What is Rugby?
This article from Wikipedia discusses Rugby Union, of which the CSULB Rugby team plays.
Tournaments: Major tournaments
Rugby Union World Cup
Men's and women's versions of the Rugby World Cup take place every four years.
The Rugby World Cup is the premier international rugby union competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB), and is contested by the men's national teams. The inaugural tournament was held in 1987, hosted by both Australia and New Zealand, and is now contested every four years.
The winners are awarded the William Webb Ellis Cup, named after the Rugby School pupil credited with the game's invention.
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth, and most recent Rugby World Cup. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days; forty-two matches were played in ten cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales and two in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The eight quarter-finalists from 2003 were granted automatic qualification, while 12 other nations gained entry through the regional qualifying competitions that began in 2004 - of them, Portugal is the only World Cup debutant. The top three nations from each pool at the end of the pool stage will qualify automatically for the 2011 World Cup.
The competition opened with a match between hosts France and Argentina on 7 September at the Stade de France in St-Denis. The stadium was also the venue of the final match between England and South Africa on 20 October, which South Africa won by 15 points to 6, granting them their second World Cup title.
The RBS 6 Nations Championship, (referred to as RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons) known before 2000 as the Five Nations Championship, is an annual international rugby union competition held between six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The winner of the RBS 6 Nations is often seen as being the unofficial European Champions.
The Five Nations Championship, with its predecessor the Home Championship, was the premier international rugby union tournament in the Northern Hemisphere. It has also in the past been known as 'The International Championship'.
The first steps towards the modern day Six Nations tournament took place in 1871 when England lost by one goal to Scotland at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. In the 1880s, both Wales and Ireland joined and the Home International Championships emerged. France joined the tournament in the 1900s and in 1910 the term Five Nations first appeared. However, the Home Nations ( England , Wales , Scotland and Ireland ) excluded France in 1931 amid a run of poor results, allegations of professionalism and concerns over on-field violence. France then rejoined in 1939 - 1940 , though the Second World War halted proceedings for a further eight years. France has played in all the tournaments since WWII, the first one of which was played in 1947 .
In 2000 , Italy also joined the tournament, leading to the modern-day Six Nations competition that takes place annually.
If a team wins all five of their games they achieve a " Grand Slam ". If one of the Home Nations beats the other three, this is called the " Triple Crown ". The Calcutta Cup is contested in the annual Six Nations match between England and Scotland . The team finishes bottom is said to have won the " Wooden Spoon ".
France are the current defending champions having won the competition in 2007. No Grand Slam was won, but Ireland won the Triple Crown. Italy won their first away game ever when they defeated Scotland and they also defeated Wales the following week in Rome.
There is also a Women's Six Nations Championship which historically featured Spain instead of Italy, but from 2007 on will include Italy at Spain's expense.
The Tri Nations Series is an annual international Rugby Union series held between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa . The series is played on a home and away basis with the three nations playing each other twice.
Since the inception in 1996 of the Tri Nations, the games played in it between Australia and New Zealand also determine the winner of the Bledisloe Cup each year.
Recently, the Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate has also been contended for in the Tri Nations, played between Australia and South Africa, and currently held by South Africa.
A new system in which each nation will play the others three times was incorporated in 2006.
Super 14
The Super 14 is the largest rugby union football club championship in the southern hemisphere, consisting of provincial teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The fourteen sides all compete against one another, with no divisional or pool system. Each team plays 13 games during the regular season which runs for fourteen weeks.
The teams in the top four places on the competition ladder after the regular season enter the finals leg of the tournament. The semi-finals are contested to decide the two finalists, which is played at the highest ranked winners' home ground, as opposed to a pre-selected neutral venue.
The current competition was inaugurated in 1996, and from the first season through to 2005, the competition was known as Super 12; the name change came about following the expansion for the 2006 season. The term Super Rugby is sometimes used when talking about the Super 14 and Super 12 collectively. Matches are now broadcast in 41 countries.