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2014–15 British And Irish Cup
The 2014–15 British and Irish Cup is the sixth season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. Leinster A are the defending champions having won the 2013–14 final against Yorkshire Carnegie 44–17 at Donnybrook on 23 May 2014. There has been four different winners and five different losing finalists of the competition in the five seasons of its existence. The format of the competition has been changed once again, with the Scottish withdrawing from the competition because of an increase, from four to six, in the number of the group matches before Christmas. Scottish Rugby felt that Scottish teams would not be able to compete fully in both the British and Irish Cup and the Scottish Premiership, the top-flight league for clubs in Scotland. The Welsh teams selection is based on regional play-offs involving the 2013–14 Premier Division clubs at the start of the season. This process yielded Pontypridd to repres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the List of islands of the British Isles, second-largest island of the British Isles, the List of European islands by area, third-largest in Europe, and the List of islands by area, twentieth-largest on Earth. Geopolitically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Ireland), which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. As of 2022, the Irish population analysis, population of the entire island is just over 7 million, with 5.1 million living in the Republic of Ireland and 1.9 million in Northern Ireland, ranking it the List of European islan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semi-professional
Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a considerably lower rate than a full-time professional athlete. As a result, semi-professional players frequently have (or seek) full-time employment elsewhere. A semi-pro player or team could also be one that represents a place of employment that only the employees are allowed to play on. In this case, it is considered semi-pro because their employer pays them, but for their regular job, not for playing on the company's team. The semi-professional status is not universal throughout the world and depends on each country's labour code (labour law) and each sports organization's specific regulations. Origin The San Francisco Olympic Club fielded an American football team in 1890. That year, the Olympic Club was accused by a rival club of enticing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2014–15 European Rugby Champions Cup
The 2014–15 European Rugby Champions Cup was the first season of the European Rugby Champions Cup (20th overall), the annual rugby union club competition for teams from the top six nations in European rugby, and the 20th season of professional European rugby union in total. It replaced the Heineken Cup as Europe's top-tier competition for rugby clubs. The competition got underway on the weekend of 17 October 2014 with the first round of the pool stage, and ended with the final on 2 May 2015 at Twickenham Stadium, London, England.Inaugural EPCR finals set for London were the champions having beaten [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scarlets
The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which replaced the Heineken Cup from the 2014–15 season). The club was originally named the Llanelli Scarlets but was renamed at the start of the 2008–09 rugby season. The Llanelli Scarlets were founded in 2003, as one of the five (now four) regional teams created by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU). The Scarlets are affiliated with a number of semi-professional and amateur clubs throughout the area, including Welsh Premier Division sides Llanelli RFC, Carmarthen Quins RFC and Llandovery RFC. Through the 2007–08 season, they played most of their games at Stradey Park in Llanelli, but they have also played matches at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham. The club's new stadium, Parc y Scarlets ( en, Scarlets Park), was constructed in nearby Pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carmarthen Quins RFC
Carmarthen Quins Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cwins Caerfyrddin) are one of two Welsh rugby union clubs based in Carmarthen in West Wales, the other being Carmarthen Athletic. They currently play in the Welsh Premier Division and are a feeder club for the Scarlets regional team. Club history During the 2005–06 season Carmarthen Quins were relegated from the Welsh Premier Division and placed in Division One West, making a return to the Premier league after winning the West league in 2008–09. Carmarthen were to face Blackwood, winners of Division One East in a play-off for promotion; but because Blackwood's ground was deemed not to meet WRU standards for the Premier league, the game was forfeited. .Blackwood RFC would dispute that their ground was not up to standard with new modern stand and floodlights and thought by many as having one of the best valley grounds in Gwent. Would have also been an interesting game to watch to see who was the best as both sides played ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ospreys (rugby Union)
The Ospreys ( cy, Y Gweilch), formerly the Neath-Swansea Ospreys ''www.walesonline.co.uk'', accessed 22 October 2020 is one of the four professional teams from . They compete in the and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The tea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragons (rugby Union)
Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup/European Rugby Challenge Cup. The region they represent covers an area of southeast Wales including Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen with a total population approaching 600,000 and they are affiliated with a number of semi-professional and amateur clubs throughout the area, including Pontypool RFC, Caerphilly RFC, Cross Keys RFC, Ebbw Vale RFC and Newport RFC. Formed in 2003 as a result of the introduction of regional rugby union teams in Wales, the team started life with a third-place finish in the 2003–04 Celtic League, and finished fourth the next season; however, the team finished in the bottom three in each of the next four seasons. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cross Keys RFC
Cross Keys RFC ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Pont-y-Cymer) is a rugby union club located in the Welsh village of Crosskeys. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union, and is a feeder club for the Dragons regional team. History The club achieved first class-status in 1909, winning the Monmouthshire league three times. By 1920 the team had their first international player, when Steve Morris won a cap for Wales. Morris would win 19 caps and captained Wales in 1925. Caps followed during the 1920s for Ossie Male and Lonza Bowdler, both returned over several seasons for Wales, facing not only Five Nations Championships but also touring teams. In 1926 Cross Keys RFC found themselves in dire financial trouble, and requested help from the Welsh Rugby Union. The WRU refused an appeal for a cash loan, but instead agreed to send the Welsh national team to play in an exhibition match at Pandy Park. The sell-out crowd assured Cross Keys future and resulted in an historic win for the home team thir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park and are the professional arm of Cardiff Rugby Ltd. From 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before reverting to Cardiff Rugby prior to the start of the 2021-22 season. They won European Challenge Cup titles in 2010 and 2018, beating Toulon Rugby and Gloucester Rugby respectively. They most recently made the knockout stages of the European Rugby Champions Cup in 2012. Between 2005 and 2018, they also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup and won the 2009 title, beating Gloucester at Twickenham. History Origins The first reliably recorded Rugby club in Cardiff were Tredegarville, who began playing around 1870. By 1874 a team named Glamorgan FC had been formed and in 1876 they merged with Cardiff Wanderers to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pontypridd RFC
Pontypridd Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Pontypridd) are a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. They compete in the Indigo Group Premiership, which they won for four consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2015, and the WRU National Cup, which they have won on 6 occasions, with the most recent being in 2014. Established in 1876, Pontypridd RFC play their home games on the banks of the River Rhondda, at Sardis Road, Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales, with their age-grade section playing at Taff Vale Park in Pontypridd, and Pontypridd High School Fields in nearby Cilfynydd. Pontypridd RFC experienced a successful period during the 1990s under head coach, Dennis John, referred to as the club's "Golden Age", and enjoyed further success between 2001 and 2003 with the appointment of head coach, Lynn Howells. The transition to Regional Rugby in Wales in 2003 saw the downgrading of Pontypridd to a semi-professional team, followed by financial diffic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Welsh Premier Division
The Welsh Premier Division, () known for sponsorship reasons as the Indigo Group Premiership, (''Uwch Gynghrair grŵp indigo'') is a rugby union league in Wales first implemented by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) for the 1990–91 season. Competition history Ahead of the 1990–91 season, the Welsh Rugby Union announced that the top 38 clubs would play in the Heineken National League, split into four divisions with the top ten teams forming the Premier League. Each club would play each other home and away in a double round-robin format. The ten teams that were part of the inaugural Premier Division were Abertillery, Cardiff, Bridgend, Glamorgan Wanderers. Llanelli, Neath, Newbridge, Pontypool, Pontypridd and Swansea. For the 1999–2000, 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons, it was reformatted as the Welsh-Scottish League with the addition of Edinburgh and Glasgow alongside the Welsh teams; and run jointly by the Scottish Rugby Union and the Welsh Rugby Union. Originally at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Introduction Of Regional Rugby Union Teams In Wales
Welsh regional rugby is the top tier of professional Welsh club rugby and is composed of the Scarlets, Ospreys, Cardiff Rugby and the Dragons which compete in the United Rugby Championship. The regions were established for the start of the 2003/04 rugby union season. From this date, Wales was represented by a smaller number of regional teams in both the Celtic League and European Cup competitions, where previously the top club sides were entered into them. Current regions Cardiff Rugby/Rygbi Caerdydd Based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, Cardiff Rugby (Welsh: ''Rygbi Caerdydd'') play at Cardiff Arms Park and are owned by Cardiff Rugby Ltd, who also own and run Cardiff Rugby Football Club. From 2003 to 2021 the club were known as the Cardiff Blues before changing their name to Cardiff Rugby prior to the start of the 2021-22 season. Cardiff Rugby are responsible for developing rugby in the city of Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil and south Powy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
