Rugby union

Rugby union is a sport played throughout the world, but is especially popular in New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, Australia, South Africa, Great Brittian, Ireland and France.

Rules

For the rules of rugby, see rugby (sport)

Competition

International

Every 4 years, the IRB holds a World Cup, in which all the best countries throughout the world participate in. The winners of this competition is crowned world champions for the next four years. Here is a list of previous World Cup winners:

• 1987: New Zealand
• 1991: Australia
• 1995: South Africa
• 1999: Australia (2)
• 2003: England
• 2007: South Africa (2)

Although the New Zealand All Blacks has ony won the World Cup once, they have by far the best overall test record, winning 318 of their 429 test matches to date (74%) and are widely regarded by many as the best team in the world. South Africa is second with a winning percentage of 63%. The All Blacks has also spent the most time at the top of the IRB world rankings, since it was introduced in 2003.[1]

Two international provincial competitions are held annually, the Super 14 in the Southern Hemisphere and the Heiniken Cup in Europe. The Super 14 is contested between teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and the European Competition between teams from Ireland, Brittian and France.