees. Hall of Fame inductees in 2007 were Pierre de Coubertin, Danie Craven, John Eales, Gareth Edwards and Wilson Whineray. The 2008 inductees were the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team and its organiser Joe Warbrick, Jack Kyle, Melrose RFC and Ned Haig (for their roles in the invention of rugby sevens), Hugo Porta, and Philippe Sella. Since then, induction ceremonies have been held annually, except in 2010.
The last year for a single induction ceremony was 2009. Starting in 2011, ceremonies have been held at multiple locations around the world. Also, some or all of the inductions have had an overriding theme since 2009:
In December 2023 a group of 295 former rugby players sued World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union for allegedly failing to put in place reasonable measures to protect the health and safety of players. This alleged failure was said to have caused disorders such as motor neurone disease, early onset dementia, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease. [58] [59] [60] [61]
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union or 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.
The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World champions of the sport.
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.
The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's teams from Canada, England, the United States, and other invited teams from a wide array of countries.
The history of rugby union follows from various football games long before the 19th century, but it was not until the middle of that century that the rules were formulated and codified. The code of football later known as rugby union can be traced to three events: the first set of written rules in 1845, the Blackheath Club's decision to leave the Football Association in 1863 and the formation of the Rugby Football Union in 1871. The code was originally known simply as "rugby football". It was not until a schism in 1895, over the payment of players, which resulted in the formation of the separate code of rugby league, that the name "rugby union" was used to differentiate the original rugby code. For most of its history, rugby was a strictly amateur football code, and the sport's administrators frequently imposed bans and restrictions on players who they viewed as professional. It was not until 1995 that rugby union was declared an "open" game, and thus professionalism was sanctioned by the code's governing body, World Rugby—then known as the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB).
Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport outside of the Summer Olympics.
USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugby." USA Rugby is responsible for the promotion and development of the sport in the U.S., and promotion of U.S. international participation.
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 first Rugby Union World Cup was held in 1987, hosted by Australia and New Zealand who pushed for the tournament to be approved. Since the first tournament, 9 others have been held at four-year intervals.
Rugby union in France is a popular team sport. Rugby union was first introduced in the early 1870s by British residents, which makes the country one of the few early exponents of the sport. Elite French clubs participate in the professional domestic club league, the Top 14. Clubs also compete in the European knock-out competition, the European Rugby Champions Cup, which replaced the Heineken Cup from 2014 to 2015.
Rugby union in Georgia is a popular team sport. Rugby union is considered one of the most popular sports in Georgia.
The World Rugby Awards are given out annually by World Rugby, the worldwide governing body for rugby union, for major achievements in the sport. The idea of rewarding excellence in rugby was disclosed in 2001 following the Annual Meeting of the International Rugby Board Council in Copenhagen, and the first ceremony was first awarded later that year. The International Rugby Players' Association also gives out awards, for Try of the Year, and Special Merit, as a part of the programme. As of 2021, they now present Women's Try of the Year.
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.
Asia Rugby, formerly the Asian Rugby Football Union, is the governing body of rugby union in Asia under the authority of World Rugby. Founded in 1968 by eight charter nations, the Union today has 36 member unions in countries across Asia, stretching from Kazakhstan to Guam.
Rugby union in Belgium is a growing sport. The national governing body for rugby union in Belgium is the Belgian Rugby Federation. The national team plays in the European Nations Cup, and as of October 2014, they were ranked thirtieth in the World Rugby Rankings.
Rugby union in Malaysia is a sport with a long history, and a significant participation. There are 41,050 registered players, and the country is currently ranked 47th. There are sixteen unions, associations and councils affiliated to the Malaysian Rugby Union, more than 300 clubs, and 600 schools which teach the game. Malaysian rugby's most notable contribution to the game at large is the invention of rugby tens.
Rugby sevens was played at the Olympics for the first time at the 2016 Summer Olympics, with both men's and women's contests. It was added to the Olympics following the decision of the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen in October 2009. The champions for the inaugural rugby sevens tournament in 2016 were Fiji for the men and Australia for the women. Prior to 2016, 15-a-side matches were played in 1900, 1908, 1920, and 1924.
Jessy Trémoulière is a French rugby union player. She represented France at the 2014 and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. She was a member of the squad that won their fourth Six Nations title in 2014. She was a member of the France women's national rugby sevens team to the 2016 Summer Olympics. She was named player of the year 2018 at the world rugby award.
Regulations relating to the eligibility of players to play for national teams in rugby union, both in the fifteen-a-side game and rugby sevens, are the responsibility of World Rugby, the governing body for the sport. Players' eligibility to represent a country depends on whether they have a genuine, close, credible and established national link with that country.
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