Irish Rugby Football Union

The Irish Rugby Football Union ( IRFU, Irish Cumann na hÉireann Rugbaí ) is the national sport association for Rugby Union the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Headquartered in Lansdowne Road in Dublin, the home games will be played at the Aviva Stadium the common Irish national team. In addition, other stadiums are owned by the IRFU ( Ravenhill Stadium in Belfast and Thomond Park in Limerick ), which are leased to various clubs.

In Ireland, there are approximately 86,500 licensed players. The clubs are divided into four provincial associations: 19 in Connacht, 71 in Leinster, 59 in Munster and 56 in Ulster. Each regional association is a team that is represented in the professional Celtic League and participates in the European cup competitions. These are Connacht Rugby, Leinster Rugby, Munster Rugby and Ulster Rugby. In addition, rugby is played at 246 schools ( 107 in Ulster, 75 in Leinster, 41 in Munster and in Connacht 23 ).

History

Originally there were two organizations, both of which were founded in 1874. The Irish Football Union was responsible for the clubs in Leinster, Munster and parts of Ulster, the Northern Football Union of Ireland in the region around Belfast. Both organizations merged in 1879 to the IRFU and it formed province associations in Leinster, Munster and Ulster. The Provincial Association Connacht was added in 1886.

After the political division of the island in the Republic of Ireland ( the first Irish Free State ) and Northern Ireland (which still belongs to the United Kingdom ), the IRFU decided that it would be responsible for all 32 Irish counties continue. This meant that players from two countries belong to the national team.

In order to maintain the unity of the Irish Rugby Union and the relations between North and South, the IRFU bought in 1923 new premises in Belfast's Ravenhill area. The last for more than fifty years international match in Belfast took place on 24 February 1954. As the stadium was closed at Lansdowne Road for renovation, an international match of the Irish national was held ( against Italy ) in August 2007 in Belfast again.

In the 1880s, the four provincial associations organized for the first time cup competitions. Although these are still being held, they are no longer of great importance. The main reasons are the introduction of the All-Ireland League the best 50 club teams in 1990 and the introduction of the professional Celtic League in 2001.