World Rugby
World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup.
World Rugby's headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland. Its membership now comprises 133 national unions. Each member country must also be a member of one of the six regional unions into which the world is divided: Africa, North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and Oceania.
World Rugby was founded as the International Rugby Football Board in 1886 by, and, with joining in 1890., and became full members in 1949. became a member in 1978 and a further 80 members joined from 1987 to 1999. The body was renamed the International Rugby Board in 1998, and took up its current name of World Rugby in November 2014. In 2009, the International Olympic Committee voted to include rugby sevens in the 2016 Summer Olympics. World Rugby gained membership of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations in 2010.
History
Until 1885 the laws of rugby football were made by England as the founder nation. However, following a disputed try in an international between Scotland and England in 1884, letters were exchanged in which England claimed that they made the laws, and the try should stand. Scotland refused to play England in the 1885 Home Nations Championship. Following the dispute, the home unions of Scotland, Ireland and Wales decided to form an international union whose membership would agree on the standard rules of rugby football. The three nations met in Dublin in 1886, though no formal regulations were agreed upon.On 5 December 1887, committee members of the Irish Rugby Football Union, Scottish Rugby Union and Welsh Rugby Union met in Manchester and wrote up the first four principles of the International Rugby Football Board. England refused to take part in the founding of the IRFB, stating that they should have greater representation, as they had more clubs. The England Union also refused to accept the IRFB as the recognised lawmaker of the game. This led to the IRFB taking the stance of member countries not playing England until they joined, and no games were played against England in 1888 and 1889. In 1890 England joined the IRFB, gaining six seats while the other unions had two each. The same year, the IRFB wrote the first international laws of rugby union.
In 1893, the IRFB was faced with the divide between amateurism and professionalism, which was nicknamed the "Great Schism". Following the introduction of working-class men to the game in Northern England, clubs began paying "broken time" payments to players, due to the loss of earnings from playing on a Saturday. Cumberland County Union also complained of another club using monetary incentives to lure players, leading to the IRFB conducting an enquiry. The IRFB was warned by all the chief clubs in Lancashire and Yorkshire that any punishment would lead to the clubs seceding from the union. The debate over broken time payments ultimately caused the 22 leading clubs in Yorkshire and Lancashire to form the Northern Rugby Football Union. The competing unions' laws of the game diverged almost immediately; the northern body's code eventually became known as rugby league football.
England's seats on the IRFB were reduced from six to four in 1911. The Australian Rugby Union, New Zealand Rugby Football Union and South African Rugby Board joined the board with one seat each in 1948, with England's seats being reduced to two, the same as the other home nations. The three Southern Hemisphere unions were given a second seat each in 1958. The French Rugby Federation was admitted in 1978, the Argentine Rugby Union, Italian Rugby Federation and USA Rugby Football Union in 1987, and the Canadian Rugby Union, and Japan Rugby Football Union were admitted in 1991. In 2016, the Georgia Rugby Union, Romanian Rugby Federation, and the USA were added to the voting Council with one vote each. Additionally, current Council members Argentina, Canada and Italy were granted a second representative and vote. The six regional associations represented on the council also received an additional vote.
After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, World Rugby suspended Russia from international and European continental rugby union competition. In addition, the Rugby Union of Russia was suspended from World Rugby.
Rugby World Cup
In the 1960s Australians Harold Tolhurst and Jock Kellaher suggested a World Rugby Championship be held in Australia but the IRFB refused. In 1983 and 1984 respectively, the Australian and New Zealand Rugby Football Unions each proposed hosting such a tournament. The following year the board committed to conduct a feasibility study. A year later another meeting took place in Paris, and the Union subsequently voted on the idea. The South African Rugby Board's vote that proved crucial in setting up a tied vote, as they voted in favour, even though they knew they would be excluded due to the sporting boycott because of their apartheid policies. English and Welsh votes then changed, and the vote was won 10 to 6.Member unions
As at June 2024, World Rugby has 113 member unions and 17 associate member unions.Membership of World Rugby is a four-step process:
- A Union must apply to become an associate member of its Regional Union
- After all membership criteria are met, including one year as an associate member, the Union is admitted to the Regional Union as a full member
- After completion of stages 1 and 2, and two years as a full member of a Regional Union, the Union may then apply to become an Associate member of World Rugby. As an associate member, the union can participate in World Rugby funded tournaments but not the Rugby World Cup
- Following two years of associate membership of World Rugby, the union may then apply to become a Full Member
Six regional associations, which represent each continent, are affiliated with World Rugby and help to develop the fifteen-a-side game as well as Rugby sevens across the world. Not all members of the regional associations are members of World Rugby. Below is a list of member and associate unions and their regional associations with the year that they joined World Rugby. Associate unions are in italics.
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Africa
There are 21 World Rugby members and 6 World Rugby associates:Suspended unions:
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Asia
There are 22 World Rugby members, and 6 World Rugby associates:Notes:
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Europe
There are 37 World Rugby members, and 4 World Rugby associates:Suspended unions:
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North America
There are 12 World Rugby members, and 1 World Rugby associate:Notes:
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Oceania
There are 11 World Rugby members:----
South America
There are 9 World Rugby members, and 2 World Rugby associates:Notes:
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Participation figures
World Rugby's largest members, ranked by number of participants in 2019, are:Governance
Council
The World Rugby Council meets twice a year and manages and controls the affairs of World Rugby. The Council formulates and oversees the implementation of World Rugby's strategic plan and application of policy decisions, and selects the host nation for the Rugby World Cup. The Council considers recommendations of the General Assembly. The Council may admit or expel member nations. The council is also the supreme legislative authority of World Rugby. Most Council decisions require approval of simple majority, but to amend the World Rugby's by-laws, regulations, or the Laws of the Game requires approval of three quarters of the council.Prior to 2016, the council had 28 voting members from 12 national unions. In November 2015, World Rugby announced that they would add more unions to the voting council and give the six regional associations two votes each on the council.
, the council had 52 members including the non-voting chairman, so there were 51 voting members from 17 national unions and 6 regional associations, allocated as follows:
- Eleven unions with three votes each:,,,,,,,,,, and.
- Six unions with one vote each:,,,, and.
- The six regional associations representing Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania with two votes each.
A Chairman and Vice Chairman are elected from among the council members. These positions are held by Bill Beaumont of England and Bernard Laporte of France, respectively, elected.
Executive committee
The executive committee, in accordance with bye-laws 9.14–9.16, ensures the effective management and operation of the World Rugby. The Committee formulates and monitors the implementation of the World Rugby's strategic plan, business plan, operational plan and budget.In 2016, as part of the reforms to the World Rugby Council, the executive committee was increased to 12 members. The Chairman, Vice-chairman, nine elected officials, including two independent members, and the Chief Executive sit on the World Rugby Executive Committee.