Rugby union in Ireland
Rugby union (Irish: Aontas Rugbaí) 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 1879, making it the third oldest rugby union in the world after the RFU (England) and the SRU (Scotland).
| Rugby union in Ireland | |
|---|---|
| Country | Ireland |
| Governing body | Irish Rugby Football Union |
| National team(s) | Ireland |
| First played | 1869, Dublin |
| Registered players | 153,823 |
| Clubs | 56 clubs affiliated to the Ulster Branch 71 clubs affiliated to the Leinster Branch 59 clubs affiliated to the Munster Branch 23 clubs affiliated to the Connacht Branch. |
National competitions | |
Club competitions | |
The Ireland national team is currently third in the World Rugby Rankings, and has won the Six Nations Championship (and its predecessor competitions) fifteen times, including four Grand Slams, the most recent being a Grand Slam in 2023..Ireland has appeared at every men's Rugby World Cup but never advanced beyond the quarter-final.
Ireland has four professional teams, organised by the four provincial unions that make up the IRFU, Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Connacht, who compete in the United Rugby Championship, the European Rugby Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup. Munster are the reigning champions of the 2022–23 United Rugby Championship, while Leinster are the most successful side historically. Irish provinces have had considerable success in European competition, with seven European Rugby Champions Cups and one Challenge Cup win.
At the local level, fifty club sides compete in the five divisions of the All-Ireland League, of which Terenure College RFC are the current champions.
The Ireland women's rugby union team compete in the Women's Six Nations, WXV and the women's Rugby World Cup, while women's teams from Ireland compete in the women's inter-provincial rugby championship and the cross-border 'Celtic Challenge' competition with sides from Scotland and Wales.