World Rugby facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
World Rugby

Formation	1886; 139 years ago (1886) (as the International Rugby Football Board)
Type	International sport federation
Headquarters	Dublin, Ireland
Region served	Worldwide
Membership	113 member unions 17 associated unions
Official languages	English French Italian Spanish
Chairman	Bill Beaumont
Vice-Chairman	Bernard Laporte
CEO	Alan Gilpin
Affiliations	International Olympic Committee
Formerly called	International Rugby Football Board (1886-1998) International Rugby Board (1998-2014)

World Rugby is the main organization that runs the sport of rugby union around the world. It's like the boss of rugby! World Rugby organizes the Rugby World Cup every four years. This is the biggest and most famous rugby competition. They also set up other big international games, like the World Rugby Sevens Series and the Rugby World Cup Sevens.

World Rugby's main office is in Dublin, Ireland. It has 120 national rugby groups as members. Each country's rugby group must also be part of one of the six regional groups. These regions cover Africa, North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and Oceania.

World Rugby started in 1886. Back then, it was called the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB). It was created by rugby groups from Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. England joined them a few years later in 1890. Over time, more countries joined, and the organization changed its name. In 1998, it became the International Rugby Board (IRB). Then, in November 2014, it got its current name, World Rugby. In 2009, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to add rugby sevens to the 2016 Summer Olympics. This was a big step for the sport!

How World Rugby Started

Before 1885, England made all the rules for rugby football because they were the first to play it. But after a disagreement in a game between Scotland and England in 1884, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales decided to create their own group. They wanted a fair way to agree on the rules of rugby.

These three nations met in Dublin in 1886. Then, on December 5, 1887, they met again in Manchester. Here, they wrote down the first four main ideas for the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB). England didn't want to join at first. They felt they should have more power because they had more rugby clubs. This led to the other countries refusing to play against England until they joined. Finally, in 1890, England joined the IRFB. They got six seats on the board, while the other groups had two each. That same year, the IRFB wrote the first official international rules for rugby union.

In 1893, a big problem came up: should players be paid or play for fun (amateurism)? This was called the "Great Schism." Some working-class players in Northern England were losing money from their jobs when they played on Saturdays. So, clubs started paying them for their lost work time. The IRFB looked into this, but many clubs warned that they would leave if players were punished. This debate led 22 top clubs to form a new group, the Northern Rugby Football Union. Their rules quickly became different, leading to a new sport called rugby league.

Over the years, more countries joined the IRFB. Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa became full members in 1949. France joined in 1978. Many more countries joined in the following decades. In 2016, Georgia, Romania, and the USA also got votes on the World Rugby Council.

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, World Rugby stopped Russia from playing in international rugby games. The Russian rugby group was also suspended from World Rugby.

The Rugby World Cup Idea

In the 1960s, some Australians suggested a World Rugby Championship. But the IRFB said no. Later, in 1983 and 1984, Australia and New Zealand suggested hosting such a tournament. The board then decided to study if it was possible. A year later, they voted on the idea. South Africa's vote was very important. They voted yes, even though they knew they couldn't play because of the boycott against their apartheid policies. England and Wales then changed their votes, and the idea won 10 to 6. This led to the creation of the Rugby World Cup!

Member Countries

As of November 2022, World Rugby has 108 full member countries and 21 associate member countries.

Becoming a member of World Rugby is a four-step process:

1. A country's rugby group first applies to be an associate member of its Regional Union.
2. After meeting all requirements, including one year as an associate, the group becomes a full member of its Regional Union.
3. After these steps, and two years as a full Regional Union member, the group can apply to be an Associate member of World Rugby. As an associate, they can play in World Rugby events but not the Rugby World Cup.
4. After two years as a World Rugby associate, the group can then apply to become a Full Member.

Regional Unions

Six regional groups work with World Rugby. They help grow rugby union and Rugby sevens around the world. Not all members of these regional groups are full World Rugby members. Here are the regions:

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Africa

Africa has 21 World Rugby members and 6 associate members.

Suspended unions:

• Nigeria

Notes:

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Asia

Asia has 22 World Rugby members and 6 associate members.

Notes:

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Europe

Europe has 38 World Rugby members and 2 associate members.

Suspended unions:

• Greece
• Russia

Notes:

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North America

North America has 12 World Rugby members and 1 associate member.

Notes:

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South America

South America has 9 World Rugby members and 2 associate members.

Notes:

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Oceania

Oceania has 11 World Rugby members.

How Many People Play Rugby?

World Rugby's biggest members, based on how many people played rugby in 2019, are:

How World Rugby is Run

The Council

The World Rugby Council meets twice a year. It manages and controls everything World Rugby does. The Council plans how World Rugby will grow and makes important decisions. It also chooses where the Rugby World Cup will be held. The Council can accept new member countries or remove old ones. It is the highest law-making body for World Rugby. Most decisions need a simple majority vote. But to change the main rules or laws of the game, three-quarters of the council must agree.

Before 2016, the council had 28 voting members from 12 national groups. In November 2015, World Rugby decided to add more groups to the council. They also gave the six regional groups two votes each.

As of As of October 2023^[update], the council has 52 members. This includes the chairman, who doesn't vote. So, there are 51 voting members from 17 national groups and 6 regional groups. Here's how the votes are shared:

• (33) Eleven groups have three votes each: Argentina, Australia, England, France, Japan, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales.
• (6) Six groups have one vote each: Canada, Georgia, Samoa, Romania, United States, and Uruguay.
• (12) The six regional groups (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Oceania) have two votes each.

In total, Europe has 22 votes, Oceania has 9, South America has 6, Africa has 5, Asia has 5, and North America has 4.

A Chairman and Vice Chairman are chosen from the council members. Currently, Bill Beaumont from England is the Chairman, and Bernard Laporte from France is the Vice-Chairman. They were elected in as of April 2020^[update].

Executive Committee

The executive committee makes sure World Rugby is managed well every day. This committee plans and checks the progress of World Rugby's goals, business plans, and budget. In 2016, the executive committee grew to 12 members. It includes the Chairman, Vice-chairman, nine elected officials (two of whom are independent), and the Chief Executive.

Leadership

The Chairman and Vice-Chairman of World Rugby are chosen by the council. The current chairman is Bill Beaumont. He used to be the president of the Rugby Football Union (RFU). He became chairman on July 1, 2016.

Past chairmen include Bernard Lapasset (2008 to 2016), Syd Millar (2002 to 2007), and Vernon Pugh, QC (1994 to 2002).

In July 2012, Brett Gosper became the new Chief Executive. He left this job at the end of 2020.

Funding Rugby Around the World

In 2013, World Rugby gave £18.6 million over three years to help rugby grow in Canada, the United States, Japan, Romania, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. Argentina also got extra help to stay a top-tier rugby nation. This money came from successful World Cups. It was given out after a report showed a growing gap between top-tier and lower-tier rugby nations. This funding is in addition to the £10–12 million they usually give for grants and tournament costs. The money focuses on improving rugby facilities, training top players, and setting up international competitions. In 2006, Georgia, Portugal, Tunisia, and Russia were chosen for special investment to help them become more competitive in international rugby.

Rugby Tournaments

Rugby World Cups

World Rugby organizes the Rugby World Cup. This is the most famous and profitable rugby competition. It has been held every four years since 1987. Most of the money and viewers for the World Cup come from a few countries. For example, in the 2007 Rugby World Cup final, 87% of viewers were from England, France, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. Only 2% were from all other countries combined.

The most recent Rugby World Cup was in France in 2023. South Africa beat New Zealand 12–11 in the final. This was South Africa's fourth title, a new record!

World Rugby also organizes the women's Rugby World Cup, also held every four years. World Rugby first ran it in 1998. However, earlier tournaments in 1991 and 1994 were later officially recognized. The women's World Cup has fewer teams than the men's. Only the 1998 and 2002 events had more than 12 teams (they had 16), compared to 20 teams in the men's World Cup.

On August 21, 2019, World Rugby announced that all future men's and women's World Cups would simply be called "Rugby World Cup." They would no longer use "men's" or "women's" in the official name. The first tournament to follow this rule was the 2021 women's World Cup in New Zealand.

Sevens Rugby

World Rugby used to organize two yearly Sevens Series (one for men and one for women). These are now finished. However, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, which happens every four years, is still active.

The men's yearly Sevens Series had 10 events in different countries. The women's Sevens Series had five or six events. In both, teams earned points based on how well they did in each event. The team with the most points at the end was the champion. When rugby sevens was added to the Olympics, the series before an Olympic year became part of the qualification process. The top four teams from both the men's and women's series would qualify for the Olympics. Other teams would compete in regional events for the remaining spots.

The Rugby World Cup Sevens includes both men's and women's tournaments. It was originally going to stop after rugby sevens joined the Olympics. But it was decided to keep it. This is because it includes many more teams than the Olympics. Also, the tournament was moved to create a better schedule, with major sevens events happening every two years. The most recent tournament was the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco, USA. New Zealand won both the men's and women's competitions there.

SVNS Series

In 2023, World Rugby changed the name of the Sevens series to the new World Rugby SVNS Series, also known as the HSBC SVNS. This new format will feature the top twelve men's and women's teams. It will end with a Grand Final weekend where the top eight teams will compete to be crowned Series champions. Teams ranked ninth to twelfth will play against the top four teams from a new Challenger Series. This play-off will decide who stays in the main series for the 2024-2025 season. Both men's and women's teams will earn the same amount of money. They will play in combined tournaments in eight cities worldwide. These events will start in December 2023 in Dubai, then go to Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore, and finish in Madrid in June 2024. The tournament aims to have a fun, festival-like atmosphere and will help prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Developing Competitions

World Rugby also organizes yearly international games for Tier 2 nations (countries that are not in the very top group).

• Pacific Nations Cup: This has been played every year since 2006. Teams from Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga currently compete. In the past, teams from Japan, Georgia, Canada, and the United States have also played.
• Pacific Challenge: This competition is for the "A" teams (second-tier teams) from Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. More recently, Junior Japan, Canada A, and Argentina's Pampas XV have also joined.
• Americas Rugby Championship: The current version includes Argentina's "A" team (called Argentina XV) and the main national teams of Brazil, Canada, Chile, Uruguay, and the USA.

Junior Competitions

World Rugby organizes two competitions for national teams made up of players under 20 years old: the World Rugby Under 20 Championship and the World Rugby Under 20 Trophy. These competitions were created when the under-19 and under-21 teams were combined into one under-20 age group.

Current Champions

Tournament	World Champions	Year
Rugby World Cup	South Africa	2023
Women's Rugby World Cup	New Zealand	2021
World Rugby Sevens Series	New Zealand	2022–23
World Rugby Women's Sevens Series	New Zealand	2022–23
World Rugby SVNS Series		2023–24
Rugby World Cup Sevens	Fiji (men)	2022
	Australia (women)
World Rugby Under 20 Championship	France	2023
World Rugby Under 20 Trophy	Spain	2023

Rugby at the Olympics

Rugby union has been played at the Summer Olympics four times. The last time was in 1924, when the U.S. team won. Rugby union then appeared once more as a demonstration sport before being removed. World Rugby has been very eager to bring it back to the Games. They believe rugby sevens meets all the rules for Olympic sports.

The main challenge for bringing the 15-player rugby game back to the Olympics is that players need 7 days of rest between games. The Olympics only last 16 days, which makes it impossible to fit in a 15s tournament. This problem doesn't apply to sevens rugby, as games are much shorter (14 minutes). All the events in the current men's and women's Sevens Series, which have many teams, are finished in just one weekend.

To help bring rugby back, World Rugby became an International Olympic Committee Recognized International Federation in 1995. This was a big step!

World Rugby highlights that rugby union is played by men in over 100 countries and by women in over 50. They also follow the World Anti-Doping Code. Plus, a rugby sevens tournament can usually be held in one stadium and is not too expensive to play. The sevens game is very popular, not just in the Sevens World Series and World Cup Sevens, but also at the Commonwealth Games. The sevens tournament at the 2006 Games in Melbourne set attendance records!

Because of all this, World Rugby asked the International Olympic Committee to include a Sevens tournament in the Olympics. Sevens was accepted and first played in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. Fiji won the men's competition, and Australia won the women's. In the Tokyo Olympics 2020, the Fiji men's team and the New Zealand women's team won the gold medals.

Rules and Regulations

The rules of rugby union are managed by a special Laws Committee, set up by the World Rugby Council. The current chairman of this committee is Bill Beaumont. World Rugby creates the official rules of the game, and then national rugby groups share them. The rules are written in English, French, Russian, and Spanish. There are also slightly different rules for under-19 and Sevens rugby. In total, there are 21 regulations covering things like player eligibility, advertising, discipline, and anti-doping. World Rugby also approves equipment, which is tested at special labs.

Anti-Doping Efforts

World Rugby follows the rules of the WADA code. Their anti-doping program includes testing players at different levels, from under-19 and under-21 to sevens and senior 15-a-side games. Testing happens during World Rugby events and also outside of competitions. Players might be tested at a specific one-hour time slot they choose. In 2003, about 3,000 tests were done by World Rugby member groups. "Keep Rugby Clean" is a campaign by World Rugby to promote clean sport. Famous players like Brian O'Driscoll support this program.

World Rankings

How Rankings Work

World Rugby publishes and updates the World Rugby Rankings for men's and women's national rugby union teams. This system started in October 2003, at the beginning of that year's World Cup in Australia. The rankings use a "Points Exchange" system. This means teams gain or lose points from each other based on game results. Many years of research went into creating this system, using a huge database of international matches going back to 1871.

The system is reliable because it predicts current team strength and reacts to changes in how teams are playing. It also considers "home advantage." The home team is treated as if they have three extra rating points. This means they earn fewer points for a win and lose more points if they lose. There's also a limit to how many points a team can gain or lose from one game, even if there's a surprising result.

If a country doesn't play for several years, they are considered "dormant" and removed from the rankings. When they return, they pick up where they left off. If countries merge or split, the new group gets the highest ranking of any of the original groups.

Currently, all official international matches count equally, whether they are part of a competition or just friendly games. The only exception is the World Cup final tournament, which has a special weighting.

Awards and Recognitions

The World Rugby Awards started in 2001 to celebrate amazing achievements in rugby union. Before 2009, all awards were given out at one yearly event. The last such event was in London on November 23, 2008.

However, because of the Great Recession, only the International Player, Team, and Coach of the Year Awards were given out at the main ceremony in 2009 and 2010. Other awards were given at different times. World Rugby brought back a single year-end ceremony in 2011 after the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Since then, some awards are given at special times, like Sevens awards after the London Sevens (the last event of the Sevens World Series), and the Junior Player award after the Junior World Championship final. Most awards are still given at the year-end ceremony.

The current awards are:

• World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year
• World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year
• World Rugby Men’s Sevens Player of the Year
• World Rugby Women's Sevens Player of the Year
• World Rugby Junior Player of the Year
• Vernon Pugh Award for Distinguished Service
• World Rugby Coach of the Year
• World Rugby Men’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year
• World Rugby Women’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year
• World Rugby Referee Award
• World Rugby Women's 15s Dream Team of the Year
• World Rugby Men's 15s Dream Team of the Year
• World Rugby Team of the Year

At the year-end ceremony, the International Rugby Players' Association also gives out these awards:

• IRP Men's Try of the Year
• IRP Women's Try of the Year
• IRP Special Merit Award

In the past, these awards were also given:

• IRB International U21 Player of the Year
• IRB Under 19 Player of the Year
• IRB Chairman's Award
• IRB Development Award
• IRB Spirit of Rugby Award

The awards that recognize achievements from the past year are usually won by the most successful country that season. For example, France in 2002, England in 2003, South Africa in 2004, New Zealand in 2005, and South Africa again in 2007. For awards with nominees, a group of independent judges (all former international players) creates a shortlist. Then, the panel meets again to choose a winner. The current judges include famous players like Jonathan Davies and Will Greenwood. Together, the judges have played in over 500 international games!

In 2006, a Hall of Fame was started. It celebrates the achievements and special contributions of players, coaches, officials, and others in rugby. The first people to be honored in the Hall of Fame in 2006 were William Webb Ellis (who supposedly invented rugby) and Rugby School (where the game began). In 2007, Pierre de Coubertin (founder of the modern Olympics) and Gareth Edwards (a famous player) were inducted. Since then, new members have been added every year, except in 2010.

Since 2011, induction ceremonies have been held in different places around the world. Also, some inductions have had a special theme. For example, in 2009, the theme was about Lions tours to South Africa. All the people inducted were either Lions or Springboks players.

See also

In Spanish: World Rugby para niños