Rugby in Ireland

The island of Ireland is mad about sport. If we’re not cheering for our local hurling or Gaelic football team, we’re roaring in approval at a rugby match. From schools and club rugby to the world stage of international fixtures, there’s a passion from the supporters that comes straight from the heart.

Of course, when the elite skills of Johnny Sexton, Mack Hansen, Iain Henderson and Tadgh Beirne are on display, it’s no surprise that massive home support is guaranteed. The roars for Ireland are epic during the springtime Six Nations Championship; and excitement reaches fever pitch every four years, as we go all in for a chance to win the Rugby World Cup.

Home or away, the atmosphere is something special, but it’s not just confined to the top tier games…

The Ireland team may have reached the Number one spot in World Rugby Rankings in 2019, but it takes a lot of grassroots work to achieve that level; and it all starts around the four corners of the island.

The island of Ireland is divided into four provinces: Ulster, Munster, Connacht, Leinster. These are the island’s four big name provincial sides; the ones who rank high in the major European Rugby Union championships. Each province has a revered rugby home, which the team will furiously defend – along with their proud supporters.

In Northern Ireland, you’ll find the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast, Ulster Rugby’s modest but adored home. 80-minute matches pass by in a blur in an atmosphere this electric.

On the opposite end of the island, along the Wild Atlantic Way, you’ll find the original home of the Garryowen. Yes, that up and under high kick originated in the town of the same name in County Limerick. Thomand Park in the city is home to the red shirts of Munster, and its players compete with the pride of a pack of lions.

Just up the western coastline, the green and black shirts of Connacht bring a sense of the wild west to proceedings at The Sportsground in Galway. GAA sports like hurling and Gaelic Football are the most popular around here, but Connacht’s inclusion in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup has introduced the sport to a much larger audience in its native province, so it's now a massive force to be reckoned with.

Finally, the fourth provincial side resides in Dublin: the blues of Leinster are no stranger to massive European success, and are the second most successful team in the European Rugby Champions Cup with four wins.

Literally around the corner from Leinster’s RDS Arena HQ sits the Aviva Stadium on Lansdowne Road. For most international fans, this is the home of Irish rugby. Within its curved walls and transparent panels lies the intense battlefield for the Irish Rugby Team and its opponents.

Players are plucked from the provinces to pit their sporting prowess against international opponents from both north and south of the hemisphere. Ireland sits comfortably at number four in current world rankings, having played the All Blacks (New Zealand), the Wallabies (Australia) and the Springboks (South Africa) in recent times. But slugging it out against our closest neighbours in Europe is an annual affair at the hotly competed Six Nations.

The Six Nations began in 1883 as the Home Nations Championship with England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. France joined in 1910 to make it the Five Nations, and then Italy in 2000, to become the Six Nations Championship.

For many of the rugby fraternity, the highlight of the rugby calendar and the climax of the seasons is the Six Nations. Every year, in the chilly first days of February, the teams battle it out over 15 matches, for two months of thrilling sporting theatre.

With the thrill of the game and the nightlife to match and an atmosphere that’s as welcoming as it is warm, Dublin certainly seems to be the fixture to travel to for the Six Nations Championship! But when the whistle blows, which team will you be cheering on?