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United Rugby Championship
The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in South Africa, and the BKT United Rugby Championship in the competition's other territories, the split branding mirroring the format previously adopted in Super Rugby. The Championship represents the highest level of domestic club or franchise rugby in each of its constituent countries. The Championship is one of the three major professional leagues in Europe (along with the English Premiership and the French Top 14), the most successful teams from which go forward to compete in the highest-level continental club competitions, the European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup. Since 2022–23, despite the name, South African teams have been eligible to qualify for European competitions, and one South African place in the Champions Cup fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rugby Union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School 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 each, using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch. The field has H-shaped goalposts at both ends. Rugby union is a popular sport around the world, played by people of all genders, ages and sizes. In 2014, there were more than 6 million people playing worldwide, of whom 2.36 million were registered players. World Rugby, previously called the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) and the International Rugby Board (IRB), has been the governing body for rugby union since 1886, and currently has 101 countries as full members and 18 associate members. In 1845, the first laws were written by students attending Rugby School; other significant even ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2006–07 Celtic League
The 2006–07 Celtic League (known as the 2006–07 Magners League for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth Celtic League season and the first with Magners as title sponsor. The season commenced on 1 September and was completed on 12 May. The teams competing remained the same as the previous season with four Irish provinces; Munster, Leinster, Connacht and 2005–06 champions Ulster, three Scottish regions; Edinburgh, Border Reivers and Glasgow Warriors and four Welsh regions; Llanelli Scarlets, Cardiff Blues, Ospreys and Newport Gwent Dragons. The league was won for the second time in three seasons by the Ospreys, with a final-day win over the Borders, playing their last match, as the Scottish Rugby Union had announced that the Borders would not exist in the following season. Cardiff Blues finished second, making this the only season of the tournament (as of 2021) in which no Irish team made the top two of the United Rugby Championship and predecessor tournaments. Teams Pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions are France, who won the 2022 tournament. The tournament is organised by the unions of the six participating nations under the banner of Six Nations Rugby, which is responsible for the promotion and operation of the men's, women's and under-20s tournaments, and the Autumn International Series, as well as the negotiation and management of their centralised commercial rights. The Six Nations is the successor to the Home Nations Championship (1883–1909 and 1932–39), played between teams from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, which was the first international rugby union tournament.Godwin (1984), pg 1. Though only matches involving Ireland could properly be considered international, and only after 1922, all other teams being from entir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rugby Union Bonus Points System
Bonus points are group tournament points awarded in rugby union tournaments in addition to the standard points for winning or drawing a match. Bonus points were implemented in order to encourage attacking play throughout a match, to discourage repetitive goal-kicking, and to reward teams for "coming close" in losing efforts. Standard system The most common point system is: * 4 points for winning a match * 2 points for drawing a match * 0 points for losing a match * 1 losing bonus point for losing by 7 points (or fewer) * 1 try bonus point for scoring (at least) 4 tries, regardless of the outcome. In this system, winning teams get 4 or 5 points; drawing teams 2 or 3 points; and losing teams between 0 and 2 points. Variant systems France The French professional league, Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR), uses a similar system in its two competitions, the Top 14 and Rugby Pro D2. After trialling the system in 2007–08, LNR adopted the new system permanently after that season. The Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2021–22 United Rugby Championship
The 2021–22 United Rugby Championship was the twenty-first season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the first season that the competition is referred to as the United Rugby Championship, having previously been known as the Pro14. Sixteen teams competed in this season – four Irish teams: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster; two Italian teams: Benetton and Zebre Parma; two Scottish teams: Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors (with Scottish and Italian teams in a shared regional pool); four South African teams: Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers; and four Welsh teams: Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets. It is the first season in which URC Regional Shields (Irish, Welsh, South African and Scottish-Italian) will be awarded as separate trophies to the leading sides in each nation or region. Format The tournament consisted of 18 rounds. There are four regional pools: The Irish Shield pool (featuring the four Irish teams), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roc Nation
Roc Nation is an entertainment agency founded by Jay-Z in 2008. The company is headquartered in Manhattan and has additional offices in Los Angeles and London. Roc Nation comprises a comprehensive talent agency, sports agency, record label, management agency, television and film enterprises, fashion clothing line, and educational and philanthropic endeavors. History In 2008, Roc Nation was founded by Jay-Z with the intent of signing pop and rap artists and succeeding his previous label, Roc-A-Fella Records. In February 2009, Roc Nation signed its first artist, rapper J. Cole. In April 2013, Roc Nation supporting ally and close family member to its founder Jay-Z, A.G. Fahrenheit, assisted Roc Nation in forming a new sports management division, Roc Nation Sports, a subsidiary dedicated to sports representation for professional athletes. Shortly thereafter, Roc Nation Sports also launched a boxing promotion division. After the Sony Music deal expired, in April 2013, Roc Nation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pro14 Rainbow Cup
The Pro14 Rainbow Cup (also known as the Guinness Pro14 Rainbow Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a professional rugby union end-of-season cup competition played in 2021 that consisted of two separate tournaments: the Rainbow Cup for twelve European clubs and the Rainbow Cup SA for four South African clubs. The winners of each competition then played a final match to determine the overall winner. The tournament operated as a shortened 'Spring season' to allow for the integration of the four new South African teams into the United Rugby Championship ahead of the 2021–22 season. In winning the play-off final against the Bulls of South Africa, Benetton Treviso became the first Italian side ever to win any of the successor championships to the Celtic League. Background The 2020–21 Pro14 was reduced to twelve teams as the two South African teams - the Cheetahs and Southern Kings - were not allowed to travel internationally in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2020, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guinness
Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in over 120. Sales in 2011 amounted to . In spite of declining consumption since 2001, it is the best-selling alcoholic drink in Ireland where Guinness & Co. Brewery makes almost €2 billion worth of beer annually. The Guinness Storehouse is a tourist attraction at St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland. Since opening in 2000, it has received over 20 million visitors. Guinness's flavour derives from malted barley and roasted unmalted barley, a relatively modern development, not becoming part of the grist until the mid-20th century. For many years, a portion of aged brew was blended with freshly brewed beer to give a sharp lactic acid flavour. Although Guinness's palate still features a characteristic "tang", the company has refused to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2017–18 Pro14
The 2017–18 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventeenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Pro14, Celtic League. It is the first season to be referred to as the ''Guinness Brewery, Guinness PRO14 Championship'', with the addition of two South African teams. Fourteen teams competed in this season — four Irish teams: Connacht Rugby, Connacht, Leinster Rugby, Leinster, Munster Rugby, Munster and Ulster Rugby, Ulster; two Italian teams: Benetton Rugby, Benetton and Zebre; two Scottish teams: Edinburgh Rugby, Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors; two South African teams: Cheetahs (rugby union), Cheetahs and the Southern Kings; and four Welsh teams: Cardiff Blues, Dragons (rugby union), Dragons, Ospreys (rugby union), Ospreys and Scarlets. Scarlets came into the new season as defending champions, and for the second season reached the PRO14 final. Leinster Rugby, Leinster, however, won the final at the Av ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Media Wales
Media Wales Ltd. is a publishing company based in Cardiff, Wales. As of 2009 it was owned by Reach plc (formerly known as the Trinity Mirror Group). It was previously known as the Western Mail & Echo Ltd. History The ''Western Mail'' was founded in 1869 by the 3rd Marquess of Bute as a Conservative newspaper. In 1893, the original building in St. Mary Street was destroyed by fire and a new building was opened also in St Mary Street two years later. In 1928 the Western Mail Ltd amalgamated with David Duncan & Sons, who published the ''South Wales Daily News'' and the ''South Wales Echo'', which was established in 1884. The merged company became Western Mail and Echo Ltd. and because of the merger ''Evening Express'' and ''South Wales Daily'' News closed. In 1960, the newspapers left St Mary Street and moved to Thomson House, Cardiff. On 1 October 2007 Western Mail and Echo Ltd changed its name to Media Wales, and in 2008 Media Wales moved from Thomson House in Havelock Str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Celtic Nations
The Celtic nations are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northwestern Europe where the Celtic languages and cultural traits have survived. The term ''nation'' is used in its original sense to mean a people who share a common identity and culture and are identified with a traditional territory. The six regions widely considered Celtic nations are Brittany (''Breizh''), Cornwall (''Kernow''), Ireland (''Éire''), the Isle of Man (''Mannin'', or ''Ellan Vannin''), Scotland (''Alba''), and Wales (''Cymru''). In each of the six nations a Celtic language is spoken to some extent: Brittonic languages, Brittonic or Brythonic languages are spoken in Brittany (Breton language, Breton), Cornwall (Cornish language, Cornish) and Wales (Welsh language, Welsh), whilst Goidelic languages, Goidelic or Gaelic languages are spoken in Scotland (Scottish Gaelic), Ireland (Irish language, Irish), and the Isle of Man (Manx language, Manx). Before the expansions of Ancien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2013–14 Pro12
The 2013–14 Pro12 (also known as the ''RaboDirect Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th season of the Pro12 rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, the fourth with its current 12-team format, and the third with RaboDirect as title sponsor. Leinster were the defending champions, having beaten Ulster in the 2013 playoff final. The twelve competing teams were the four Irish teams, Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster; two Scottish teams, Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors; four Welsh teams, Cardiff Blues, Newport Gwent Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets; and two Italian teams, Benetton Treviso and Zebre. Changes for the season Ireland New Zealand native Pat Lam replaced Eric Elwood as head coach of Connacht, following Elwood's decision to step down, while out-half Dan Parks took on a coaching role with Connacht U18 Schools and Clubs while continuing to play with the senior team. Following changes between captains in previous seasons the start of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
