Rugby union, widely known simply as rugby, is a full contact team sport that originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is played between two teams of 15 players using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch. The field has H-shaped goalposts at both ends.
The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Prior to the 2012 tournament, when Argentina joined, it was known as the Tri Nations. These are the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere, the Six Nations is a similar tournament in the Northern Hemisphere. The competition is administered by SANZAAR, a consortium consisting of four national governing bodies: the South African Rugby Union, New Zealand Rugby Union, Rugby Australia and the Argentine Rugby Union The inaugural Tri Nations tournament was in 1996, and was won by New Zealand – known as the All Blacks. South Africa won their first title in 1998, and Australia their first in 2000. Following the last Tri Nations tournament in 2011, New Zealand had won ten championships, with South Africa and Australia on three titles each. The first Rugby Championship was won by New Zealand, who won all six of their matches.
The Hong Kong Sevens is considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition. The Hong Kong Sevens is currently the seventh tournament on the World Series calendar, and is held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. The tournament spans three days, beginning on a Friday and concluding on Sunday. The tournament is organised each year by the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU). This year's Hong Kong Rugby Sevens was originally due to be held on Friday 3, Saturday 4, Sunday 5 April 2020, but has been postponed due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, possibly until October 2020.
The Romania national rugby union team, nicknamed The Oaks (Stejarii), is long considered one of the stronger European teams outside the Six Nations. They have participated in all but one Rugby World Cup and currently compete in the first division of the European Nations Cup, which they won most recently in 2017. Rugby union in Romania is administered by the Romanian Rugby Federation. The team plays in yellow and blue strips.
The Libya national football team represents Libya in men's international association football and it's controlled by the Libyan Football Federation. The team has never qualified for FIFA World Cups in history but has qualified for three Africa Cup of Nations: 1982, 2006, and 2012. In 1982, the team was both the host and runner-up. In the Arab Nations Cup, Libya finished second in 1964 and 2012, and third in the 1966. The team is affiliated with both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The India national rugby union team is currently Division 3 champion of Asian 5 Nations.
The Philippines national rugby union team, nicknamed the "Volcanoes", represents the Philippines in international rugby union. The Philippines have been playing in the Asia Rugby Championship since 2006 when the team was first created. In 2012 they won the Division I championship and were promoted to the top 5 for the 2013 tournament where they earned 4th place and again in the 2014 tournament. The Philippines have yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup.
The 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup was the sixth edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup and was held in England. The International Rugby Board Executive Committee selected the host union following a recommendation from the Rugby World Cup Limited board after considering bids from the Rugby Football Union and the German Rugby Union – it had been England's third successive bid after being rejected in 2002 and 2006. The tournament was again being organised by the International Rugby Board (IRB) as opposed to the host union, and included five matches for all teams played on 20, 24, 28 August and 1 and 5 September. In May 2009 it was announced that the semi final, 3rd place play off and final would take place at The Stoop and not Twickenham as had previously been suggested. Pool games were held at the Surrey Sports Park in Guildford.
The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The Arabian Gulf rugby union team was a combined team of players that represented the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council in international rugby union competitions. The team competed in international matches between 1993 and 2010, and was governed by the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (AGRFU). Associate members were Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.
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 international rugby union has a history going back to the late 19th century but it was not until 1982 that the first international fixture involving women's rugby union took place. The match was organised in connection with the Dutch Rugby Union's 50th anniversary. As part of the celebrations on June 13, 1982 the French national women's team played the Dutch, in Utrecht, Netherlands, with France winning 4–0 in a game that has since been recognised as the first ever women's international rugby union match.
The Algeria national rugby union team represents Algeria in rugby union. The team is administered by the Algerian rugby Federation (FAR). The first match they competed in was on the 24th February 2007, in a game in Tunis against the Tunisia national rugby union team. While almost all current national team players play for clubs in the French championship, there are some national players who practice the sport in Australia, New Zealand, Romania and England. The first coach of the Algeria national rugby union team was Morad Kellal.
The Americas Rugby Championship, often informally called the Americas' Six Nations, is an annual international rugby tournament between six North and South American nations: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the United States and Uruguay. Originally competed by various interlocking combinations of club, second-tier national and top national sides, the current international tournament has the top national sides competing. The current format provides these top national teams with additional test matches to be counted in the World Rugby Rankings.
The Union of North African Football Federations is an association football organising body. It was launched in 2005 by the North African members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. The post of president will be rotated among the five founding nations.
Sport in Algeria dates back to antiquity. In the Aurès Mountains, people played games such as El Kherdba or El khergueba. Playing cards, checkers and chess games are part of Algerian culture. Horse racing (fantasia) and rifle shooting are among the recreational traditions of Algeria.
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 2013 Africa Cup will be the thirteenth edition of the Africa Cup, an annual international rugby union tournament for African nations organised by the Confederation of African Rugby (CAR). This tournament, as well as the 2012 and 2014 editions of it, will serve as the qualifiers for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
The Algerian Rugby Federation (FAR) is the governing body for rugby union in Algeria. Algeria became a full member of Rugby Africa in December 2016. The federation is responsible for the Algerian national team and the Algerian Rugby Championship. It is in charge of promoting the sport in Algeria, organizes international matches for the national team, and is involved in educating and training players and officials. Algeria has never participated in the Rugby World Cup qualifiers. Their best result to date was a 50-0 win against Egypt and Libya, both in a Cairo international tournament in 2010.
Malik Hamadache is a French-Algerian rugby union player who currently plays for Section Paloise and is an Algerian international. He plays as a prop.
