Rugby union in England is one of the leading professional and recreational team
sports
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
. In 1871 the
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...
, the governing body for rugby union in England, was formed by 21
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
clubs, and the first international match, which involved
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, was played in Scotland. The
English national team compete annually in the
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 ar ...
, and are former world champions after winning the
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...
. The top domestic men's club competition is
Premiership Rugby
Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...
, and English clubs also compete in international competitions such as the
European Rugby Champions Cup. The top domestic women's competition is the
Premier 15s
The Premier 15s, currently known for sponsorship purposes as the Allianz Premier 15s, is the top tier of the women's English rugby union domestic league system run by the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The league was created mainly from teams in ...
.
History
Rugby School and foundation of early clubs
Rugby in England is generally attributed to when
William Webb Ellis
William Webb Ellis (24 November 1806 – 24 January 1872) was an English Anglican clergyman who, by tradition, has been credited as the inventor of rugby football while a pupil at Rugby School. According to legend, Webb Ellis picked up the ba ...
"who with a fine disregard for the rules as played in his time, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it" in 1823 at the
Rugby School
Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England.
Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...
, although modern scholars consider this story to be a myth. One of the earliest football clubs formed, some claim it to actually be the first, is the
Guy's Hospital Football Club
Guy's, Kings and St. Thomas' Rugby Football Club ("GKT") is the name given to the modern amalgam of three formerly distinct hospital rugby clubs each with a long history, having all been founded in the nineteenth century. The teams from Guy's Ho ...
which was founded in 1843 in
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre.
...
,
Southwark
Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. The club played an early version of rugby football and was formed by old boys of the Rugby School. Subsequent clubs established in this period include Dublin University Football Club in 1854 and the
Blackheath Rugby Club
Blackheath Football Club is a rugby union club based in Well Hall, Eltham in south-east London.
The club was founded in Blackheath in 1858, and is the fourth-oldest rugby club in continuous existence in the world, after Dublin University Fo ...
in 1858.
The forming of the RFU
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
was formed at the
Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen Street, on
Lincoln's Inn Fields
Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in develo ...
, London on 26 October 1863, with the intention to include the most acceptable points of play under the one heading of football. However, disagreements over what was being excluded led the Blackheath Club to withdraw from the association which was followed by a number of other clubs. In 1870,
Richmond F.C.
Richmond Football Club is a rugby union club from Richmond, London. It is a founding member of the Rugby Football Union, and is one of the oldest football clubs (of any code). It fields teams in both men's and women's rugby; the men's first ...
published an invitation in the newspapers which read "Those who play the rugby-type game should meet to form a code of practice as various clubs play to rules which differ from others, which makes the game difficult to play". In January of the following year, 21 clubs meet at the
Pall Mall Restaurant
The Pall Mall Restaurant was a hostelry situated at Number 1 Cockspur Street, Westminster, London, just off Pall Mall and near Trafalgar Square. The site was subsequently the offices of the White Star Line, and was then occupied by a Tex Mex res ...
and the
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...
(RFU) was founded.
First international and the schism in rugby
On 27 March 1871 the first ever international match took place, involving the
English rugby team and
the Scottish. Scotland won the match, which was played at
Raeburn Place
Raeburn Place is the main street of the suburb of Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland, and the name of the playing fields there.
Rugby
The first ever international rugby football game was played on the playing fields at Raeburn Place on 27 Ma ...
in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. In 1884, England opted not to join the
International Rugby Football Board which was formed by Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as they thought they should have greater representation on the board as they have the larger number of clubs.
By the late 19th century, the issue over
broken time in rugby had become important, particularly in the North of England, where a larger working class played rugby compared to the south, thus their work and injuries they received whilst playing came into conflict with the rules of amateurism. With mounting pressure regarding player payments and
veiled professionalism, on 29 August 1895 at a meeting at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, 21 clubs met to form the
Northern Rugby Football Union
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ...
and thus resigned from the RFU. The game of rugby league was formed from the disaffected clubs.
During this period, rugby was played between counties similar to the system of first-class cricket in England now. In 1907,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
won the county tournament and went on to represent Britain at
Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics. The event was summarised under the "Football" heading along with association football. The host Great Britain was represented by Cornwall, the 1908 county champion. Defending Olympic champions France wi ...
.
Twickenham and centenary celebrations
The 1910 opening of the RFU's new home at
Twickenham
Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...
heralded a golden era for English rugby union. During the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the Four Nations Championship became suspended in 1915 and it was not resumed until 1920. One hundred and thirty three international players were killed during the conflict. In 1923, a century of rugby was celebrated at the Rugby School, which saw an England and Wales XV play a Scottish-Irish team.
World War II
For duration of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the ban on rugby league players was temporarily lifted by the RFU. Many played in the eight rugby "Internationals" between England and Scotland which were played by Armed Services teams. The authorities also allowed the playing of two "Rugby League vs. Rugby Union" fixtures as fundraisers for the war effort (both matches were won by the rugby league teams playing rugby union). In 1958, long after the William Webb Ellis had become engraved as a legend in the history of rugby union, his grave was finally located by
Ross McWhirter
Alan Ross McWhirter (12 August 1925 – 27 November 1975) was, with his twin brother, Norris, the cofounder of the 1955 ''Guinness Book of Records'' (known since 2000 as ''Guinness World Records'') and a contributor to the television programm ...
in the
French town of
Menton
Menton (; , written ''Menton'' in classical norm or ''Mentan'' in Mistralian norm; it, Mentone ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border.
Me ...
near the border with
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
.
Formation of leagues
The RFU had long resisted leagues competitions, as it was thought that they would encourage player payments, thus most club matches were only organised friendlies, with competitions such as the County Cups and County Championship existing also. In 1972 the RFU sanctioned a knock-out competition, which was revamped in 2005 into a competition for top-tier English and Welsh sides now known as the
LV= Cup. The league evolved over time since starting in 1987 when the Courage Leagues were formed, a league pyramid that had more than 1000 clubs playing in 108 leagues; each with promotion and relegation.
Professionalism
The Heineken Cup was formed in 1995 as a competition for twelve European clubs and ran through to the 2013–14 season, after which it was replaced by the
European Rugby Champions Cup. Both competitions involve sides from England, France, Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Italy. The century-old competition for the European rugby powers became the Six Nations Championship in 2000 with the addition of Italy.
In November 2008 a proposal was made and adopted by the
RFU
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...
to create a fully professional second tier of club rugby, to be called the
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
. It replaced
National Division One
The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...
starting with the 2009–10 season.
Governing body
The Rugby Football Union are the governing body for rugby union in England.
Competitions
Premiership
The 11-team
Premiership is the top level of competition; it is fully professional, but has a salary cap in place. The
RFU Championship
The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...
(formerly National Division One) and
National League 1
National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...
(formerly National Division Two) are the next levels down. The Championship became fully professional in 2009–10 but many teams have since returned to semi-professional; League 1 is semi-professional. Below this there are many regional leagues. Attendances at club rugby in England have risen strongly since the sport went professional. Some clubs have good all seater grounds in the 10,001–25,000 capacity range; some have older grounds which are still partly terraced, and others play in
council-owned joint-use stadia. Some clubs rent stadia from football clubs.
Heineken Cup and European Rugby Champions Cup
From 1995 through to 2014, the top-level European club competition was the Heineken Cup, contested by the best teams from the Six Nations countries of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Through its history, it was viewed by some as the top prize in European rugby for club teams. In April 2014, after two years of negotiations, it was confirmed that the Heineken Cup would be replaced by the new
European Rugby Champions Cup beginning in the 2014–15 season. The Champions Cup includes the top eight teams from the previous season's Premiership.
Anglo-Welsh Cup and Premiership Rugby Cup
The
Anglo-Welsh Cup
The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...
, known by several sponsored names during its history, was the successor to a tournament founded in the 1971–72 season as the RFU Club Competition. It was originally a national knock-out competition for English club teams, and went through several sponsored names in the next quarter-century. Starting in the 2005–06 season, it was changed into a competition for Premiership clubs plus the Welsh sides competing in the
Celtic League
The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...
, now Pro14. The
EDF National Trophy was founded in 2005–06 as a new knock-out competition solely for English clubs, but Premiership sides do not take part. Through the 2013–14 season, the strongest Premiership teams took part in the Heineken Cup and the rest of the Premiership competed in the Amlin Challenge Cup. Since the 2014–15 season, the top Premiership sides compete in the Champions Cup, with the rest of the league involved in the new
European Rugby Challenge Cup
The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...
.
Following the 2017–18 edition of the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the Welsh regions pulled out of the competition in favour of creating a dedicated U-23 competition for that country alone. Premiership Rugby, the company that operates the top English flight, then announced that it would launch the new
Premiership Rugby Cup
The Premiership Rugby Cup is an English rugby union knockout cup competition for teams in Premiership Rugby. It was created in 2018 to replace the Anglo-Welsh Cup after the withdrawal of the Welsh regions.
History
The Premiership Rugby Cup was ...
, featuring all 12 league members, effective with the 2018–19 season.
British and Irish Cup
The
British and Irish Cup was a competition founded in
2009–10 by all four Home Unions for lower-tier professional and semi-pro teams throughout Great Britain and Ireland. In the competition's
third season it was expanded to 32 sides from its original 24; it featured all twelve teams from both the RFU Championship and the
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.
Compe ...
(the level below Pro14), "A" sides from all four Irish provinces, and the top four sides from the
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...
. The 32 teams were divided into eight pools, each with a round-robin format. The pool winners then advance to knockout quarter-finals, followed by semi-finals and a final. For season
2013–14 the competition returned to 24 sides with the reduction of Welsh clubs from twelve to four. The final English team to have won are
Ealing Trailfinders
Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the current champions of the RFU Championship but will remain in that league due to ineligibility for promotion to Premi ...
in
2018. In England the tournament was replaced by the
Championship Cup
The Championship Cup, (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), and previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's Rugby League Championships. Although the F ...
.
National Schools Cup
The National Schools Cup is the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
school's
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 m ...
cup competition. The cup and vase finals are held at
Twickenham Stadium
Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team plays ...
. Competitions are held at the U18 and U15 age group levels. At each age group there are four competitions, with stronger teams entering the cup and weaker teams in the vase, and first round losers of each entering the plate and bowl respectively.
Middlesex 7s
The
Middlesex 7s The Middlesex Sevens was a Rugby Sevens tournament held annually at Twickenham stadium in London, England until 2011. It was first held in 1926, and started by Dr J.A. Russell-Cargill, a London-based Scot.Bath, ''Scotland Rugby Miscellany'', p82 Th ...
is the premier club-level
rugby sevens event held in England (note, however, that international sides have taken part on occasion).
London Sevens
National men's sevens teams compete annually in the
London Sevens
The London Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held at Twickenham Stadium in London. It is part of the World Rugby Sevens Series.
London was added to the World Series for the first time in 2001. For many years the London Sevens was the ...
at Twickenham, which has usually been the final event in each season's
World Rugby Sevens Series
The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...
since
2011–12, though it is not the final event in the current
2017–18 series.
Premiership Derbies
The following games are considered premiership
derbies.
*
Midlands derbies - between
Northampton Saints
Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...
and
Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...
*
West Country
The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...
derbies - historically between
Bath,
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
, and now also including
Exeter Chiefs
Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...
*
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
derby - between
Harlequins,
London Irish
London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...
and
Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...
.
Popularity
Participation
According to
World Rugby
World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...
, England has 1,900 rugby union clubs; 6,060 referees; 362,319 pre-teen male players; 698,803 teen male players; 121,480 senior male players (total male players 1,182,602) as well as 11,000 senior female players.
But these statistics are somewhat unreliable. Sport England indicates that 170,200 people play rugby at least once a week.
Rugby union has often been considered, somewhat pejoratively, a 'posh' game. This may be historically linked to the split between Northern teams and the rest of the rugby fraternity over 'broken time payments', i.e. professionalism. This split led to the development of the separate sport of
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
. The amateur ethos made it difficult for players who could not afford to take time off work to play away games or to go on tour - an integral part of the rugby tradition. Rugby union in many parts of England is associated with fee-paying independent schools such as
Stonyhurst College or
Sedbergh School
Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. I ...
who have historically provided many of the national players. It is also commonly played at
Grammar schools
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school, ...
, but
Comprehensive schools
A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is re ...
in much of the country tended not to play the game, although this is no longer the case. Whilst
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 m ...
was officially an amateur sport, many rugby union players came to play rugby league. In recent years this trend has reversed and some rugby league players have crossed codes to play union.
Due to the split with most of the Yorkshire and Lancashire clubs, rugby union remained more popular in the South and the Midlands than the North of England, although this trend is now nowhere near as prevalent, with many teams in the North able to field four or five senior sides per week. The
Newcastle Falcons
Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union.
The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...
and
Sale Sharks
Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...
are the only Northern teams in the Premiership, whereas
Yorkshire Carnegie
Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 1.
The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when it j ...
has also competed there previously.
Although four of the teams in the Premiership have historic links with London, one of these has now moved to a neighbouring town and a second has moved to the more distant city of
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
, and only
Harlequins and
Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...
now play in the capital, respectively in the outer suburbs of Twickenham and Hendon (Saracens had also played in a neighbouring town before returning to London in early 2013). At an amateur level, however, rugby remains strong in the London area.
As of July 2022, transgender women are prohibited from playing contact rugby. Transgender men have to carry out a risk assessment and sign a disclaimer
Interest in the population and viewing figures
English rugby union receives extensive coverage from major media outlets. Currently
BT Sport
BT Sport is a group of broadcasting of sports events, pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, Warner Bros. Dis ...
covers the majority of Gallager Premiership games, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
covers the Rugby World Cup. BT Sport and
share coverage of the European club competitions.
The percentage of people declaring to be interested in rugby union in England has been fairly constant over the period 1996-2005, for which we have data.
, it jumped to 27% after England's victory over Australia in the World Cup final. In 2005, 23% of the population were declaring an interest in rugby union, placing this sport at the 6th place in England. To the question whether they watch rugby union on TV, 21% of sampled people answered positively in 2005, up two points relative to 1996 (19%). In this category, it places rugby union at the second place in England behind football. The viewing figures for the final of the Premiership indicate that 91,000 viewers watched the 2011 final on TV when it was broadcast on ESPN for the first time. In 2010, the final was watched by 225,000 viewers on Sky.
In terms of average attendance, the Aviva Premiership is the third best attended club competition in England behind the top two association football leagues, the
. The highest club attendances at Aviva Premiership matches are starting to become similar to some of the lower attended matches in football's Championship, with game attendances averaging 12,500 in 2011 compared with 17,400 in the football Championship.
Historically rugby union was a participatory sport rather than a spectator sport in England and attendances at club games were low.
for example averaged less than a hundred spectators in the 1970s. However, attendances at Twickenham for the national team have always been very high. Games in the
have always been shown on network TV. Many people watch these games but don't follow club rugby, mainly due to the fact that the pay-TV Sky Sports owns the rights to the game broadcasts, and highlights are rarely shown on network television.
Research from 2003 stated that the majority of spectators are from the AB1 demographic group with a gender ratio of approximately 80% male and 20% female at live domestic professional matches
However, this is a general picture of the sport across the country as a whole and, in some parts of the country, the game has widespread grassroots support. This is particularly true of the West Country, especially in
, where the game is more popular without significant class differentiation. In the Midlands, the game competes with football and the larger clubs, such as
, have considerable fanbases and strong traditions.
The English national team is currently the second best team in the history of the
with three titles and one Grand Slam. When taking into account the Home Nations and Five Nations tournaments, England has more title and Grand Slams than any other nation. England contest the
with Ireland as part of the Six Nations Championship. They were World Champions from 2003–2007 and also made the finals of the 1991 and 2007 World Cups.
currently ranks England at 3rd out of 95 union-playing countries.
. "
" is a song associated with the national rugby union team even though it was originally sung by black slaves on the cotton fields in the south of the U.S.A. Every four years the
go on tour with players from England as well as Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
* Collins, Tony (2009); ''A Social History of English Rugby Union'', Routledge. .
* Richards, Huw ''A Game for Hooligans: The History of Rugby Union'' (