X-Nico

5 unusual facts about rugby Union


Chester Park, Bristol

Barton Fields, the park itself, is a gently sloping strip 500 yards long, and containing a children's play area and the pitches and pavilion of Barton Hill Old Boys Rugby union Club.

Francis Cocks

He was an active rugby player for the university, Hampshire county and the Eastern Counties.

Rugby union in Queensland

The earliest known recorded regular Rugby football games in Brisbane commenced in 1876, when the Brisbane Football Club elected to change to Rugby, instead of 'Victorian Rules' (now known as Australian Rules) which it had played since its founding in 1866, to permit competition with the newly formed Rangers and Bonnet Rouge football clubs.

Show Me the Funny

The six remaining contenders headed to South Wales, where they had to organise a night of entertainment for locals at a pub in Pontypridd, before performing new material for a group of rugby players.

Whizziwig

Whizziwig centred on the adventures of a boy called Ben and his best friend Steve who befriended a small pink alien approximately the size of a rugby ball.


1981–82 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland

AUSTRALIA: Roger Gould, Mitchell Cox, Andrew Slack (c), Michael Hawker (rep Mick Martin 48 min), Brendan Moon, Paul McLean, John Hipwell (rep Phillip Cox 65 min), Tony D'Arcy, Chris Carberry, Declan Curran, Tony Shaw (c), Peter McLean, Simon Poidevin, Greg Cornelsen, Mark Loane.

AgonSwim

AgonSwim produces swim suits for amateur aquatic sports using dye technology (dye sublimation) otherwise limited to use in professional sports like soccer, rugby union, cycling, and basketball.

Alexander Bland

Alexander "Alec" Frederick Bland (24 November 1866 – 18 October 1947) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cardiff.

Anna Stanley

Stanley is married to current medical surgeon and former Auckland and All Black rugby union player, Jeremy Stanley.

Ben Hinshelwood

Son of famous Scottish winger Sandy Hinshelwood, Ben was the outstanding sportsman in his days at North Sydney Boys High School.

Ben T. Russell

Benjamin T. Russell (born 10 January 1983 in Halifax, West Yorkshire) is a rugby union player who plays at No. 8 or Flanker for London Welsh.

Birstall RFC

Birstall Rugby Football Club is a men's senior rugby union club based in Birstall, Leicestershire.

Botanical Gardens, Nelson

Besides cricket, the ground also saw one of the first rugby matches to be played in New Zealand between Nelson College and a group of local players.

Chinnor R.F.C.

Chinnor's youth setup is widely thought of as one of the best in the country having produced top Premiership players such as Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers), Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs), Dave Seymour (Saracens) and Paul Volley (Harlequins).

Clinton Schifcofske

During the 2006 season, one of Schifcofske's penalty goal attempts in a match against the Wests Tigers was the subject of Ray Warren's commentary; as he was taking the shot, Warren called the words: "Eddie Jones (who was at the time the coach of the Queensland Reds), if you're watching..." and Schifcofske nailed the shot.

Ernie Goldthorpe

Ernie Goldthorpe was the son of Walter Goldthorpe who played rugby union and rugby league in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the nephew of rugby league footballer Albert Goldthorpe.

Frank Nobilo

Nobilo used to play Rugby League for Glenora and not Rugby Union for St Peter's which was "a bone of contention" with the school.

Gareth Delve

His last game as a Rebels player was a home game against New Zealand franchise the Highlanders, a match that also turned out to be the last Rebels match for head coach Damien Hill and players James O'Connor, Cooper Vuna, Ged Robinson, Nick Phipps and Nic Henderson.

German Rugby Federation

The Barbarians included a host of internationals including Scott Hastings, Peter Stringer, Shaun Longstaff, Jeff Probyn, Frankie Sheahan, Russell Earnshaw, Shaun Connor, John Langford and Derwyn Jones and won 47-19 against a determined German team.

Helene Raynsford

Raynsford was appointed to UK Anti-Doping's newly formed Athlete's Committee along with Paralympic swimmer Graham Edmunds, football player Clarke Carlisle and former England rugby union captain, Martin Corry.

Horaţiu Pungea

Horaţiu Eugen Pungea (born 18 February 1986, Luduș, (Mureş), Romania) is a Romanian rugby union footballer.

Ian Madigan

Ian Madigan (born 21 March 1989) is an Irish professional rugby union player for Blackrock College RFC, Leinster Rugby and Ireland.

ITM Cup

The ITM Cup (colloquially referred to as "National Provincial Championship" or "NPC") is the highest level of New Zealand domestic professional rugby union competition, contested annually from late August to early November and managed by the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU).

Jason Leonard

Leonard played his whole England career in a largely dominant pack and in his early career played with established forwards such as Brian Moore, Wade Dooley, Dean Richards, Mick Skinner, Mike Teague and Peter Winterbottom.

Joe Ropati

Ropati is part of a large rugby league family that includes internationals Iva, Peter, Tea and rugby union international Romi.

Kevin Junee

Kevin is the father of Australian rugby union player Darren Junee who also played rugby league for the Eastern Suburbs club.

Kidney transplantation

At least four professional athletes have made a comeback to their sport after receiving a transplant: New Zealand rugby union player Jonah Lomu, German-Croatian Soccer Player Ivan Klasnić, and NBA basketballers Sean Elliott and Alonzo Mourning.

Kilunda RFC

Kilunda Rugby Football Club, also known as Kilunda / Masaku RFC, is a Kenyan rugby union club based in Machakos.

Lewis Moody

Making the Tigers starting XV was difficult however, as internationals Neil Back and Martin Corry took two of the three starting positions, with Paul Gustard and Will Johnson (younger brother of Martin) fighting for the remaining place.

Lewis Roberts-Thomson

Roberts-Thomson is a rarity in AFL as he grew up playing rugby union as a contemporary of Wallaby Phil Waugh at Sydney Church of England Grammar School.

Medallion Shield

It was reported in 1909 that discussions had taken place between Belfast Royal Academy, Campbell College, Methodist College and Royal Belfast Academical Institution about setting up a rugby junior competition for pupils with an age qualification given as under fifteen years of age on 1 November.

Melodie Robinson

Melodie Robinson (born 25 May 1973 in New Plymouth) is a New Zealand sports journalist and presenter, and former international rugby union player for the New Zealand women's national rugby union team.

Michael Scothern

With the ball he took his solitary first-class wicket when he had Cambridge captain Rob Andrew (who was to gain much greater fame in rugby union) lbw for 2.

Mike Watkins

Watkins resigned from international rugby in 1984, along with past Welsh captains, Eddie Butler and Gareth Davies.

New Zealand national under-20 rugby union team

Head Coach Chris Boyd, and his Assistant Coaches Chris Gibbes and Liam Barry have selected their New Zealand Under 20 squad to travel to France in June for the IRB Junior World Championship, following a selection camp and trial in Palmerston North.

Noel Agazarian

Noël Agazarian was schooled at Dulwich College, where he was a member of the first XV Rugby union team, captained both the swimming and boxing teams and was awarded the Victor Ludorum for sporting achievement.

Old Belvedere

Old Belvedere won the final of the 2011 All-Ireland League defeating Cork Constitution 20-17 on 1 May 2011.

Peter Beazley

In January 1981 he opposed a call for the Ireland national rugby union team to cancel a tour of South Africa on the grounds that multiracial Rugby was practised throughout South Africa.

Provinces of New Zealand

The districts are represented by teams in rugby union's ITM Cup and Heartland Championship, both of which replaced the National Provincial Championship.

Royal Indian Engineering College

In the 1870s, it produced a number of famous international players including Stephen Finney, Petley Price, W.C. Hutchinson, N.F. Macleod, and F.D. Fowler.

S4C Sport

Lion Colin Charvis depicted as Atlas with the world on his shoulders, Chris Wyatt struck the famous discus pose, while presenter Amanda Protheroe Thomas recreated a scene form Botticelli’s painting, The Birth of Venus (1486).

Scottish rugby union system

With the advent of professionalism in 1995 the Scottish Rugby Union decided that existing club sides would be unable to compete with their wealthier English and French counterparts in new cross-border tournaments such as the European Cup and Celtic League.

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, of Beauclerc

They had a large family, including John Scott, the eldest son who became the second Baronet of Beauclerc on the death of his father and Mason and William Martin Scott, England international rugby union players.

Southern Kings

! colspan=11 "?title=Rayno Benjamin">Rayno Benjamin, Kevin Buys, Michael Coetzee, Henry Grimes, Sivuyile Kobokana, Heinrich Stride, Michael Vermaak, Elgar Watts, Simon Westraadt and Gareth Wright were named in the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour squad, but not in the matchday 22.

Starfire Sports

Starfire features fields for indoor and outdoor soccer, and occasionally rugby union games, as well as a 4,500-seat soccer stadium previously used by the USL Seattle Sounders and now used by the MLS Seattle Sounders FC for US Open Cup matches, the Seattle Reign FC of the NWSL, and the Seattle Sounders Women of the W-League.

Sukuna Bowl

The Sukuna Bowl is an annual rugby union fixture that usually takes place in Suva, Fiji.

Testimonial match

Another high-profile charitable testimonial was that of England rugby player Martin Johnson, held at Twickenham on 4 June 2005.

The Circle, Kingston upon Hull

During the winter the Circle was a rugby union venue for Hull and East Riding RUFC, before its amalgamation with Ionians RUFC to form Hull Ionians, whom now play at Brantingham, East Riding of Yorkshire.

Toby Perkins

A former Chesterfield, Sheffield Tigers RUFC and Derbyshire Rugby Union player, he qualified as a rugby coach in 2006 and coached a junior team at Sheffield Tigers RUFC.

Tom Dorward

Thomas Fairgrieve Dorward (27 March 1916, Galashiels - 5 March 1941, Castle Bytham, Lincolnshire) also known as Tom or Tommy Dorward was a Scottish international rugby union player.

Tomaz Morais

Tomaz Eduardo Carvalho Morais (born in 6 April 1970 in Lobito, Angola) is a Portuguese rugby union coach and a former player.

Trinity Academicals RFC

Trinity Academicals RFC, nicknamed "Trinity" or "Trinity Accies" is a rugby union based in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland, originally for the former pupils of Trinity Academy, Edinburgh.

Two-legged tie

In rugby union, two-legged matches are used in the qualifying stages of the Rugby World Cup, and the semifinals of the Italian National Championship of Excellence are also two-legged.

Union Sportive Romanaise et Péageoise

L’Union sportive romanaise and péageoise is a French rugby union club based in Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme).


see also

Aboubakar Camara

Aboubakar Camara (born Bingerville, 26 December 1965) is a former Ivorian rugby union footballer and a current coach.

Alexander Pearson

Alexander William Pearson (born 1854), rugby union international who represented England

Andy Forsyth

Andrew Forsyth is an English rugby-union player, from Clayton West, Huddersfield, United Kingdom.

Army Navy Match

The Army Navy Match is the annual rugby union match played between the senior XV teams of the Royal Navy and British Army.

Benetton Treviso

Benetton Rugby Treviso, an Italian rugby union club that currently participates in the Magners League

Bert Solomon

He was a member of the Cornwall rugby union team, which on 26 October 1908 won the Olympic silver medal for Great Britain.

Binoche

Léon Binoche (1878–1962), French international rugby union player

Brockhoff

David Brockhoff (1928–2011), Australian rugby union identity a state and national representative

Canada national rugby team

Canada national rugby union team, represents Canada at rugby union, including at the Rugby World Cup

Charlie Hedley

He had been one of the pioneers who was barred from the amateur code when selected in the inaugural New South Wales professional rugby side who met Albert Baskiville's rebel All Golds when the arrived in Sydney in 1907 for a series played in rugby union rules.

Connecticut Yankees

Connecticut Yankees RFC, a rugby union team based in Norwalk, Connecticut

Dauncey

Bert Dauncey (1871–1955), Welsh international rugby union player

Edward Treharne

When Richard Mullock formed the first Welsh rugby union team in 1881, Treharne was one of the youngest members contacted to join the side.

George Taylforth

He attended Sydney Boys High School playing alongside 1991 World Cup Winning Australia rugby union coach Bob Dwyer and premiership winning St. George Dragons rugby-league halfback George Evans (1962, 1963, 1964, 1965).

Hong Kong-United Kingdom relations

Hong Kong is one of the annual host on Commonwealth sports calendar, the rugby union Hong Kong Sevens tournament at the Hong Kong Stadium every March, and the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes every late October.

Hueber

Aubin Hueber (born 1967), former French rugby union footballer and a current coach

Hugo Porta

He played football (soccer) and almost signed for Boca Juniors but then changed to rugby union, joining Banco Nación.

James Aitken

Jim Aitken (born 1947), British businessman and former Scotland international rugby union player

James Leckie

He has also refereed the rugby union final at the Commonwealth Games and a final at the Hong Kong Sevens.

James Ledbetter

For the Welsh rugby union player of a similar name see James Leadbeater

Jean-Claude Skrela

His son, David Skrela, is a French rugby union player and his daughter, Gaëlle Skrela, is a professional basketball player.

John Askew

In rugby union, Askew played club rugby for Durham City from 1925–31, Durham County from 1926–31, and Cambridge University from 1929–1931.

John Diggle

His son, Percy Robert Diggle, was a rugby union international, representing the Combined British on the 1910 RFU tour to Argentina, an early incarnation of the British and Irish Lions.

John Monro

Charles John Monro, credited with bringing rugby union to New Zealand

Krige

Corné Krige (born 1975), South African rugby union footballer

Lavinia Byrne

Her great-uncle, J. F. Byrne, captained Warwickshire in first-class cricket and was full back of the England rugby union team

Lobbe

Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe (born 19 November 1981), Argentine rugby union footballer

Massimo Bonomi

Massimo Bonomi (born Brescia, 22 June 1967) is a former Italian rugby union player and a sports manager.

Moneyglass

Willie John McBride, world famous Rugby Union player, capped for Ireland on 63 occasions, 12 as Captain, is a native of Moneyglass but now lives in Ballyclare.

North Harbour

North Harbour Rugby Union, the governing body for Rugby union in the North Harbour region of New Zealand

Northampton Demons

As soon as the rugby union season ended, training began for the newly formed team with 18 players attending the first session from local union clubs and the University of Northampton rugby league side.

Osler

Bennie Osler (1901–1962) South African rugby union footballer

Paddy Moran

Herbert Moran (1885–1945), Australian rugby union player, known as Paddy Moran

Ricardo Le Fort

Ricardo Agusto Le Fort (born San Miguel de Tucumán, 13 October 1965) is a former Argentine rugby union player.

Rocky Elsom

During that time he lived with fellow Bulldogs players including future test star Jonathan Thurston, Nate Myles, Roy Asotasi and dual-code international, Sonny Bill Williams, whom he would go onto meet on two occasions at test level in rugby union.

Rolland

Alain Rolland (born 1966), former Irish rugby union footballer and current international referee

Rugby union at the 1969 South Pacific Games

Rugby union at the 1969 South Pacific Games, currently known as the Pacific Games was hosted by Papua New Guinea at Port Moresby, the national capital.

Ryle Nugent

He is the resident rugby union commentator for RTÉ's television coverage of international and club competitions, such as the Six Nations Championship, Heineken Cup and Rugby World Cup.

Sandro Ceppolino

Alessandro Diego Ceppolino, known as Sandro Ceppolino (born Villa Ballester, 8 August 1974), is a former Argentine-born Italian rugby union player and a current coach.

Sébastien Bonetti

Sébastien Bonetti (born 22 September 1977 in Bergerac), is a French rugby union player.

Semi Radradra

In 2011, Radradra played for the Fiji National Rugby Union Sevens team in the 2011 IRB Sevens World Series.

Sid Deane

Born in North Sydney, he commenced his footballing career with Norths rugby union.

Stuart Wilson

Stu Wilson (born 1954), former New Zealand rugby union player

Thomas Lyle

Thomas Ranken Lyle (1860-1944), Irish physicist and rugby union international player

To’o Vaega

Vaega made his debut for Samoa against Wales on 14 June 1986, starting one of the longest international careers in modern rugby union history.

Toby L'Estrange

Toby L'Estrange (born September 2, 1988 in Berkely, California, United States) is a rugby union player who plays flyhalf for the United States national team.

Twelvetrees

Billy Twelvetrees (b. 1988), English professional rugby union footballer

V8 Ute Racing Series

Drivers have included former Australian NASCAR champion Kim Jane, actor George Elliot, country music singer Adam Brand, Television host Grant Denyer, driving instructor Gary Baxter, former Waratahs and Australian Sevens Rugby Union player Ben Dunn and former NRL Roosters player Jack Elsegood who is also the 2009 series champion former V8 Supercar drivers, Cameron McConville and Nathan Pretty.

William McBride

Willie John McBride (William James McBride, born 1940), former rugby union footballer