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Wikipedia

World Rugby

May 04, 2023

For other uses, see World Rugby (disambiguation).

World Rugby is the world 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 rugby 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
AbbreviationWR
Formation1886; 137 years ago (1886)
(as the International Rugby Football Board)
TypeInternational sport federation
HeadquartersDublin, Ireland
Coordinates53°20′13″N 6°15′08″W / 53.33694°N 6.25222°W / 53.33694; -6.25222
Region served
Worldwide
Membership
109 member unions
21 associated unions
Official languages
Chairman
Bill Beaumont
Vice-Chairman
Bernard Laporte
CEO
Alan Gilpin
AffiliationsInternational Olympic Committee
Websitewww.world.rugby

World Rugby's headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland.[3][4] Its membership now comprises 120 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, Americas North, 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]

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.[11][12]

History

 
The minutes of the first formal meeting of the IRFB, from a meeting attended by Lyle and McAlistair of Ireland, Carrick and Gardner of Scotland, Mullock and Lyne of Wales

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.[13] 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.[14] The England Union also refused to accept the IRFB as the recognised lawmaker of the game.[14] 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.[15] In 1890 England joined the IRFB, gaining six seats while the other unions had two each.[15] The same year, the IRFB wrote the first international laws of rugby union.[16]

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.[17] 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.[17] 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.[17]

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.[18] The French Rugby Federation was admitted in 1978, the USA Rugby Football Union in 1987, and the Argentine Rugby Union, Canadian Rugby Union, Italian Rugby Federation and Japan Rugby Football Union were admitted in 1991.[15] 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.[19]

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.[11][12]

Rugby World Cup

Main article: History of the Rugby World Cup

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]

Member unions

See also: List of international rugby union teams
 
Member and Associated Unions
  Member Union
  Associated Union

As at November 2022, World Rugby has 108 member unions and 21 associate member unions.[22]

Membership of World Rugby is a four-step process:[23]

  1. A Union must apply to become an associate member of its Regional Union
  2. After all membership criteria are met, including one year as an associate member, the Union is admitted to the Regional Union as a full member
  3. After completion of stages 1 and 2, and two years as a full member of a Regional Union, the Union may then apply to become an Associate member of World Rugby. As an associate member, the union can participate in World Rugby funded tournaments but not the Rugby World Cup
  4. Following two years of associate membership of World Rugby, the union may then apply to become a Full Member

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.

Africa

Further information: Rugby Africa

There are 20 World Rugby members and 4 World Rugby associates:

Suspended unions:

Notes:

  1. ^ Ghana joined World Rugby as an associate member in 2004, and became a full member in 2017.[24]
  2. ^ Nigeria was suspended in May 2021 due to the illegal dissolution of the elected board of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation and the replacement of a three man committee by the Nigerian Government.[25]

 * Denotes associate membership date.

Asia

Further information: Asia Rugby

There are 19 World Rugby members, and 9 World Rugby associates:[Asia 1]

Notes:

  1. ^ The Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union was disbanded in 2010.
  2. ^ UAE became the 100th full member of the IRB in November 2012.[26]

 * Denotes associate membership date.

Europe

Further information: Rugby Europe

There are 37 World Rugby members, and 3 World Rugby associates:

Suspended unions:

Notes:

  1. ^ Slovakia became an associate in 2016,[29] although the Handbook incorrectly recorded the country's name as Slovenia (a member since 1996).[30]
  2. ^ The Greek federation has been inactive since 2014 after losing official government recognition.[27]
  3. ^ Russia, previously a member since 1990, was suspended in 2022 due Russian invasion of Ukraine.[28]

 * Denotes associate membership date.

North America

Further information: Rugby Americas North

There are 11 World Rugby members, and 2 World Rugby associates:

Notes:

 * Denotes associate membership date.

South America

Further information: Sudamérica Rugby

There are 9 World Rugby members, and 2 World Rugby associates:

Notes:

 * Denotes associate membership date.

Oceania

Further information: Oceania Rugby

There are 11 World Rugby members:

Participation figures

World Rugby's largest members, ranked by number of participants in 2019, are:[31]

  1.   England (2.11 million)
  2.   United States (1.48 million)
  3.   South Africa (692,000)
  4.   France (533,000)
  5.   Australia (477,000)
  6.   Japan (296,000)
  7.   Colombia (266,000)
  8.   Fiji (225,000)
  9.   Canada (217,000)
  10.   China (215,000)
  11.   Ireland (210,000)
  12.   Scotland (182,000)
  13.   Brazil (174,000)
  14.   Argentina (161,000)
  15.   New Zealand (156,000)
  16.   Kenya (123,000)
  17.   Spain (114,000)
  18.   Russia (109,000)
  19.   Wales (108,000)
  20.   Sri Lanka (96,000)

Governance

Council

The World Rugby Council meets twice a year and manages and controls the affairs of World Rugby.[32] 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.[33][34]

As of April 2020, the council had 52 members including the non-voting chairman, so there were 51 voting members from 18 national unions and 6 regional associations, allocated as follows:[35][36]

In total, Europe has 22 votes; Oceania 10 votes; South America 6 votes; Africa 5 votes; North America 4 votes and Asia 4 votes.

A Chairman and Vice Chairman are elected from among the council members.[37] These positions are held by Bill Beaumont of England and Bernard Laporte of France, respectively, elected as of April 2020.[38][39]

Executive committee

The executive committee, in accordance with bye-laws 9.14–9.16, ensures the effective management and operation of the World Rugby.[40] 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.[41]

General Assembly

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,[42] but the General Assembly has no legislative powers.[43]

Leadership

The Chairman and vice-chairman of the World Rugby are elected by the council. The current chairman is Bill Beaumont, previously president of the Rugby Football Union (RFU). He was elected chairman effective on 1 July 2016 following the Executive Council vote on 11 May 2016. Previous chairmen include 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.[44] He will leave this role at the end of 2020 to become head of the National Football League's operations in Europe and the UK.[45]

Funding

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.[46] 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.

Tournaments

 
Japan playing Tonga in the Pacific Five Nations, 2006.

Rugby World Cups

World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup, which has been held every four years since 1987, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition.[2] Despite the profitability of the Rugby World Cup, the majority of its revenues and viewers come from a small number of countries. For the 2007 Rugby World Cup final, 87% of viewers came from the Five Nations (England, France, Wales, Ireland, Scotland), 15% came from the Tri-Nations (South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand), with just 2% of viewers coming from all other countries.[43]

The most recent Rugby World Cup was held in Japan in 2019. South Africa defeated England 32–12 in the final, winning their third 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).

The most recent women's Rugby World Cup was held in Ireland, with matches held both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, in 2017. The four-year cycle was brought forward by a year to ease congestion in the sport's international calendar.[47] The tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated England 41–32 in the final.

On 21 August 2019, WR 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 women's World Cup in New Zealand.[48]

Sevens

World Rugby organizes three international sevens tournaments - two annual Sevens Series (one for men and one for women), and a quadrennial Rugby World Cup Sevens.

The men's season-long annual Sevens Series takes place over 10 legs, each held in a different country. The women's Sevens Series is held over five- or six-legs. Both tournaments follow 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 is included, the top four teams from both the men's and women's series will qualify for the Olympic Games, and remaining teams will compete 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, USA.[49] The men's and women's competitions at this event were both won by New Zealand.

Developmental competitions

World Rugby organizes annual international competitions involving Tier 2 nations.

  • Pacific Nations Cup, which has been played annually since 2006. The national teams of Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga currently compete for the cup. At various times in the past, the national teams of Japan, Georgia, Canada, and the United States, plus second-tier representative sides from Australia and New Zealand, have also been involved.
  • Pacific Challenge, which is a competition involving the national "A" sides from Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga (and more recently Junior Japan, Canada A, and Argentina's Pampas XV).
  • Americas Rugby Championship, whose current incarnation involves Argentina's "A" side, currently branded as Argentina XV, and the full national teams of Brazil, Canada, Chile, Uruguay, and the USA.

Junior competitions

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

World Rugby Nations Championship

Current title holders

Olympics

See also: Rugby union at the Summer Olympics

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 (20 in championship finals) 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.[50]

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 sevens tournament could be (and generally is) accommodated in one stadium and is relatively inexpensive to play.[50] 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.[51]

Laws and regulations

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.

Experimental law variations

Main article: Experimental law variations

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.

Anti-doping

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.[52] "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.[53]

World rankings

Further information: World Rugby Rankings

Background

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[58]). 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.

Recognitions and awards

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.[59] 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:

  • 2009 – Lions tours to South Africa; all candidates for induction were either Lions or Springboks.[60]
  • 2011 – The year's final set of inductions, held at the IRB Awards in Auckland on the night after the 2011 World Cup Final, was, according to the IRB, "under the theme of Rugby World Cup founders, visionaries and iconic figures".[61]
  • 2012 – The IRB's theme for this year's inductions was Rugby - a global Game, "celebrat[ing] Rugby’s expansion to become a global sport played by millions of men and women worldwide."[62]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The number played between the two sides excludes XV results. If included the total number of matches played would extend to 199.

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  • (PDF). International Rugby Board. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF 5.5 MB) on 28 May 2014.
  • (PDF). World Rugby. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF 5.6 MB) on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  • (PDF). World Rugby. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF 8.9 MB) on 14 May 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  • (PDF). World Rugby. 3 January 2017. Archived from the original (PDF 6.0 MB) on 17 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  • "Year in Review 2011" (PDF 10.5 MB). International Rugby Board. 2011. (PDF) from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  • "World Rugby Year in Review 2019". World Rugby. 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links

  • Official website  
  • World Rugby Rankings
  • World Rugby Rankings - Men
  • World Rugby Rankings - Women

May 04, 2023
world, rugby, other, uses, disambiguation, world, governing, body, sport, rugby, union, organises, rugby, world, every, four, years, sport, most, recognised, most, profitable, competition, also, organises, number, other, international, rugby, competitions, suc. For other uses see World Rugby disambiguation World Rugby is the world 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 rugby competitions such as the World Rugby Sevens Series the Rugby World Cup Sevens the World Under 20 Championship and the Pacific Nations Cup World RugbyAbbreviationWRFormation1886 137 years ago 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board TypeInternational sport federationHeadquartersDublin IrelandCoordinates53 20 13 N 6 15 08 W 53 33694 N 6 25222 W 53 33694 6 25222Region servedWorldwideMembership109 member unions21 associated unionsOfficial languagesEnglish French Italian SpanishChairmanBill BeaumontVice ChairmanBernard LaporteCEOAlan GilpinAffiliationsInternational Olympic CommitteeWebsitewww wbr world wbr rugbyWorld Rugby s headquarters are in Dublin Ireland 3 4 Its membership now comprises 120 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 Americas North 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 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 11 12 Contents 1 History 1 1 Rugby World Cup 2 Member unions 2 1 Africa 2 2 Asia 2 3 Europe 2 4 North America 2 5 South America 2 6 Oceania 3 Participation figures 4 Governance 4 1 Council 4 2 Executive committee 4 3 General Assembly 4 4 Leadership 5 Funding 6 Tournaments 6 1 Rugby World Cups 6 2 Sevens 6 3 Developmental competitions 6 4 Junior competitions 6 5 World Rugby Nations Championship 6 6 Current title holders 7 Olympics 8 Laws and regulations 8 1 Experimental law variations 8 2 Anti doping 9 World rankings 9 1 Men s 9 2 Women s 9 3 Background 10 Recognitions and awards 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 Sources 15 External linksHistory Edit The minutes of the first formal meeting of the IRFB from a meeting attended by Lyle and McAlistair of Ireland Carrick and Gardner of Scotland Mullock and Lyne of Wales 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 13 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 14 The England Union also refused to accept the IRFB as the recognised lawmaker of the game 14 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 15 In 1890 England joined the IRFB gaining six seats while the other unions had two each 15 The same year the IRFB wrote the first international laws of rugby union 16 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 17 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 17 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 17 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 18 The French Rugby Federation was admitted in 1978 the USA Rugby Football Union in 1987 and the Argentine Rugby Union Canadian Rugby Union Italian Rugby Federation and Japan Rugby Football Union were admitted in 1991 15 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 19 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 11 12 Rugby World Cup Edit Main article History of the Rugby World Cup 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 Member unions EditSee also List of international rugby union teams Member and Associated Unions Member Union Associated Union As at November 2022 World Rugby has 108 member unions and 21 associate member unions 22 Membership of World Rugby is a four step process 23 A Union must apply to become an associate member of its Regional Union After all membership criteria are met including one year as an associate member the Union is admitted to the Regional Union as a full member After completion of stages 1 and 2 and two years as a full member of a Regional Union the Union may then apply to become an Associate member of World Rugby As an associate member the union can participate in World Rugby funded tournaments but not the Rugby World Cup Following two years of associate membership of World Rugby the union may then apply to become a Full MemberRegional UnionsSix 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 Africa Edit Further information Rugby Africa There are 20 World Rugby members and 4 World Rugby associates Algeria 2021 Botswana 1994 Burkina Faso 2020 Burundi 2021 Cameroon 1999 Egypt 2022 Eswatini 1998 Ghana 2017 Africa 1 Ivory Coast 1988 Kenya 1990 Madagascar 1998 Mali 2004 Mauritius 2009 Morocco 1998 Namibia 1990 Nigeria 2001 Rwanda 2015 Senegal 1999 South Africa 1949 Tanzania 2004 Togo 2004 Tunisia 1988 Uganda 1997 Zambia 1995 Zimbabwe 1987 Suspended unions Nigeria Africa 2 Notes Ghana joined World Rugby as an associate member in 2004 and became a full member in 2017 24 Nigeria was suspended in May 2021 due to the illegal dissolution of the elected board of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation and the replacement of a three man committee by the Nigerian Government 25 Denotes associate membership date Asia Edit Further information Asia Rugby There are 19 World Rugby members and 9 World Rugby associates Asia 1 Azerbaijan 2004 Brunei 2013 China 1997 Chinese Taipei 1998 Guam 1998 Hong Kong 1988 India 1999 Indonesia 2013 Iran 2010 Japan 1987 Jordan 2020 Kazakhstan 1997 Korea 1988 Kyrgyzstan 2004 Lao 2004 Lebanon 2018 Malaysia 1988 Mongolia 2004 Nepal 2020 Pakistan 2008 Philippines 2008 Qatar 2020 Singapore 1989 Syria 2022 Sri Lanka 1988 Thailand 1989 United Arab Emirates 2012 Asia 2 Uzbekistan 2014 Notes The Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union was disbanded in 2010 UAE became the 100th full member of the IRB in November 2012 26 Denotes associate membership date Europe Edit Further information Rugby Europe There are 37 World Rugby members and 3 World Rugby associates Andorra 1991 Austria 1992 Belgium 1988 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1996 Bulgaria 1992 Croatia 1992 Cyprus 2014 Czech Republic 1988 Denmark 1988 England 1890 Finland 2001 France 1978 Georgia 1992 Germany 1988 Hungary 1991 Ireland 1886 Israel 1988 Italy 1987 Latvia 1991 Lithuania 1992 Luxembourg 1991 Malta 2000 Moldova 1994 Monaco 1996 Netherlands 1988 Norway 1993 Poland 1988 Portugal 1988 Romania 1987 Russia 1990 Scotland 1886 Serbia 1988 Slovakia 2016 Euro 1 Slovenia 1996 Spain 1988 Sweden 1988 Switzerland 1988 Turkey 2020 Ukraine 1992 Wales 1886 Suspended unions Greece Euro 2 Russia Euro 3 Notes Slovakia became an associate in 2016 29 although the Handbook incorrectly recorded the country s name as Slovenia a member since 1996 30 The Greek federation has been inactive since 2014 after losing official government recognition 27 Russia previously a member since 1990 was suspended in 2022 due Russian invasion of Ukraine 28 Denotes associate membership date North America Edit Further information Rugby Americas North There are 11 World Rugby members and 2 World Rugby associates Bahamas 1994 Barbados 1995 Bermuda 1992 British Virgin Islands 2001 Canada 1987 Cayman Islands 1997 Guyana 1995 Jamaica 1996 Mexico 2006 St Lucia 1996 St Vincent amp the Grenadines 2001 Trinidad and Tobago 1992 United States 1987 Notes Denotes associate membership date South America Edit Further information Sudamerica Rugby There are 9 World Rugby members and 2 World Rugby associates Argentina 1987 Brazil 1995 Chile 1991 Colombia 1999 Costa Rica 2017 Guatemala 2016 Panama 2020 Paraguay 1989 Peru 1999 Uruguay 1989 Venezuela 1998 Notes Denotes associate membership date Oceania Edit Further information Oceania Rugby There are 11 World Rugby members American Samoa 2012 Australia 1949 Cook Islands 1995 Fiji 1987 New Zealand 1949 Niue 1999 Papua New Guinea 1993 Samoa 1988 Solomon Islands 1999 Tonga 1987 Vanuatu 1999 Participation figures EditWorld Rugby s largest members ranked by number of participants in 2019 are 31 England 2 11 million United States 1 48 million South Africa 692 000 France 533 000 Australia 477 000 Japan 296 000 Colombia 266 000 Fiji 225 000 Canada 217 000 China 215 000 Ireland 210 000 Scotland 182 000 Brazil 174 000 Argentina 161 000 New Zealand 156 000 Kenya 123 000 Spain 114 000 Russia 109 000 Wales 108 000 Sri Lanka 96 000 Governance EditCouncil Edit The World Rugby Council meets twice a year and manages and controls the affairs of World Rugby 32 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 33 34 As of April 2020 update the council had 52 members including the non voting chairman so there were 51 voting members from 18 national unions and 6 regional associations allocated as follows 35 36 30 Ten unions with three votes each Argentina Australia England France Ireland Italy New Zealand Scotland South Africa and Wales 2 One union with two votes Japan 7 Seven unions with one vote each Canada Georgia Fiji Samoa Romania United States and Uruguay 12 The six regional associations representing Africa Asia Europe North America South America and Oceania with two votes each In total Europe has 22 votes Oceania 10 votes South America 6 votes Africa 5 votes North America 4 votes and Asia 4 votes A Chairman and Vice Chairman are elected from among the council members 37 These positions are held by Bill Beaumont of England and Bernard Laporte of France respectively elected as of April 2020 update 38 39 Executive committee Edit The executive committee in accordance with bye laws 9 14 9 16 ensures the effective management and operation of the World Rugby 40 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 41 General Assembly Edit 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 42 but the General Assembly has no legislative powers 43 Leadership Edit The Chairman and vice chairman of the World Rugby are elected by the council The current chairman is Bill Beaumont previously president of the Rugby Football Union RFU He was elected chairman effective on 1 July 2016 following the Executive Council vote on 11 May 2016 Previous chairmen include 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 44 He will leave this role at the end of 2020 to become head of the National Football League s operations in Europe and the UK 45 Funding EditIn 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 46 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 Tournaments EditMost international match ups as of 5 February 2023 Match up MatchesAustralia New Zealand a 175England Scotland 141England Ireland 139Ireland Scotland 139England Wales 138Ireland Wales 134Scotland Wales 128England France 109New Zealand South Africa 103France Wales 102 Japan playing Tonga in the Pacific Five Nations 2006 Rugby World Cups Edit World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup which has been held every four years since 1987 the sport s most recognised and most profitable competition 2 Despite the profitability of the Rugby World Cup the majority of its revenues and viewers come from a small number of countries For the 2007 Rugby World Cup final 87 of viewers came from the Five Nations England France Wales Ireland Scotland 15 came from the Tri Nations South Africa Australia and New Zealand with just 2 of viewers coming from all other countries 43 The most recent Rugby World Cup was held in Japan in 2019 South Africa defeated England 32 12 in the final winning their third 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 The most recent women s Rugby World Cup was held in Ireland with matches held both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in 2017 The four year cycle was brought forward by a year to ease congestion in the sport s international calendar 47 The tournament was won by New Zealand who defeated England 41 32 in the final On 21 August 2019 WR 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 women s World Cup in New Zealand 48 Sevens Edit World Rugby organizes three international sevens tournaments two annual Sevens Series one for men and one for women and a quadrennial Rugby World Cup Sevens The men s season long annual Sevens Series takes place over 10 legs each held in a different country The women s Sevens Series is held over five or six legs Both tournaments follow 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 is included the top four teams from both the men s and women s series will qualify for the Olympic Games and remaining teams will compete 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 USA 49 The men s and women s competitions at this event were both won by New Zealand Developmental competitions Edit World Rugby organizes annual international competitions involving Tier 2 nations Pacific Nations Cup which has been played annually since 2006 The national teams of Fiji Samoa and Tonga currently compete for the cup At various times in the past the national teams of Japan Georgia Canada and the United States plus second tier representative sides from Australia and New Zealand have also been involved Pacific Challenge which is a competition involving the national A sides from Fiji Samoa and Tonga and more recently Junior Japan Canada A and Argentina s Pampas XV Americas Rugby Championship whose current incarnation involves Argentina s A side currently branded as Argentina XV and the full national teams of Brazil Canada Chile Uruguay and the USA Junior competitions Edit 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 World Rugby Nations Championship Edit Current title holders Edit Tournament World Champions YearRugby World Cup South Africa 2019Rugby World Cup women New Zealand 2021World Rugby Sevens Series Australia 2022World Rugby Women s Sevens Series Australia 2022Rugby World Cup Sevens Fiji men 2022 Australia women World Rugby Under 20 Championship France 2019World Rugby Under 20 Trophy Japan 2019Olympics EditSee also Rugby union at the Summer Olympics 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 20 in championship finals 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 50 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 sevens tournament could be and generally is accommodated in one stadium and is relatively inexpensive to play 50 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 51 Laws and regulations EditThe 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 Experimental law variations Edit Main article Experimental law variations 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 Anti doping Edit 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 52 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 53 World rankings EditFurther information World Rugby Rankings Men s Edit The following table has the Top 20 ranked men s rugby union countries in the world 54 Men s Top 20 Rankings as of 2 January 2023 55 Rank Change Team Points1 Ireland 90 632 France 90 013 New Zealand 88 984 South Africa 88 975 England 83 666 Australia 81 87 Scotland 81 558 Argentina 80 729 Wales 78 0910 Japan 77 3911 Samoa 76 0312 Italy 75 9513 Georgia 75 1914 Fiji 74 8415 Tonga 71 2116 Spain 67 1717 Uruguay 66 2418 Portugal 65 9719 United States 65 9220 Romania 64 79 Change from 31 December 2021 Women s Edit The following table has the Top 20 ranked women s rugby union countries in the world 56 Women s Top 20 Rankings as of 2 January 2023 57 Rank Change Team Points1 England 94 292 New Zealand 93 193 France 89 684 Canada 84 225 Italy 78 76 Australia 787 United States 76 788 Ireland 74 019 Wales 72 710 Scotland 68 7111 Spain 68 4712 Japan 67 9413 South Africa 64 514 Russia 61 115 Hong Kong 59 2516 Fiji 58 3317 Netherlands 58 2718 Samoa 58 0119 Sweden 57 7320 Kazakhstan 57 09 Change from 31 December 2021 Background Edit 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 58 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 Recognitions and awards EditThe 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 59 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 World Rugby Men s 15s Player of the Year World Rugby Women s 15s Player of the Year World Rugby Men s Sevens Player of the Year World Rugby Women s Sevens Player of the Year World Rugby Junior Player of the Year Vernon Pugh Award for Distinguished Service World Rugby Coach of the Year World Rugby Men s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year World Rugby Women s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year World Rugby Referee Award World Rugby Women s 15s Dream Team of the Year World Rugby Men s 15s Dream Team of the Year World Rugby Team of the YearAt the year end ceremony the International Rugby Players Association also hands out the following awards IRP Men s Try of the Year IRP Women s Try of the Year IRP Special Merit AwardIn the past the following awards have also been awarded IRB International U21 Player of the Year IRB Under 19 Player of the Year IRB Chairman s Award IRB Development Award IRB Spirit of Rugby AwardThe 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 Mendez Francois Pienaar and past Player of the Year winners Fabien Galthie 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 2009 Lions tours to South Africa all candidates for induction were either Lions or Springboks 60 2011 The year s final set of inductions held at the IRB Awards in Auckland on the night after the 2011 World Cup Final was according to the IRB under the theme of Rugby World Cup founders visionaries and iconic figures 61 2012 The IRB s theme for this year s inductions was Rugby a global Game celebrat ing Rugby s expansion to become a global sport played by millions of men and women worldwide 62 See also Edit Sports portal World portalNotes Edit The number played between the two sides excludes XV results If included the total number of matches played would extend to 199 References Edit Souster Mark 25 February 1998 All in a name The Times London a b Rugby World Cup History Rugby Football History Retrieved 14 July 2006 Fagan Jack 29 October 2014 IRB to move to new Dublin 2 headquarters The Irish Times Archived from the original on 18 February 2015 Retrieved 19 February 2015 a b IRB Organisation International Rugby Board 2006 Archived from the original on 9 July 2006 Retrieved 14 July 2006 World Rugby Member Unions World Rugby Retrieved 17 April 2017 World Rugby Handbook 2014 p 20 a b c IRB Handbook 2013 pp 15 20 IRB to change name to World Rugby Press release IRB 28 August 2014 Retrieved 28 August 2014 Putting Rugby Back in the Olympics Rugby Football History Members ASOIF Archived from the original on 10 July 2015 Retrieved 29 January 2015 a b Gallan Daniel 1 March 2022 World Rugby joins other sports bodies by suspending Russia and Belarus The Guardian Retrieved 2 March 2022 a b Rugby Europe Statement Russia and Belarus Suspension Rugby Europe Retrieved 3 March 2022 Short history of rugby Museum of Rugby Archived from the original on 15 February 2008 Retrieved 14 July 2006 a b 1880s Rugby Football History Retrieved 15 July 2006 a b c History of the laws of rugby football Rugby Football History Retrieved 22 October 2011 History of the Game rugby com au Archived from the original on 19 August 2006 Retrieved 15 July 2006 a b c 1890s rugbyfootballhistory com Retrieved 15 July 2006 Major team and individual sports Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved 22 October 2011 permanent dead link Sero Nick 11 May 2016 USA Welcomed to Expanded WorldRugby Council usarugby org Retrieved 11 May 2016 A brief history of the Rugby World Cup worldrugbymuseum blog Retrieved 12 December 2020 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link a b The History of RWC worldcupweb com Archived from the original on 14 April 2006 Retrieved 28 July 2006 Member unions World Rugby Retrieved 21 May 2022 International Rugby Board Year in Review 2010 PDF irb com Archived from the original PDF on 3 November 2011 Retrieved 23 June 2011 Ghana welcomed as full member union of World Rugby Press release World Rugby 21 May 2017 Retrieved 22 May 2017 World Rugby wades into Nigerian crisis urging reinstatement of NRFF board African Sports Monthly 7 May 2021 Archived from the original on 7 May 2021 Retrieved 10 March 2022 UAE become 100th full member of the IRB RTE 27 November 2012 Retrieved 28 November 2012 Loyketo sto ragkmpi Sport24 in Greek Archived from the original on 30 December 2014 Retrieved 31 March 2015 World Rugby confirms sporting sanctions for Russia and Belarus Sport24 in Greek Retrieved 28 February 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link World Rugby Handbook 2017 p 19 World Rugby Handbook 2017 p 17 World Rugby Review 2019 p 68 IRB bye law 9 PDF Archived from the original PDF on 1 November 2012 Expanded game representation and independence at the heart of World Rugby governance reform Press release World Rugby 11 November 2015 Retrieved 10 May 2017 Sero Nick 10 November 2015 USA Rugby Reaction to WorldRugby Governance Reform usarugby org Retrieved 11 May 2016 World Rugby Election update World Rugby 2 May 2020 Council Members World Rugby 22 April 2016 Archived from the original on 8 May 2020 World Rugby welcomes Fiji and Samoa onto expanded Council Press release World Rugby 15 November 2018 Retrieved 15 November 2018 Bill Beaumont elected next World Rugby Chairman worldrugby org 11 May 2016 Retrieved 11 May 2016 Bill Beaumont re elected World Rugby chairman for a second term ESPN 2 May 2020 IRB bye laws PDF Archived from the original PDF on 1 November 2012 Expanded game representation and independence at the heart of World Rugby governance reform worldrugby org 10 November 2015 Retrieved 11 May 2016 IRB bye law 8 PDF Archived from the original PDF on 1 November 2012 a b Putting Rugby First PDF Addleshaw Goddard July 2008 Archived from the original PDF on 2 January 2013 Gosper appointed IRB Chief Executive Archived from the original on 24 July 2012 Retrieved 22 July 2012 World Rugby Executive Gosper to leave role for NFL ESPN com Reuters 2 December 2020 Retrieved 4 December 2020 IRB to pump extra 30 million into Rugby Archived from the original on 4 August 2005 Retrieved 16 December 2020 Ireland to host Women s Rugby World Cup 2017 worldrugby org World Rugby announces gender neutral naming for Rugby World Cup tournaments Press release World Rugby 21 August 2019 Retrieved 22 August 2019 USA to host Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 worldrugby org a b Rugby amp The Olympic Games irb com Archived from the original on 8 July 2006 Retrieved 28 July 2006 Fijians Kiwis celebrate multiple medals in Olympic rugby 7s Associated Press August 2021 IRB adopts WADA code irb com Archived from the original on 4 September 2006 Retrieved 28 July 2006 Keep Rugby Clean irb com Archived from the original on 14 July 2006 Retrieved 28 July 2006 Men s Rankings World Rugby World Rugby Retrieved 5 January 2023 The World Rugby Men s Ranking World Rugby 2 January 2023 Retrieved 2 January 2023 Women s Rankings World Rugby World Rugby Retrieved 5 January 2023 The World Rugby Women s Ranking World Rugby 2 January 2023 Retrieved 2 January 2023 Women s Rankings World Rugby Retrieved 7 September 2019 New IRB Awards presentation format Press release International Rugby Board 28 May 2009 Archived from the original on 7 October 2011 Retrieved 19 June 2009 Nine inductees to join IRB Hall of Fame Press release International Rugby Board 23 October 2009 Archived from the original on 26 October 2009 Retrieved 24 October 2009 Stars set for glittering finale at IRB Awards Press release International Rugby Board 5 October 2011 Archived from the original on 6 November 2011 Retrieved 23 October 2011 Chilean Rugby greats added to IRB Hall of Fame Press release International Rugby Board 26 May 2012 Archived from the original on 29 May 2012 Retrieved 12 June 2012 Sources Edit Handbook 2013 PDF International Rugby Board 2013 Archived from the original PDF 5 5 MB on 28 May 2014 Handbook 2014 PDF World Rugby 2014 Archived from the original PDF 5 6 MB on 8 February 2015 Retrieved 28 January 2015 Handbook 2016 PDF World Rugby 2016 Archived from the original PDF 8 9 MB on 14 May 2016 Retrieved 15 May 2016 Handbook 2017 PDF World Rugby 3 January 2017 Archived from the original PDF 6 0 MB on 17 April 2017 Retrieved 17 April 2017 Year in Review 2011 PDF 10 5 MB International Rugby Board 2011 Archived PDF from the original on 5 October 2012 Retrieved 12 December 2020 World Rugby Year in Review 2019 World Rugby 2019 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link External links EditOfficial website IRB The Laws of rugby union World Rugby Rankings World Rugby Rankings Men World Rugby Rankings Women Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title World Rugby amp oldid 1149649037, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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