Student Rugby is a collegiate version of

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 ...

. It is played throughout universities and institutes on the island of

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 (Grea ...

, as well as throughout Britain. Unlike most Irish university sports, collegiate club rugby is not administered by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

or university athletic departments and is instead regulated by

IRFU The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ...

and club rec departments. Although full 15-a-side rugby union is clearly stressed in the leagues, the sevens variants can be routinely seen. Student rugby represents this first level competitiveness in the relatively small Irish system.

Overview

The colleges division systems are structured in 2 separate divisions, these are further split up into 4 smaller divisions, so that travelling for each team is kept to a minimum, e.g. Division 2 (North), Division 2 (East). The top two teams from each of these sub-divisions qualify for an all-Ireland cup to be promoted to Division 1 for the following season, the most recent of these was UUJ. Division 2 (North) is also the only cross-border league in the competition, with colleges from both the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

College rugby pages

UU Rugby

Student Rugby