Sport in Ireland - Rugby
Rugby in Ireland
Rugby has been played in Ireland since at least 1854 when the first club, at Trinity College in Dublin, was established. The governing body, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), was formed in 1874.
For most if its history in Ireland rugby was a totally amateur game, but since 1999 it is an 'open' game, with both amateur and professional teams playing and some teams with a mixture of professional and semi-professional players. The large professional teams in Ireland, essentially one in each of the provinces Munster, Leinster, Ulster and Connaught, primarily concentrate on the Heineken European Cup rather than on competitions within Ireland.
Rugby Union is a 32 county game, with players from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland playing on the national side.
If you are unfamiliar with the game you will find this Introduction to Rugby very useful.
Irish Rugby Internationally
Ireland (beating Argentina)The main event in the annual Rugby Calendar is the 6 Nations Championships held each Spring between Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy.
Ireland has had a patchy history in this competition, winning the Grand Slam (beating all other teams) only once in 1948 and the Triple Crown (beating Scotland, England and Wales) on six occasions, the last being in 1985.
The record in the newer European Cup is a bit better. The three strongest provincial teams, Munster, Leinster and Ulster compete in the European Cup, with Ulster taking the title in 1999 and both of the other teams progressing regularly to its final stages with Munster in particular giving their fans a wild and exciting ride and sending them on many long European treks in the process. Connacht play in the European Shield, essentially the second division in Europe.
Shrugging off The Elitist Image
"Soccer is a gentleman's game played by ruffians, Rugby is a ruffians' game played by gentlemen"
So it was often said and rugby was, and sometimes still is, considered an elitist game for all its tough image. There is a certain truth in the accusation, in that most of the schools where rugby is played are fee-paying private schools and the tradition of playing and following rugby is strongest among those in white collar jobs.
It is a generalisation though and players from all walks of life are involved in rugby to-day. In Ireland's rugby heartland, Limerick, just about everyone follows the game and it never had the elitist connotations there that it may have had elsewhere.
The game has also had something of a macho image, but in recent years there has been a growth in the popularity of the ladies game and a gay men's' rugby team has been established in Dublin.
Rugby League
What's the difference between Rugby Union and Rugby League? Rugby League has the same roots, but broke away from Union in the late 1800's and until the 1990's Union was an amateur game while League was professional, but of course that has now changed.
Aside from the fact that Union plays 15 man teams and League teams have 13 players, the primary difference between the games is in tackling rules.
- In Union the game does not stop when a player is tackled. The tackled player must release the ball and both teams can contest for it when it is released.
- League is more like American football in that after each tackle, the tackled player is allowed to get to his feet and roll the ball under his legs. In League teams get 6 tackles, called 'downs', at the end of which they must give the ball to the other team unless they have scored.
There are a number of other technical and rule differences but those are the key ones.
Until the late 1980's Rugby League was not really played in Ireland but it is becoming more popular and has a very active governing body, Rugby League Ireland.
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