Welsh Rugby Union
The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU, Wal. Undeb Rygbi Cymru ) is the sports association responsible for rugby union in Wales . It was founded in 1881 and has been a member of the International Rugby Board since 1886 .
tasks
WRU is responsible for the operation of the game in the various Welsh leagues, the supervision of 293 clubs (around 70,000 licensed players in total), the Welsh national team and the training of coaches, referees and players. The association also owns the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff .
The Association is owned by four franchises in the Pro12 , covering a specific geographical area. These are the Cardiff Blues , the Scarlets , the Newport Gwent Dragons and the Ospreys . Each of these teams may at any time include players in their squad who are under contract with clubs in their assigned territory.
history
The first Welsh association was the South Wales Football Union (SWFU), founded in 1878 . Their task was to better organize the game and to set up a team for international matches. On February 19, 1881, a game of the SWFU selection against the English national team took place. After the clear defeat of the Welsh, those in charge realized that a better organizational structure was necessary.
When exactly the WRU was founded is controversial. In March 1880 representatives of nine clubs are said to have met at the Tenby Hotel in Swansea with the intention of forming an association. However, there are no minutes of this meeting. The more likely date of foundation is March 12, 1881, when representatives of eleven clubs met at the Castle Hotel in Neath . The founding clubs of the Welsh Football Union (as the association was then called) were Swansea RFC, Pontypool RFC, Newport RFC, Merthyr RFC, Llanelli RFC, Bangor RFC, Brecon RFC, Cardiff RFC, Lampeter RFC, Llandovery RFC and Llandeilo RFC. Curiously, no representative from Neath RFC, the oldest Welsh association, was present at the meeting, even though it was held in Neath.
In 1886 the association was one of the founding members of the world association International Rugby Board . In 1934 the name was changed to Welsh Rugby Union. The WRU joined the European continental association FIRA-AER in 1999 .