Rugby Union in Wales
Rugby Union is considered the national sport of Wales . The first games were played around 1850 and the Welsh Rugby Union was founded in 1881. The most important competition is the professional Pro14 , in which teams from Wales, Scotland , Ireland , Italy and South Africa are represented. Welsh teams take part in the Anglo-Welsh Cup together with Englishteams. The Welsh national team is one of the most successful in the world; she is involved in the annual Six Nations tournamentand came third at the 1987 World Cup .
history
Cnapan , a rugby-like game, was played in Wales as early as the Middle Ages. The beginnings of rugby union in Wales go back to the year 1850, after Rowlands Rowland Williams met the game in Cambridge and introduced the game at St. David's College in Lampeter (now part of the University of Wales ). Although numerous clubs had existed since the mid-1870s, the Welsh Football Union (later Welsh Rugby Union ) was not founded until 1881. The first international match took place in the same year.
Competitions
The highest rugby union league in Wales is Pro14 , which is considered the third most important league in Europe in terms of importance. It consists of twelve professional teams from Wales, Ireland and Scotland . Wales has four teams, the Cardiff Blues , the Newport Gwent Dragons , the Scarlets and the Ospreys . They are organized on the basis of franchises awarded by the association.
The most important competition for the traditional club teams is the Welsh Premier Division , which comprises 14 semi-professional teams. Players from these clubs can be called up at any time in the squad of the Pro14 team assigned to them. Below the Premier Division, there are six other leagues for amateurs, which are divided into regional groups.
The European Rugby Champions Cup is the higher of the two European cup competitions. Teams from England , France , Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy are represented . The second European Cup is the European Rugby Challenge Cup , in which Romanian and Russian teams also take part.
National team
The Welsh national team is the second most successful in the traditional Six Nations tournament . She has won the tournament 39 times so far, reaching twelve Grand Slams and 21 Triple Crowns .
The Welshman's best result at world championships is third place at the first edition in 1987. The team is one of the top ten of a total of over 100 teams in the world rugby world rankings . The home games are almost exclusively in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff held, in 1999, the traditional venue Cardiff Arms Park replaced. Every four years the British and Irish Lions go on tour, a team with players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.