Rugby is Britain’s second national sport after football and is watched by thousands of people every week across Britain. The National teams however are even more popular, and in Wales rugby is regarded as the principal national sport.

There are two different types of Rugby played in the UK, Rugby League and Rugby Union; with the latter being the more popular sport in terms of number of followers and amount of media attention. Rugby Union players in the UK are very famous and well

paid, and often associated with glamorous women, which is strange because they are also famous for being rather ugly.

England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales compete against each other every year in the competition known as the Six-Nations, which also includes Italy and France. But, unlike the British football teams, British Rugby players do join together as one team to compete against southern hemisphere teams such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina, on occasional tours. When they do this the team is collectively known as the British and Irish Lions.

Both Rugby League and Rugby Union operate separate league systems that incorporate teams from across Europe. Rugby League has a principal competition called the Super League, which includes 12 teams from England, one from France and one from Wales, followed by National League One and National League Two.

Rugby Union is dominated in England by the Guinness Premiership, the top division, comprised of 12 English clubs. These 12 clubs also qualify to take part in Europe’s premier competitions, the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup. Below the Guinness Premiership is the National Division One and National Division Two, followed by National Division Three North and National Division Three South.

Irish, Scottish and Welsh teams compete in the Magners League, which is a closed franchised league meaning that it is impossible to get relegated from the top division. Members of the Magners League also play in the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup along with teams from the Guinness Premiership and, Europe’s only other top rugby union league, France’s Top 14.

Below these leagues teams compete in the national regional divisions, such as Wales’ Welsh Premier Division and the Scottish Hydro Electric League Championship.

The popularity of Rugby increased dramatically in England after England beat Australia in the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup and then narrowly missing out in the final to South Africa in the 2007 World Cup.

For the Welsh rugby has been a national passion for over a century, is the official national sport and an integral part of the national culture with over 239 clubs catering for more than 69,000 male players.

Wales began playing rugby in the mid-nineteenth century and enjoyed considerable success throughout the ages, with the period from 1900 – 1919 representing the first golden age, and 1969 - 1979 widely seen as the second.  So although rugby is a popular game throughout the British Isles it has to be said that Wales must be its true spiritual home.