18 Facts About Rugby Union

Rugby Union'storically rugby union was an amateur sport, but in 1995 formal restrictions on payments to players were removed, making the game openly professional at the highest level for the first time.

Rugby Union Sevens was introduced into the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and was added to the Olympic Games of 2016.

Unlike association football, where on-field advertising is strictly forbidden in the laws, World Rugby Union allows sponsors logos to be painted on the playing surface.

Rugby Union goalposts are H-shaped and are situated in the middle of the goal lines at each end of the field.

In 2016, World Rugby Union changed the law so that substitutions made to replace a player deemed unable to continue due to foul play by the opposition would no longer count against the match limit.

Related searches

Rugby Union boots have soles with studs to allow grip on the turf of the pitch.

Rugby Union club was formed in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1864; while the sport was said to have been introduced to New Zealand by Charles Monro in 1870, who played rugby while a student at Christ's College, Finchley.

Rugby Union was first played in Fiji circa 1884 by European and Fijian soldiers of the Native Constabulary at Ba on Viti Levu island.

Major League Rugby is the professional Rugby union competition in the US and Canada.

Rugby Union had been played in Brazil since the end of the 19th century, but the game was played regularly only from 1926, when Sao Paulo beat Santos in an inter-city match.

Super Liga Americana de Rugby is the professional Rugby union competition in South America.

Major international competitions are the Six Nations Championship and The Rugby Union Championship, held in Europe and the Southern Hemisphere respectively.

Rugby Union Championship is the Southern Hemisphere's annual international series for that region's top national teams.

Since Argentina's strong performances in the 2007 World Cup, after the 2009 Tri Nations tournament, SANZAR invited the Argentine Rugby Union to join an expanded Four Nations tournament in 2012.

Rugby Union sevens has been played at the Commonwealth Games since the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Tag Rugby Union is a version in which the players wear a belt with two tags attached by velcro, the removal of either counting as a 'tackle'.

Rugby Union lends its name to wheelchair rugby, a full-contact sport which contains elements of rugby such as crossing a try line with the ball to score.

Thomas Hughes 1857 novel Tom Brown's Schooldays, set at Rugby Union School, includes a rugby football match, portrayed in the 1940s film of the same name.