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Life / Sport / Rugby
Watch or play rugby in the UK
     
Sections:
 Introduction
Six Nations
  Rugby World Cup
  Vocabulary
  Further information
  Links


INTRODUCTION

British/Irish rugby team:
known as "the Lions"
Rugby (c) Heart of England
"Parliamentary games" at Rugby School,
where rugby was started

Rugby union is the most popular version of the game in the UK and internationally.

You can find information about the main international games from the website of the national rugby union association of the country where the match is being played (or from its box office):
- England: Games are played at Twickenham, near London (the nearest railway station is Twickenham; there are buses the nearest underground station is Richmond). For details, see the website of the Rugby Football Union (RFU): http://www.rfu.com
- Scotland: Games are played at Murrayfield, Edinburgh. Scottish Rugby Union: http://www.sru.org.uk
- Wales: Games are played at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. Welsh Rugby Union: http://www.wru.co.uk


At the Scrum in the Park event in Regent's Park ...

... the England squad have a training session


England squad's George
Chuter signs an autograph
(c) Wales Tourist Board. All rights reserved
International rugby union:
Wales playing Australia

Every few years British and Irish players play together in a team known as the Lions, and go on tour in Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. The national teams from these countries have the following nicknames: the Wallabies (Australia), the All Blacks (New Zealand) and the Springboks (South Africa).

Rugby league has different rules from rugby union and is more popular in north England. Rugby Football League: http://www.rfl.uk.com

Click here to subscribe online to: Rugby World magazine
Know the Game: Rugby Union
Author: Rugby Football Union
Publisher: A & C Black
Date: August 2003
My World
Author: Jonny Wilkinson
Publisher: Headline
Date: October 2004
Know the Game: Rugby League
Author: Rugby Football League
Publisher: A & C Black
Date: September 2004
Living With Lions - The Complete Story (2 DVDs: Region 2)
Studio: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Date: November 1999

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SIX NATIONS

Six Nations
rugby contest

The Six Nations is a rugby union competition between England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy. Each team plays one game against each of the other teams, over a series of weekends in February and March. The official website of the tournament is http://www.rbs6nations.com. For photos of Twickenham on the day of a Six Nations rugby union match, see: Ideas/Album/SixNations.

If a team wins its games against all of the other teams in the competition it wins the Grand Slam. If one of the four "home nations" (England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland) beats each of the other home nations it wins the Triple Crown. The winner of the England vs Scotland game wins the Calcutta Cup (this is the oldest trophy in the history of international rugby, first won by England in 1880).

The fixtures for the 2012 competition are as follows:

Date Matches (home team listed first; UK times)
Sat 4 Feb 2012 2:30pm France vs Italy ; 5:00pm Scotland vs England
Sun 5 Feb 2012 3:00pm Ireland vs Wales
Sat 11 Feb 2012
 4:00pm Italy vs England ; 8:00pm France vs Ireland
Sun 12 Feb 2012 3:00pm Wales vs Scotland
Sat 25 Feb 2012
 1:30pm Ireland vs Italy ; 4:00pm England vs Wales
Sun 26 Feb 2012 3:00pm Scotland vs France
Sat 10 Mar 2012
 2:30pm Wales vs Italy ; 5:00pm Ireland vs Scotland
Sun 11 Mar 2012 3:00pm France vs England
Sat 17 Mar 2012 12:30pm Italy vs Scotland ; 2:45pm Wales vs France ; 5:00pm England vs Ireland

Games take place at the following locations:
England: Twickenham, London
Wales: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Scotland: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Ireland: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
France: Stade de France, Paris
Italy: Stadio Olimpico, Rome

The Six Nations competition was won by France in 2004, Wales in 2005, France in 2006, France in 2007, Wales in 2008, Ireland in 2009, France in 2010.

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RUGBY WORLD CUP

The Rugby World Cup competition is held once every four years.

The Rugby World Cup 2011 will be in New Zealand. For details, see the tournament's official website: http://www.rugbyworldcup.com
The following teams automatically qualify for the competition: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga, South Africa, Argentina.
Other countries take part in regional rugby competitions to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.

For the 2011 tournament teams will be grouped into the following four pools:
Pool A: New Zealand, France, Tonga, Canada, Japan
Pool B: Argentina, England, Scotland, Georgia, Romania
Pool C: Australia, Ireland, Italy, Russia, USA
Pool D: South Africa, Wales, Fiji, Samoa, Namibia
Teams play each of the other teams in their pool. The top two teams in each pool go through to the quarter-finals, after which it is a knock-out competition.
Matches will be shown on ITV1. For details, see: http://www.itv.com/Sport/rugbyworldcup
The UK time is GMT+1 throughout the tournament; New Zealand time is GMT+12 up to and including Sat Sep 24, and is GMT+13 from Sun Sep 25.

Date
Time (NZ)
Time (UK)
Pool
 Match Location Stadium
Fri Sept 9
20:30
09:30
A
 New Zealand v Tonga Auckland Eden Park
Sat Sep 10
13:00
02:00
B
 Scotland v Romania Invercargill Rugby Park Stadium
Sat Sep 10
15:30
04:30
D
 Fiji v Namibia Rotorua Rotorua International Stadium
Sat Sep 10
18:00
07:00
A
 France v Japan Auckland North Harbour Stadium
Sat Sep 10
20:30
09:30
B
 Argentina v England Christchurch Stadium Christchurch
Sun Sep 11
15:30
04:30
C
 Australia v Italy Christchurch Stadium Christchurch
Sun Sep 11
18:00
07:00
C
 Ireland v USA New Plymouth Stadium Taranaki
Sun Sep 11
20:30
09:30
D
 South Africa v Wales Wellington Wellington Regional Stadium
Wed Sep 14
14:30
03:30
D
 Samoa v Namibia Rotorua Rotorua International Stadium
Wed Sep 14
17:00
06:00
A
 Tonga v Canada Whangarei Northland Events Centre
Wed Sep 14
19:30
08:30
B
 Scotland v Georgia Dunedin Carisbrook
Thurs Sep 15
19:30
08:30
C
 Russia v USA New Plymouth Stadium Taranaki
Fri Sep 16
20:00
09:00
A
 New Zealand v Japan Hamilton Waikato Stadium
Sat Sep 17
15:30
04:30
B
 Argentina v Romania Invercargill Rugby Park Stadium
Sat Sep 17
18:00
07:00
D
 South Africa v Fiji Wellington Wellington Regional Stadium
Sat Sep 17
20:30
09:30
C
 Australia v Ireland Auckland Eden Park
Sun Sep 18
15:30
04:30
D
 Wales v Samoa Hamilton Waikato Stadium
Sun Sep 18
18:00
07:00
B
 England v Georgia Christchurch Stadium Christchurch
Sun Sep 18
20:30
09:30
A
 France v Canada Napier McLean Park
Tues Sep 20
19:30
08:30
C
 Italy v Russia Nelson Trafalgar Park
Wed Sep 21
19:30
08:30
A
 Tonga v Japan Whangarei Northland Events Centre
Thurs Sep 22
20:00
09:00
D
 South Africa v Namibia Auckland North Harbour Stadium
Fri Sep 23
20:30
09:30
C
 Australia v USA Wellington Wellington Regional Stadium
Sat Sep 24
18:00
07:00
B
 England v Romania Dunedin Carisbrook
Sat Sep 24
20:30
09:30
A
 New Zealand v France Auckland Eden Park
Sun Sep 25
15:30
03:30
D
 Fiji v Samoa Auckland Eden Park
Sun Sep 25
18:00
06:00
C
 Ireland v Russia Rotorua Rotorua International Stadium
Sun Sep 25
20:30
08:30
B
 Argentina v Scotland Christchurch Stadium Christchurch
Mon Sep 26
19:30
07:30
D
 Wales v Namibia New Plymouth Stadium Taranaki
Tues Sep 27
17:00
05:00
A
 Canada v Japan Napier McLean Park
Tues Sep 27
19:30
07:30
C
 Italy v USA Nelson Trafalgar Park
Wed Sep 28
19:30
07:30
B
 Georgia v Romania Palmerston North Arena Manawatu
Fri Sep 30
20:30
08:30
D
 South Africa v Samoa Auckland North Harbour Stadium
Sat Oct 1
15:30
03:30
C
 Australia v Russia Christchurch Stadium Christchurch
Sat Oct 1
18:00
06:00
A
 France v Tonga Wellington Wellington Regional Stadium
Sat Oct 1
20:30
08:30
B
 England v Scotland Auckland Eden Park
Sun Oct 2
13:00
01:00
B
 Argentina v Georgia Palmerston North Arena Manawatu
Sun Oct 2
15:30
03:30
A
 New Zealand v Canada Wellington Wellington Regional Stadium
Sun Oct 2
18:00
06:00
D
 Wales v Fiji Hamilton Waikato Stadium
Sun Oct 2
20:30
08:30
C
 Ireland v Italy Dunedin Carisbrook
Sat Oct 8
18:00
06:00
QF1: W Pool C v RU Pool D Wellington Wellington Regional Stadium
Sat Oct 8
20:30
08:30
QF2: W Pool B v RU Pool A Christchurch Stadium Christchurch
Sun Oct 9
18:00
06:00
QF3: W Pool D v RU Pool C Wellington Wellington Regional Stadium
Sun Oct 9
20:30
08:30
QF4: W Pool A v RU Pool B Christchurch Stadium Christchurch
Sat Oct 15
21:00
09:00
SF1: W QF1 v W QF2 Auckland Eden Park
Sun Oct 16
21:00
09:00
SF2: W QF3 v W QF4 Auckland Eden Park
Fri Oct 21
20:30
08:30
Bronze Final Auckland Eden Park
Sun Oct 23
21:00
09:00
Final Auckland Eden Park

The Rugby World Cup 2015 will be in England.
The Rugby World Cup 2019 will be in Japan.

The Rugby World Cup 2007 was in France (with some games also in Cardiff and Edinburgh), and was won by South Africa.
In the final South Africa beat England 15-6.

The Rugby World Cup 2003 took place in Australia in October and November 2003, and was won by England.
In the final, England beat Australia: 20 - 17 (Jonny Wilkinson scored the winning drop goal in the last minute of extra time)
For photos from the "Sweet Chariot" victory parade in London in December 2003, see: Ideas/Album/SweetChariotParade

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VOCABULARY

Some of the words you will hear if you watch a game of rugby union:

to score a try, to make a touchdown (5 points) ; to convert a try / to put over a conversion (2 points) ; to make a drop goal (through the middle of the posts) (3 points) ; dropout (wide of the posts) ; to put the ball into touch (to find touch) ; to keep the ball in play ; to clear the ball (to make a clearance) ; to catch the ball ; to offload the ball ; to release the ball ; to win the ball ; to pass the ball ; to chip the ball ; slow ball / quick ball ; the ball is held up ; to make a tackle ; to upend ; to kick the ball ; up and under ; to make a dummy run/pass ; to drive over the line ; to play advantage ; to knock on/forward ; to be offside ; to have possession (to be in possession) ; a set-piece ; scrum (scrummage) ; collapsed scrum ; turnover ; ruck ; maul ; penalty kick ; free kick ; drop kick ; forward pass ; to be in touch ; lineout / throw-in (thrower / lifter / jumper) ; a throw (long / short) ; overthrow ; underthrow ; pitch (field) ; midfield ; first half ; overtime ; half-time ; second half ; territory ; stoppage ; to make a substitution ; to come off / to go on ; to get slowball / quickball ; forwards (attackers) ; backs (defenders) ; front row ; second row ; back row ; pack ; captain ; referee ; linesman / touch judge ; TMO (television match official) ; coach ; man of the match ; on the bench ; foul play ; late tackle ; sin bin ; red card ; to be sent off ; substitution ; to win a cap

The diagram below shows typical positions and names for the 15 members of a rugby union team:
Positions (1-8 are in the scrum)

1 : Loosehead Prop
2 : Hooker
3 : Tighthead Prop
4 : Second Row
5 : Second Row
6 : Blindside Flanker
7 : Openside Flanker
8 : Number 8
9 : Scrum Half
10 : Fly Half
11 : Left Wing
12 : Inside Centre
13 : Outside Centre
14 : Right Wing
15 : Fullback

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FURTHER INFORMATION

BBC Sport (rugby union): http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union
Rugby rules explained: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/rules_and_equipment

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LINKS

Photos of a visit to a Six Nations game: Ideas/Album/SixNations
Sweet Chariot victory parade: Ideas/Album/SweetChariotParade
Sport in the UK: Life/Sport
Monthly guide to events in the UK: Ideas/Events

Home page: Home

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