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| Ireland's Rugby Ball |
The Ireland National Rugby Union Team represents the island of Ireland, both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship, which they have won twelve times outright and shared eight times.
The team also competes every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions (1999 and 2007).
Ireland is also one of the four unions that make up the British and Irish Lions, players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions.
The team also competes every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions (1999 and 2007).
Ireland is also one of the four unions that make up the British and Irish Lions, players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions.
Ireland's highest ever position in the World Rugby Rankings is second, which they reached for the first time in 2015.
Eight former Ireland players have earned induction into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, with five of them also having earned induction into the World Rugby Hall of Fame; one other former player is a member of the World Rugby Hall only. Former outside centre and captain Brian O'Driscoll, Ireland's all-time leader in tries scored, was considered one of the best rugby players in the world, and led Ireland to only their second Grand Slam in 2009.
More information: Homepage of the Irish Rugby
The Six Nations Championship, held every year in February and March, is Ireland's only annual tournament. It is contested against England, France, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Ireland was a member of the inaugural Home Nations in 1883, with France and Italy joining later to form the Five and Six Nations respectively. Ireland won their first championship in 1894, also winning the Triple Crown. Ireland's first Grand Slam occurred in the 1948 season and their second in the 2009 season. In total Ireland have been champions on thirteen occasions following their title in the 2015 Six Nations Championship.
At the 2011 Rugby World Cup and 2015 Rugby World Cup, the Ireland team entered the field of play at the beginning of their matches with the Irish tricolour and the Flag of Ulster, to which the six Irish counties in Northern Ireland belong.
Unió Esportiva Santboiana is a rugby union club established in 1921 and currently competes in the División de Honor de Rugby competition, the highest level of Spanish club rugby. The club are based in Sant Boi de Llobregat in Catalonia and plays in blue and white colours.
More information: Unió Esportiva Santboiana
Rugby gave me a confidence.
I was quite shy and relatively timid, but it gave me the confidence
to be a little bit more out-going and back myself a bit more.
I was quite shy and relatively timid, but it gave me the confidence
to be a little bit more out-going and back myself a bit more.
Brian O'Driscoll
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