Culture
Play Style
The first rugby club in Ireland was founded at Dublin University in 1854, the team mainly consisted of students who had studied at English public schools, but the new sport quickly built popularity. 25 years later in 1879 the two unions of north and south Ireland united to create the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). The IRFU divided Ireland into 3 dominions Leinster, Munster, Ulster, and much later Connacht joined as well. There are 206 clubs spread throughout these four provinces, the largest being Leinster with 71, each dominion has their own respective rugby roots and history, but all have stories of success and bitter rivalry. Ireland is a sporting nation, whilst rugby may not be as large in Ireland as local sports such as Gaelic football and hurling, it still manages to bring together some of the most passionate supporters in Europe. One advantage rugby has over local sports is the international scene, Gaelic football and Hurling are not big international sports, whereas rugby allows the Irish to get one over on their old foe England in a friendly sort of way.
Irish rugby is one of the most entertaining affairs of European rugby because of the sheer passion, emotion and atmosphere of the crowd during the game. To help this there are a multitude of talented Irish rugby players that have graduated from a tried and tested development system, which shows players the step up to international when they play rival European clubs from France, Scotland, England, Wales, and Italy. Since 2013 Ireland have employed New Zealander Joe Schmidt, with Schmidt at the helm Ireland play a much more expansive game of rugby, their forwards are used to dominate the possession by being a constant nuisance at the ruck whilst the backs take control of territory by building phases down field.
Fast Facts:
Players: 177,604
RWC Results: Quarters 1987, 1991, 1995, 2003, 2011 second in pool 1999, third in Pool 2007
Best Result 2014: Vs. Wales 26-3
IRB Worl Ranking: 5th with 83.34 points
Coach: Joe Schmidt Captain: Jamie Heaslip
Deek Ay