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40-540: The competition was replaced by the Anglo-Welsh Cup , involving 4 Welsh regional sides in addition to the 12 English Premiership clubs, beginning with the 2005–06 season. The RFU had long resisted national competitions as it was thought that they would encourage player payments. Thus, most club matches were only organised friendlies, with competitions such as the County Cups being the highest honours

80-518: A World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year award. England men's senior team England women's senior team England men's under-20 England men's sevens Premiership Rugby is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership consists of ten clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby union system . Premiership clubs qualify for Europe's two main club competitions,

120-487: A club could win. The County Championship , established in 1889, was the only national competition for 82 years. The first competition took place in the 1971–72 season, where Gloucester defeated Moseley in the final 17–6, to become the inaugural champions. Coventry RFC won two titles in succession in 1973 and 1974, followed by Bedford's championship win in 1975. The competition gained its first sponsor in tobacco firm John Player & Sons in 1976. Gosforth won

160-896: A code of practice as various clubs play to rules which differ from others, which makes the game difficult to play". On 26 January 1871 a meeting attended by representatives from 21 clubs was held in London at the Pall Mall Restaurant on Regent Street . The 21 clubs present at the meeting were: Blackheath (represented by Burns and Frederick Stokes , the latter becoming the first captain of England ), Richmond , Ravenscourt Park , West Kent , Marlborough Nomads , Wimbledon Hornets , Gipsies , Civil Service , The Law Club , Wellington College , Guy's Hospital , Flamingoes , Clapham Rovers , Harlequin F.C. , King's College Hospital , St Paul's , Queen's House , Lausanne , Addison , Mohicans , and Belsize Park . The one notable omission

200-636: A public house and also missed the meeting. As a result of this meeting the Rugby Football Union (RFU) was founded. Algernon Rutter was elected as the first president of the RFU, and Edwin Ash was elected as treasurer. Three lawyers who were Rugby School alumni (Rutter, Holmes and L.J. Maton) drew up the first laws of the game, which were approved in June 1871. Although similar unions were organised during

240-501: Is the second tier of the English rugby union league system and was founded in September 1987. The league was previously known as National Division One and in 2009 changed from a league consisting of semi-professional clubs to one that was fully professional . However since 2020 several clubs have since returned to a semi-professional model. The current champions are Jersey Reds after beating Ealing Trailfinders . The Premier 15s

280-533: The 2009–10 competition , rebranding the tournament as the LV= Cup until 2015. The structure of the competition was altered at this time. It continued to consist of four pools, each consisting of three English and one Welsh team. However, the new format saw teams guaranteed two home and two away pool matches, with teams in Pools 1 and 4 playing each other and teams in Pools 2 and 3 playing each other. Early rounds of

320-740: The Celtic League . Teams from the English RFU Championship and below played in the Powergen National Trophy . The Welsh clubs' inclusion initially caused them to be expelled from the Celtic League in June 2005. Scottish and Irish officials were angered that the Welsh regions had apparently consented to Powergen Cup fixtures on the same weekend as league matches. By the end of the month, a compromise

360-585: The Championship and below played in the Powergen National Trophy . * 1982 title shared between Gloucester and Moseley. Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup ( Welsh : Cwpan Eingl-Gymreig ), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup , which featured only English clubs. The competition

400-773: The European Rugby Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup . The team finishing at the bottom of the Premiership each season was relegated to the second-division RFU Championship until 2020, and the winner of the Championship is promoted to the Premiership until 2022. The competition has been played since 1987, and has evolved into the current Premiership system. The current champions are Saracens . The most recently promoted side are Saracens. The RFU Championship

440-568: The Llanelli Scarlets . Overall, the 2005–06 cup drew a 12% attendance boost in the group stages over the previous year's competition. Powergen withdrew all of its rugby sponsorship after the conclusion of the first competition. EDF Energy took over as title sponsor for the 2006–07 tournament , renaming the tournament as the EDF Energy Cup in a deal that ran until 2009. Insurers Liverpool Victoria became sponsors for

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480-465: The Rugby World Cup , when they won the tournament back in 2003 . They were also runners-up in 1991 , 2007 and 2019 . They are currently ranked Fifth in the world by World Rugby as of 3rd October 2024. The England women's national rugby union team first played in 1982. England have taken part in every Women's Rugby World Cup competition. They won the competition in 1994 by defeating

520-498: The 1997–98 season, naming the cup after their bitter . Saracens won their first title, defeating Wasps in 1998. Wasps were again in the final in 1999, and defeated Newcastle to claim their first championship. Wasps also won the 2000 competition. In 2000, energy supplier Powergen became the final title sponsor. Newcastle won the first Powergen Cup, defeating the Harlequins 30–27. London Irish won it for their first time

560-586: The English Premiership clubs. The Cup was created to continue to allow younger English Premiership players to compete in more matches at Premiership stadiums. Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union ( RFU ) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It promotes and runs

600-631: The NRFU in the first few years of its existence. The RFU long resisted competitions and leagues fearing that they would encourage foul play and professionalism. The first club competition, then known as the R.F.U. Club Competition, took place in 1972. Following a sponsorship agreement it became known as the John Player Cup in 1976. The RFU agreed to the formation of a league pyramid in 1987. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex served as patron until February 2021. Catherine, Princess of Wales took over

640-430: The RFU. A similar interpretation was applied to all players who played either for or against such clubs, whether or not they received any compensation. These players were barred indefinitely from any involvement in organised rugby union. These comprehensive and enduring sanctions, combined with the very localised nature of most rugby competition, meant that most northern clubs had little practical option but to affiliate with

680-506: The Sevens Series is second place, which they have achieved four times, most recently in the 2016-17 season. The England Sevens team has generated several notable sevens players. Ben Gollings holds the record for points scored on the Sevens Series with 2,652 points. Dan Norton holds the record for tries scored on the Sevens Series with 338 tries as of October 2019. England's Simon Amor (2004) and Ollie Phillips (2009) have each won

720-639: The United States 38–23 in the final, and again in 2014 by beating Canada 21–9 in the final. They finished as runner-up on four other occasions. Their coach is Simon Middleton after their coach Gary Street , who had been head coach since 2006, retired in 2015. The England national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series , Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games . England's best finish in

760-697: The Welsh regions finished bottom of their pools. In May 2018, the Welsh Rugby Union announced that they were going to be setting up a Welsh under-23s competition for their regions and would thus be unable to commit to Anglo-Welsh Cup games. On 10 May, Premiership Rugby Limited, which organises the English top flight, then announced that the Anglo-Welsh Cup would be replaced by the Premiership Rugby Cup, which would be solely for

800-538: The annual Six Nations Championship with France , Ireland , Scotland , Italy , and Wales . They have won this championship outright on a total of 28 occasions (with the addition of 10 shared victories), 13 times winning the Grand Slam and 25 times winning the Triple Crown , making them the most successful team in the tournament's history. England are to date the only team from the northern hemisphere to win

840-499: The competition now took place on international fixture dates during the Autumn Internationals and Six Nations Championship , with the aim of allowing teams to develop their squad players. It also saw the final move away from Twickenham for the first time, with Worcester's Sixways Stadium hosting in its place. The final would continue to be played at various pre-arranged club grounds in the following years. There

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880-696: The equivalent women's rugby body, the Rugby Football Union for Women (RFUW), was able to nominate a member to the RFU Council to represent women and girls rugby. The RFUW was integrated into the RFU in July 2012. On 4 December 1870, Edwin Ash of Richmond and Benjamin Burns of Blackheath published a letter in The Times suggesting that "those who play the rugby-type game should meet to form

920-546: The even more lucrative Heineken Cup competition. As base compensation, all 16 Powergen clubs were guaranteed £250,000 each, with a prize fund of up to £200,000 available to semi-finalists. Interest in the Powergen Cup was high during the first two rounds. Over 100,000 spectators attended matches, while the television audience peaked at 1.2 million on BBC2 for the match between the Newcastle Falcons and

960-418: The faltering results of the England national team, Rob Andrew was appointed on 18 August 2006 by the RFU to the post of Director of Elite Rugby, to oversee all aspects of representative rugby in England from the regional academies to the full senior side, including senior team selection powers and the power to hire and fire coaches at all levels of English rugby. Andrew also had the task of building bridges with

1000-468: The female category, and to require a risk assessment for transgender men. The Liverpool Tritons, in coordination with International Gay Rugby , have condemned the decision and protested at Pride in Liverpool . In September 2022, transgender player Julie Curtiss began a legal challenge to the ban on transgender women in female rugby by sending the RFU a pre-action protocol letter. In response to

1040-450: The first two editions under this new name in 1976 and 1977. Gloucester won their second title in 1978. The competition was then dominated by Leicester , who won three championships in a row, until Gloucester won their third title in 1982. This was shared with Moseley after a 12–12 draw in extra time, and was the only time the cup was shared between two teams. Leicester were again in the final in 1983, but lost to Bristol. Leicester's record run

1080-481: The following season, and Gloucester won it for the first time since 1982 in 2003. Newcastle won in 2004, and in 2005, Leeds Tykes defeated Bath to win it for the first time. Starting in 2005–06, the cup was replaced by a new format including only the twelve teams from the Guinness Premiership and the four Welsh regions , ending its status as an open competition. From this time until 2009, teams from

1120-674: The next few years in Ireland, Wales, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, France, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, the RFU was the first and therefore had no need to distinguish itself from others by calling itself the English RFU. Twenty-two rugby clubs from across the north of England met on 29 August 1895 in the George Hotel in Huddersfield, where they voted to secede from the Rugby Football Union. The main reason for

1160-514: The premiership clubs and the RFU in terms of players withdrawal from their club duties for international duties. On 6 January 2011 his role of Director of Elite Rugby was scrapped in an overhaul of the organisation's structure. Chief executive John Steele opted to create a single rugby department divided into the areas of performance, operations and development with the emphasis on "delivering rugby at all levels", with each area having its own director. The England national rugby union team competes in

1200-509: The recipients. In 2005 the RFU began talks about a merger with the governing body for women's rugby union the RFUW . In September 2010 the RFUW was able to nominate a member to the RFU Council to represent women and girls rugby. The RFUW was integrated into the RFU in July 2012. In July 2022, a vote of the RFU Council approved by a narrow margin to prohibit transgender women from playing in

1240-556: The role as patron in February 2022. In October 2024, England head coach Steve Borthwick announced the RFU would introduce Enhanced Elite Player Squad (EPS) contracts. This would allow national team coaches to have final say on all sports science and medical matters relating to players. Initially, 17 contracts were handed to current England players with Maro Itoje , Marcus Smith and England captain Jamie George all being among

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1280-421: The same for the following season, with home and away fixtures reversed and the club relegated from the Premiership's place taken by the club promoted from the Championship. In addition to increased TV revenue (the revised Powergen Cup had a new broadcasting agreement with BBC Sport ) and a possible boost to matchday income, the Powergen Cup also offered its winner, if they were a Premiership club, qualification to

1320-658: The split was the wish of players to be compensated for lost wages when playing Rugby. Many working class players in the North lost wages to play. The R.F.U. opposed players being paid. They set up the Northern Rugby Football Union (later renamed the Rugby Football League). The RFU took strong action against the clubs involved in the formation of the NRFU, all of whom were deemed to have forfeited their amateur status and therefore to have left

1360-490: The sport, organises international matches for the England national team , and educates and trains players and officials. The RFU is an industrial and provident society owned by over 2,000 member clubs, representing over 2.5 million registered players, and forms the largest rugby union society in the world, and one of the largest sports organisations in England. It is based at Twickenham Stadium , London. In September 2010

1400-575: Was an open tournament to any club that was a member of the Rugby Football Union . Starting in the 2005–06 season , the Powergen Anglo-Welsh Cup was formed as a successor tournament to the Knockout Cup. It continued to be organised by the RFU, in co-operation with the Welsh Rugby Union , but featured a new format including only the twelve teams from the Guinness Premiership and the four regional Welsh sides which competed in

1440-417: Was no competition in the 2015–16 season due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup being played in England, which resulted in the late start to the 2015–16 English Premiership season . The competition returned in the 2016–17 season, known simply as the Anglo-Welsh Cup , with BT Sport taking over the live TV rights from Sky Sports and highlights shown on Channel 5 . In the 2017–18 Anglo-Welsh Cup , all four of

1480-443: Was reached and the regions were readmitted, with the Welsh sides giving a "substantial financial contribution" and committing to mid-week league fixtures. In place of the knock-out format, the 16 sides were placed in four pools with three English clubs and one Welsh region in each. The pool stages for this initial format featured one game against each team, followed by semi-finals and a final at Twickenham Stadium . The pools remained

1520-491: Was replaced by the Premiership Rugby Cup , involving only the 12 English Premiership clubs, beginning with the 2018–19 season. From 1971 to 2005, English clubs played in the RFU Knockout Cup . At its formation, it was the highest honour that a club could win, as there were no nationally organised leagues until merit leagues were introduced in 1984, followed by the full national league pyramid in 1987. It

1560-537: Was the Wasps . According to one version, a Wasps' representative was sent to attend the meeting, but owing to a misunderstanding was sent to the wrong venue at the wrong time on the wrong day; another version is that he went to a venue of the same name where, after consuming a number of drinks, he realised his mistake but was too drunk to make his way to the correct venue. Ealing Rugby Club (now Ealing Trailfinders) also received an invitation, but their representative stopped in

1600-498: Was then broken by Bath from 1984 to 1987, who won the cup four times in a row, until Harlequins won their first in 1988. The cup was named after glass manufacturing company Pilkington for the 1988-89 tournament. Bath picked up from where they left off in the late 1980s, going onto win another six times from 1989 to 1996. Harlequins won their second title in 1991, and Leicester added to their three championships in 1993 and again in 1997. Tetley's Brewery became title sponsor in

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