Glasgow Rugby were created to compete in the Heineken Cup as the SRU did not think that Scottish club sides could compete against the best teams from France and England. Glasgow, however, did not compete in the Heineken Cup until the 1997-98 season. Due to the SRU's high debt, partly as a result of the redevelopment of Murrayfield - called for retrenchment. After two seasons, Glasgow merged with Caledonian to form a team to be known as Glasgow Caledonian. From the 2002-03 season the Caledonian label was dropped and the team were simply known as Glasgow Rugby. Starting with the 2005-06 season, the team were ...

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Glasgow Warriors, Glasgow Warriors - History, Glasgow Warriors - Famous players, Glasgow Warriors - Former players

Read more here: » Glasgow Warriors: Encyclopedia II - Glasgow Warriors - History

Edinburgh Rugby were created to compete in the Heineken Cup as the SRU did not think that Scottish club sides could compete against the best teams from France and England. Due to the SRU's high debt, partly as a result of the redevelopment of Murrayfield Stadium, retrenchment was called for. After two seasons, Edinburgh merged with the Border Reivers to form a team to be known as Edinburgh Reivers. From the 2001-02 season, the Reivers label was dropped and the team were simply known as Edinburgh Rugby, nicknamed The Gunners. For the 2005-06 season, the team incorporated the nickname into their official ...

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Edinburgh Gunners, Edinburgh Gunners - History, Edinburgh Gunners - Famous players

Read more here: » Edinburgh Gunners: Encyclopedia II - Edinburgh Gunners - History

The Connacht Branch of the IRFU was founded in 1885 and is currently made up of 19 clubs. Connacht was the first ever Irish provincial team to win in France and England in 1997. Connacht were quarterfinalists in the European Challenge Cup in 1997/98. In 2001/02, Connacht made it to the semifinals of the Celtic League, but only reached the quarters in 2002/2003. The 2003/04 season will live long in the memory of all Connacht fans. Their efforts in the Parker Pen Challenge Cup took them to within touching distance of the f ...

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Connacht Rugby, Connacht Rugby - History, Connacht Rugby - Club honours

Read more here: » Connacht Rugby: Encyclopedia II - Connacht Rugby - History

The Heineken Cup began in 1995-96 with a dozen sides representing Ireland, Wales, Italy, Romania (though Romanian teams no longer take part) and France. English and Scottish teams did not compete until 1996-97 as they were already committed to their domestic schedules. From an inauspicious beginning in Romania, where Toulouse thrashed Farul Constanta 54-10 in front of a small crowd, the competition gathered momentum and crowds grew. Toulouse went on to become the first European rugby champions, eventually beating the world renowned Cardiff RFC in extra time. A tense and historic occasion at the now demoli ...

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Heineken Cup, Heineken Cup - History, Heineken Cup - Heineken Cup qualification, Heineken Cup - Heineken Cup rules, Heineken Cup - Quarter-finals, Heineken Cup - Semi-finals & Final, Heineken Cup - 2005/06 groups, Heineken Cup - Winners, Heineken Cup - By Year, Heineken Cup - By Total Wins

Read more here: » Heineken Cup: Encyclopedia II - Heineken Cup - History

Llanelli Scarlets are one of the five original regions of the Welsh Regional Rugby Era. They are also one of only two of those regions who were not brought about by amalgamation of two or more clubs. In 2003, the WRU controversially elected to reduce the current top tier of Welsh professional rugby from nine clubs into five clubs, attempting to mirror the successful formats in Ireland and the Southern Hemisphere cou ...

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Llanelli Scarlets, Llanelli Scarlets - Club History, Llanelli Scarlets - Home Ground, Llanelli Scarlets - Statistics, Llanelli Scarlets - Celtic League, Llanelli Scarlets - Celtic League Cup, Llanelli Scarlets - European Rugby Cup, Llanelli Scarlets - Notable Current Players, Llanelli Scarlets - Notable Former Players, Llanelli Scarlets - Club Honours

Read more here: » Llanelli Scarlets: Encyclopedia II - Llanelli Scarlets - Club History

The Ulster Branch of the IRFU was founded in 1879. In the time since Ulster has arguably been the most consistently successful of the four Irish provinces (the others are Connacht, Leinster and Munster) having won the Inter-Provincial Championship a record 26 times. In the amateur Rugby Union era Ulster regularly played international touring sides from the southern hemisphere, their most impressive performance coming in the 1983/4 season when they defeated Andrew Slack's "Grand Slam" Wallabies, the only loss of any kind for the Australians on a tour which saw them defe ...

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Ulster Rugby, Ulster Rugby - History, Ulster Rugby - Club honours, Ulster Rugby - Famous players, Ulster Rugby - Current Internationals, Ulster Rugby - Famous Former Players

Read more here: » Ulster Rugby: Encyclopedia II - Ulster Rugby - History

The Ospreys are one of the five original clubs of the Welsh Regional Rugby Era. The club came into being in the summer of 2003 when the WRU elected to reduce the current top tier of Welsh professional rugby from nine clubs into five regions, effectively mirroring the successful formats in Ireland and the Southern Hemisphere countries of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The Ospreys represent the whole of the Neath and Swansea areas, also encompassing Port Talbot and Aberavon. They were initially created by merging the area's two most successful clubs - Neath RFC and Swansea RFC - ...

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Ospreys rugby union team, Ospreys rugby union team - Club history, Ospreys rugby union team - Home ground, Ospreys rugby union team - Statistics, Ospreys rugby union team - Celtic League, Ospreys rugby union team - Celtic League Cup, Ospreys rugby union team - European Rugby Cup, Ospreys rugby union team - Notable current players, Ospreys rugby union team - Notable former players, Ospreys rugby union team - Club honours, Ospreys rugby union team - Footnotes

Read more here: » Ospreys rugby union team: Encyclopedia II - Ospreys rugby union team - Club history

The club came into being in the summer of 2003 when the WRU controversially elected to reduce the current top tier of Welsh professional rugby from nine clubs into five regions, attempting to mirror the successful formats in Ireland and the Southern Hemisphere countries of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Newport Gwent Dragons officially represent southeast Wales, and play all of their matches at Rodney Parade, situated in the city of Newport, although friendly (pre-season) games have been played at a number of other grounds around a region that includes well-known club sides suc ...

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Newport Gwent Dragons, Newport Gwent Dragons - Club History, Newport Gwent Dragons - Home Ground, Newport Gwent Dragons - Statistics, Newport Gwent Dragons - Celtic League, Newport Gwent Dragons - Celtic League Cup, Newport Gwent Dragons - European Rugby Cup, Newport Gwent Dragons - Notable Current Players, Newport Gwent Dragons - Notable Former Players, Newport Gwent Dragons - Notable Former Coaches

Read more here: » Newport Gwent Dragons: Encyclopedia II - Newport Gwent Dragons - Club History

The Warriors were one of the five original regions of the Welsh Regional Rugby Era. The club came into being in the summer of 2003 when the WRU controversially elected to reduce the current top tier of Welsh Professional Rugby from nine clubs into five regions, attempting to mirror the successful formats in Ireland and the Southern Hemisphere countries of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Officially representing the Mid-Glamorgan Valleys area, including Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare, Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Bridgend, and s ...

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Celtic Warriors, Celtic Warriors - Club History, Celtic Warriors - Home Ground, Celtic Warriors - Statistics, Celtic Warriors - Celtic League, Celtic Warriors - Celtic League Cup, Celtic Warriors - European Rugby Cup, Celtic Warriors - Notable Former Players

Read more here: » Celtic Warriors: Encyclopedia II - Celtic Warriors - Club History

The Leinster Branch was formed in 1875. In amateur days the four provinces played against each other in the Inter-provincial Championship and also played touring sides (usually midweek). When rugby union was declared 'open' in 1995, these four teams became the four professional teams ran by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). Leinster reached the Heineken Cup semi-final in 1995/96 and 2002/03. They were the inaugural Celtic League Champions (01/02) beating rivals Mun ...

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Leinster Rugby, Leinster Rugby - History, Leinster Rugby - Famous players, Leinster Rugby - Club honours

Read more here: » Leinster Rugby: Encyclopedia II - Leinster Rugby - History

Once Rugby Union was forced to go professional in 1995, the old order changed overnight and by 2002 the Welsh Rugby Union was bankrupt whilst former rivals took the game on to new levels. Months of negotiation between the nine former Premiership clubs and the Welsh Rugby Union finally reached a conclusions during the Summer of 2003 when an agreement was reached to establish a regional structure in place at the top of the game in Wales. Cardiff Rugby Football Club was allowed to form a region by itself and was the first to launch as a new regional entity. The official Cardiff Blues launch event took pl ...

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Cardiff Blues, Cardiff Blues - Cardiff Blues, Cardiff Blues - History, Cardiff Blues - Statistics, Cardiff Blues - Celtic League, Cardiff Blues - Celtic League Cup, Cardiff Blues - European Rugby Cup, Cardiff Blues - Notable Current Players, Cardiff Blues - Notable Former Players

Read more here: » Cardiff Blues: Encyclopedia II - Cardiff Blues - History

In their first two seasons, the Ospreys shared their home games between Swansea's St. Helen's ground (home of Swansea RFC) and Neath's The Gnoll ground (home of Neath RFC). From their third season, 2005-2006, the Ospreys home ground is the newly developed 20,000 seater Liberty Stadium in Landore. ...

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Ospreys rugby union team, Ospreys rugby union team - Club history, Ospreys rugby union team - Home ground, Ospreys rugby union team - Statistics, Ospreys rugby union team - Celtic League, Ospreys rugby union team - Celtic League Cup, Ospreys rugby union team - European Rugby Cup, Ospreys rugby union team - Notable current players, Ospreys rugby union team - Notable former players, Ospreys rugby union team - Club honours, Ospreys rugby union team - Footnotes

Read more here: » Ospreys rugby union team: Encyclopedia II - Ospreys rugby union team - Home ground

Celtic Warriors - Celtic League. Celtic Warriors - Celtic League Cup. Celtic Warriors - European Rugby Cup. ...

See also:

Celtic Warriors, Celtic Warriors - Club History, Celtic Warriors - Home Ground, Celtic Warriors - Statistics, Celtic Warriors - Celtic League, Celtic Warriors - Celtic League Cup, Celtic Warriors - European Rugby Cup, Celtic Warriors - Notable Former Players

Read more here: » Celtic Warriors: Encyclopedia II - Celtic Warriors - Statistics

Ospreys rugby union team - Celtic League. Ospreys rugby union team - Celtic League Cup. Ospreys rugby union team - European Rugby Cup. ...

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Ospreys rugby union team, Ospreys rugby union team - Club history, Ospreys rugby union team - Home ground, Ospreys rugby union team - Statistics, Ospreys rugby union team - Celtic League, Ospreys rugby union team - Celtic League Cup, Ospreys rugby union team - European Rugby Cup, Ospreys rugby union team - Notable current players, Ospreys rugby union team - Notable former players, Ospreys rugby union team - Club honours, Ospreys rugby union team - Footnotes

Read more here: » Ospreys rugby union team: Encyclopedia II - Ospreys rugby union team - Statistics

Ulster Rugby - Current Internationals. David Humphreys Kevin Maggs Tyrone Howe - Lion Simon Best Tommy Bowe Roger Wilson Paul Shields Andrew Trimble Ulster Rugby - Famous Former Players. Robin Thompson - Lions captain Willie John McBride - Lions captain Philip Matthews - Lions captain Jack Kyle - Lion Cecil Pedlow - Lion Syd Miller - Lion Mike ...

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Ulster Rugby, Ulster Rugby - History, Ulster Rugby - Club honours, Ulster Rugby - Famous players, Ulster Rugby - Current Internationals, Ulster Rugby - Famous Former Players

Read more here: » Ulster Rugby: Encyclopedia II - Ulster Rugby - Famous players

The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) (Welsh: Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board. The first governing body of Welsh rugby was called the South Wales Football Union. It was refounded in 1880 as the Welsh Football Union was formed in 1880 to organise an international match against England. It wasn't until 1934 that they adopted the name Welsh Rugby Union. They are responsible for the running of Welsh rugby, including 293 member clubs, the Welsh National Team and National Leagues and Cups. They also o ...

Read more here: » Welsh Rugby Union: Encyclopedia - Welsh Rugby Union

Newport Gwent Dragons - Celtic League. Newport Gwent Dragons - Celtic League Cup. Newport Gwent Dragons - European Rugby Cup. ...

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Newport Gwent Dragons, Newport Gwent Dragons - Club History, Newport Gwent Dragons - Home Ground, Newport Gwent Dragons - Statistics, Newport Gwent Dragons - Celtic League, Newport Gwent Dragons - Celtic League Cup, Newport Gwent Dragons - European Rugby Cup, Newport Gwent Dragons - Notable Current Players, Newport Gwent Dragons - Notable Former Players, Newport Gwent Dragons - Notable Former Coaches

Read more here: » Newport Gwent Dragons: Encyclopedia II - Newport Gwent Dragons - Statistics

Places in the Heineken Cup are allocated to the six competing nations on the following basis: 5 France, England 4 Wales 2 Ireland, Scotland and Italy The remaining four places in the 24 team tournament are allocated on a meritocracy basis. No country can earn more than one meritocracy place and the extra places are based on performance by the clubs from each country. Nations who have a team that reaches the semi-finals are guaranteed an extra place the following season. If a country has more than one team in the semi-finals, then the crite ...

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Heineken Cup, Heineken Cup - History, Heineken Cup - Heineken Cup qualification, Heineken Cup - Heineken Cup rules, Heineken Cup - Quarter-finals, Heineken Cup - Semi-finals & Final, Heineken Cup - 2005/06 groups, Heineken Cup - Winners, Heineken Cup - By Year, Heineken Cup - By Total Wins

Read more here: » Heineken Cup: Encyclopedia II - Heineken Cup - Heineken Cup qualification

Six pools of four teams play both home and away games. Four points are awarded for a win and two points for a draw. A bonus point is awarded for a loss by seven points or fewer, or for scoring four tries or more. ...

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Heineken Cup, Heineken Cup - History, Heineken Cup - Heineken Cup qualification, Heineken Cup - Heineken Cup rules, Heineken Cup - Quarter-finals, Heineken Cup - Semi-finals & Final, Heineken Cup - 2005/06 groups, Heineken Cup - Winners, Heineken Cup - By Year, Heineken Cup - By Total Wins

Read more here: » Heineken Cup: Encyclopedia II - Heineken Cup - Heineken Cup rules

The six Pool winners (ranked 1-6 by number of points scored) and two best placed runners-up (ranked 7 and 8) qualify for the Quarter-Finals. Teams ranked 1-4 have home advantage. The Quarter-Finals are: Team 1 v Team 8; Team 2 v Team 7; Team 3 v Team 6; Team 4 v Team 5. ...

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Heineken Cup, Heineken Cup - History, Heineken Cup - Heineken Cup qualification, Heineken Cup - Heineken Cup rules, Heineken Cup - Quarter-finals, Heineken Cup - Semi-finals & Final, Heineken Cup - 2005/06 groups, Heineken Cup - Winners, Heineken Cup - By Year, Heineken Cup - By Total Wins

Read more here: » Heineken Cup: Encyclopedia II - Heineken Cup - Quarter-finals