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Rugby union in Wales
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Rugby union in Wales
Rugby union in Wales is considered a large part of Welsh national culture. Wales has the largest proportion of rugby union supporters in Europe with 44% of the people liking the sport, making it the most popular sport in Wales.
Rugby union is thought to have reached Wales in the 1850s, with the national body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) being formed in 1881. Wales are considered to be one of the most successful national sides in Rugby Union, having won the most Six Nations Championships after England, as well as having reached 3 World Cup semi finals in 1987, 2011 and 2019, having finished 3rd in the inaugural competition and having finished 4th in 2011 in a repeat of the first third place play-off. The Welsh team of the 1970s is considered to be one of the greatest national teams of all time. As of February 2025, they are ranked 12th in the world.
The Wales national team play at the WRU-owned Principality Stadium, and compete annually in the Six Nations Championship, as well as having competed at every Rugby World Cup. Wales are ranked as a tier-1 nation by World Rugby. Wales also competes as one of the 15 "core teams" in the annual World Rugby Sevens Series, and won the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens.
The main domestic competition in Wales is the United Rugby Championship (formerly called Pro 14, and before that the Celtic League). Four regional sides (Ospreys, Cardiff, Scarlets, and Dragons) represent Wales in the competition, which also includes sides from Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and South Africa. The regional sides also compete in the Europe-wide European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup.
Beneath the URC, club rugby is represented by over 200 WRU affiliated clubs who play in the Welsh Premier Division and the lower Welsh Divisional leagues. Prominent clubs include Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Llanelli, Bridgend, Neath, Pontypool, Pontypridd, and England-based London Welsh.
As of February 2019 the Welsh Rugby Union are reviewing the number of regions, with potential consolidation for funding two or three super teams.
Rugby-like games have a long history in Wales, with games such as cnapan being played for centuries. Rugby seems to have reached Wales in 1850, when the Reverend Professor Rowland Williams brought the game with him from Cambridge to St. David's College, Lampeter, which fielded the first Welsh rugby team that same year.
Rugby initially expanded in Wales through ex-pupils of the Welsh colleges settling, or students from English colleges and universities returning to the larger industrial hubs of South Wales. This is reflected in the first clubs to embrace the sport in the early to mid-1870s, with Neath RFC widely recognised as the first Welsh club. The strength of Welsh rugby developed over the following years, which could be attributed to the 'big four' South Wales clubs of Newport (who lost only seven games under the captaincy of Llewellyn Lloyd between the 1900/01 and 1902/03 seasons), Cardiff, Llanelli (who lost just twice in 1894 and 1895) and Swansea. With the coming of industrialisation and the railways, rugby too was spread as workers from the main cities brought the game to the new steel and coal towns of south Wales. Merthyr formed in 1876, Brecon in 1874, Penygraig in 1877; as the towns adopted the new sport they reflected the growth and expansion of a new industrial Wales.
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Rugby union in Wales
Rugby union in Wales is considered a large part of Welsh national culture. Wales has the largest proportion of rugby union supporters in Europe with 44% of the people liking the sport, making it the most popular sport in Wales.
Rugby union is thought to have reached Wales in the 1850s, with the national body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) being formed in 1881. Wales are considered to be one of the most successful national sides in Rugby Union, having won the most Six Nations Championships after England, as well as having reached 3 World Cup semi finals in 1987, 2011 and 2019, having finished 3rd in the inaugural competition and having finished 4th in 2011 in a repeat of the first third place play-off. The Welsh team of the 1970s is considered to be one of the greatest national teams of all time. As of February 2025, they are ranked 12th in the world.
The Wales national team play at the WRU-owned Principality Stadium, and compete annually in the Six Nations Championship, as well as having competed at every Rugby World Cup. Wales are ranked as a tier-1 nation by World Rugby. Wales also competes as one of the 15 "core teams" in the annual World Rugby Sevens Series, and won the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens.
The main domestic competition in Wales is the United Rugby Championship (formerly called Pro 14, and before that the Celtic League). Four regional sides (Ospreys, Cardiff, Scarlets, and Dragons) represent Wales in the competition, which also includes sides from Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and South Africa. The regional sides also compete in the Europe-wide European Rugby Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup.
Beneath the URC, club rugby is represented by over 200 WRU affiliated clubs who play in the Welsh Premier Division and the lower Welsh Divisional leagues. Prominent clubs include Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Llanelli, Bridgend, Neath, Pontypool, Pontypridd, and England-based London Welsh.
As of February 2019 the Welsh Rugby Union are reviewing the number of regions, with potential consolidation for funding two or three super teams.
Rugby-like games have a long history in Wales, with games such as cnapan being played for centuries. Rugby seems to have reached Wales in 1850, when the Reverend Professor Rowland Williams brought the game with him from Cambridge to St. David's College, Lampeter, which fielded the first Welsh rugby team that same year.
Rugby initially expanded in Wales through ex-pupils of the Welsh colleges settling, or students from English colleges and universities returning to the larger industrial hubs of South Wales. This is reflected in the first clubs to embrace the sport in the early to mid-1870s, with Neath RFC widely recognised as the first Welsh club. The strength of Welsh rugby developed over the following years, which could be attributed to the 'big four' South Wales clubs of Newport (who lost only seven games under the captaincy of Llewellyn Lloyd between the 1900/01 and 1902/03 seasons), Cardiff, Llanelli (who lost just twice in 1894 and 1895) and Swansea. With the coming of industrialisation and the railways, rugby too was spread as workers from the main cities brought the game to the new steel and coal towns of south Wales. Merthyr formed in 1876, Brecon in 1874, Penygraig in 1877; as the towns adopted the new sport they reflected the growth and expansion of a new industrial Wales.
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