| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 2019 |
| Number of teams | 5 |
| Country |  United States  Ireland |
The Cara Cup was an international club rugby union competition between the teams of the New England Free Jacks, of Major League Rugby, Connacht, Ulster, Munster, and Leinster, academy sides of Irish Pro14 teams.
On November 9, 2018, This Is American Rugby reported that the Irish Rugby Football Union and New England Free Jacks would be joining forces to bring a high-level rugby union completion to the New England region in the spring of 2019. [1] For the inaugural competition, Connacht, Leinster, Munster, and Ulster featured their academy squads, and the Free Jacks featured up-and-coming professional players from both Ireland and the United States.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Home | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 16, 2019 | Connacht A  | 38–7 | New England Free Jacks | Union Point Sports Complex | [2] |
| March 20, 2019 | Ulster A  | 21–44 | Connacht A | Union Point Sports Complex | [3] |
| March 24, 2019 | Ulster A | 43–15 | New England Free Jacks | Union Point Sports Complex | [4] |
| April 6, 2019 | Munster A  | 38–19 | New England Free Jacks | Irish Cultural Centre GAA Field | [5] |
| April 10, 2019 | Munster A | 49–53 |  Leinster A | Union Point Sports Complex | [6] |
| April 14, 2019 | Leinster A | 55–12 | New England Free Jacks | Harvard Mignone Field | [7] |
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland. The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where adult men's Irish rugby union international matches are played. In addition, the Union also owns the Ravenhill Stadium in Belfast, Thomond Park in Limerick and a number of grounds in provincial areas that have been rented to clubs.
The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in South Africa, and the BKT United Rugby Championship in the competitions other territories for sponsorship reasons, the split branding mirroring the format previously adopted in Super Rugby. The Championship represents the highest level of domestic club or franchise rugby in each of its constituent countries. The Championship is one of the three major professional leagues in Europe, the most successful teams from which go forward to compete in the highest-level continental club competitions, the European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup. Since 2022–23, despite the name, South African teams have been eligible to qualify for European competitions, and one South African place in the Champions Cup from the Championship is guaranteed.
Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won once. Ulster were the first Irish team and the first team outside England and France to win the European Cup in 1999.
Connacht Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht Branch, which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union throughout the geographical Irish province of Connacht.
Leinster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial club rugby union teams from the island of Ireland and the most successful Irish team domestically. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup.
Rugby union in Ireland is a very popular team sport. Rugby union is organised on an all-Ireland basis with one national team, governing body and league for both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Founded in 1879, the Irish Rugby Football Union is the third-oldest rugby union after England and Scotland, and was formed two years prior to the Welsh Rugby Union.
John Cooney is an Irish rugby union player who plays scrum-half for Irish provincial side Ulster in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup, having previously played for Leinster and Connacht, and has eleven caps for Ireland. Since joining Ulster in 2017, he has been nominated for EPCR European Player of the Year once, been named in the Pro14 Dream Team four times, and been Ulster's player of the year twice.
The Celtic Cup was a rugby union cup competition featuring regional and provincial teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales that ran for two seasons between 2003 and 2005. The first edition of the competition was won by Ulster and the second by Munster, both from Ireland. After the Welsh teams agreed to join the English Premiership clubs to form the Anglo-Welsh Cup for the 2005–06 season, the Celtic Cup was discontinued. A separate competition under the same name was inaugurated in 2018 for Welsh and Irish development sides.
Finlay Bealham is an Australian-born Irish rugby union player. He primarily plays as a prop, and can play at both tighthead and loosehead. Bealham represents Ireland at international level, qualifying to play for them through his grandmother from Enniskillen in Northern Ireland. Bealham currently plays his club rugby for Irish provincial team Connacht Rugby in the URC league. Through his grandmother, Bealham is related to Northern Irish heavyweight boxer Gordon Ferris.
Rory Parata is an Australian-born Irish professional rugby union player. He primarily plays as a centre. As of 2021, Parata plays for English side Cornish Pirates in the RFU Championship. He previously played for Irish provincial side Connacht, having come through the team's academy, and Zebre.
The 2017–18 PRO14 was the seventeenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It is the first season to be referred to as the Guinness PRO14 Championship, with the addition of two South African teams.
The 2018 Celtic Cup is the inaugural edition of the Celtic Cup rugby union competition, which features development regional and provincial teams from Ireland and Wales. It ran for six weeks from September 2018 until October 2018. Leinster A won the inaugural edition, beating Scarlets A in the final.
The 2018–19 season was Irish provincial rugby union side Connacht Rugby's eighteenth season competing in the Pro14, and the team's twenty-third season as a professional side. It was Andy Friend's first season in charge of the side.
The 2019–20 PRO14 was the nineteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the third season to be referred to as the PRO14.
Union Point Sports Complex is a multi-purpose sports complex in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and was home to the New England Free Jacks of Major League Rugby.
Roman Salanoa is an American-born, Irish-qualified rugby union player for Irish province Munster in the United Rugby Championship and European Rugby Champions Cup. He plays as a prop.
The 2019–20 season was Irish provincial rugby union side Connacht Rugby's nineteenth season competing in the Pro14, and the team's twenty-fourth season as a professional side. It was Andy Friend's second season in charge of the side.
Jack Crowley is an Irish rugby union player for United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup side Munster. Internationally, Crowley made his senior debut for Ireland in 2022. He plays primarily as a fly-half, but can also play at fullback and centre, and represents Cork Constitution in the All-Ireland League.
The 2021–22 United Rugby Championship was the twenty-first season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the first season that the competition is referred to as the United Rugby Championship, having previously been known as the Pro14.
The 2022–23 United Rugby Championship is the 22nd season of the professional rugby union competition United Rugby Championship. It began on 16 September 2022. For sponsorship reasons it is known in South Africa as Vodacom United Rugby Championship or Vodacom URC, while in the Northern Hemisphere it is known as the BKT United Rugby Championship or BKT URC.