Rugby union

Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union or often just rugby, is a close-contactteam sport that originated at Rugby School in England in the first half of the 19th century. Rugby involves running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, the game is played between two teams of 15 players each, using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch. The pitch has H-shaped goalposts at both ends. The objective of the game is to score more points than the opposing team by scoring tries, conversion kicks, penalties, and drop goals. It is one of the two major codes of rugby football, the other being rugby league.

Rugby union is a popular sport around the world, played by people regardless of gender, age or size. In 2023, there were more than 10 million players worldwide, of whom 8.4 million were registered. 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 116 countries as full members and 18 associate members.

In 1845, the first rules of the game were written by pupils at Rugby School; other significant events in the early development of rugby include the decision by Blackheath F.C. to leave The Football Association in 1863 and, in 1895, the split between rugby union and rugby league. Historically rugby union was an amateur sport, but in 1995 formal restrictions on payments to players were removed, making the game open to professionals at the highest level for the first time.

Rugby union spread from the Home Nations of the United Kingdom and Ireland, with other early proponents of the sport including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France. The sport is primarily followed in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Georgia, Southern Africa, Argentina, and in more recent times, Japan, Korea, South America, the United States and Canada, its growth occurring during the expansion of the British Empire and through French proponents (Rugby Europe) in Europe. Countries that have adopted rugby union as their de factonational sport include Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, and Wales.

International matches have taken place since 1871 when the first game was played between Scotland and England at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh. The Rugby World Cup, first held in 1987, is held every four years. The Six Nations Championship in Europe and The Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere are other important international competitions that are held annually.

The Women's Rugby World Cup was first held in 1991, and the United States won the inaugural title. The Women's Six Nations Championship, first held in 1996 with just the four "home nations", is played annually alongside the men's counterpart.

National club and provincial competitions include the Premiership in England, the Top 14 in France, the Bunnings NPC in New Zealand, the League One in Japan and the Currie Cup in South Africa. Other transnational club competitions include the United Rugby Championship of club teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa and Wales, the European Rugby Champions Cup in Europe, and Super Rugby in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.