1979 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
1973 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
Sportin Lithuania is governed by the Physical Education and Sports Department following the country's independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. The Lithuanian government established the department to manage physical education in the schools and sports administration in the country. Over the next few years, Lithuanian sports organizations established membership in international governing bodies. Lithuania participated in the Winter Olympics in Albertville and has participated in every Winter and Summer Olympics since.
The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the touring British Isles team.
The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, is controlled by USA Rugby. USA Rugby is a member of Rugby Americas North, one of six regional governing bodies under World Rugby. Until rugby returned to Olympic competition, with sevens at the 2016 Rio Games, the United States was the reigning Olympic rugby champion, having defeated the one other competitor in 1920 and the two other competitors at the 1924 Summer Olympics.
2007 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
Rugby union in the United States is a growing national sport. Rugby union at the youth, high school, college, amateur club, professional, and international levels is governed by USA Rugby. There are over 125,000 players registered with USA Rugby as of 2016. Over 2,500 rugby clubs exist around the country, including those of whom are part of college rugby. Professional club competition exists as Major League Rugby.
The Portugal national rugby union team is rated as a performance team in the World Rugby four-band classification system, the second highest. Portugal had their first match in 1935 and now compete in the European Nations Cup and occasionally in the IRB Nations Cup. The team as well as all rugby union in Portugal is administered by the Federação Portuguesa de Rugby. Portugal qualified for their first Rugby World Cup in 2007 where they were grouped in Pool C along with New Zealand, Italy, Romania and Scotland. They are nicknamed Os Lobos, Portuguese for "The Wolves".
The Russia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Bears, is administered by the Rugby Union of Russia (RUR). The RUR is considered the official successor union of the Soviet Union by World Rugby and the combined CIS team which played in the early 1990s. Since 1992, the team has played as Russia. Its first test match as Russia was against the Barbarians in Moscow in June 1992 and the country's first test against an official Test nation was against Belgium later that same year.
The Philippines national rugby union team, nicknamed the "Volcanoes", represents the Philippines in international rugby union. The Philippines have been playing in the Asia Rugby Championship since 2006 when the team was first created. In 2012 they won the Division I championship and were promoted to the top 5 for the 2013 tournament where they earned 4th place and again in the 2014 tournament. The Philippines have yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup.
Rugby union is the unofficial national sport of New Zealand. The national team, the All Blacks, is currently ranked the second best international rugby team in the world, after South Africa. The sport has been known in New Zealand since 1870. The top domestic competitions are the semi-professional ITM Cup and amateur Heartland Championship, and above them Super Rugby, in which New Zealand has five franchises. The country co-hosted and won the first ever Rugby World Cup in 1987, and hosted and won the 2011 Rugby World Cup. They have won three World Cups, tied with South Africa, the most of any other country. They are also the current World Champions in 7s rugby for men and women.
The Israel national rugby union team is governed by Rugby Israel, which oversees all rugby union in Israel. As of 1 February 2015, Israel is ranked 57th in the IRB World Rankings.
The Hungary national rugby union team is governed by the Hungarian Rugby Union. They have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup, although they have entered qualifiers for all the tournaments from the 1995 edition onwards. They compete annually in the European Nations Cup, currently in Division 2C.
Women's international rugby union has a history going back to the late 19th century but it was not until 1982 that the first international fixture involving women's rugby union took place. The match was organised in connection with the Dutch Rugby Union's 50th anniversary. As part of the celebrations on June 13, 1982 the French national women's team played the Dutch, in Utrecht, Netherlands, with France winning 4–0 in a game that has since been recognised as the first ever women's international rugby union match.
Péter Kovács is a former Hungarian international handball player and handball coach.
Rugby union in Poland is a minor, but growing sport.
The Rugby Football Union for Women (RFUW) was the governing body for women's rugby union in England. As of 2014 the RFUW and Rugby Football Union combined to be one National Governing Body. The headquarters are at Twickenham Stadium, London.
The 2009 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship was the sixth annual international rugby union competition for Under 18 national rugby union teams in Europe. The event was organised by rugby's European governing body, the FIRA – Association of European Rugby (FIRA-AER). The competition was contested by 32 men's junior national teams and was held in early April 2009. It was hosted by the French region of Var - Côte d'Azur, with the final held in Toulon.
The Lebanese National Rugby Union team have yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup. Lebanon played their first test match against Jordan on 14 May 2010 in Dubai The Phoenix currently competes in the Asian Rugby Football Union's, Asian Rugby Championship in Division Three West. In November 2018 Lebanon Rugby attained World Rugby Associate Membership.
Polish Rugby Union, abbreviated to PZR, is the only legal Polish representative of Polish rugby union and rugby sevens for both men and women's rugby and all age groups. Poland does have an amateur rugby league national team, however there are no teams playing this form of rugby in Poland and therefore there is no governing body for rugby league.
