Ireland national rugby union team
 |
|
| Emblem | Shamrock |
|---|---|
| Union | Irish Rugby Football Union |
| Head coach | Joe Schmidt |
| Captain | Rory Best |
| Most caps | Brian O'Driscoll (133) |
| Top scorer | Ronan O'Gara (1,083) |
| Top try scorer | Brian O'Driscoll (46) |
| Home stadium | Aviva Stadium |
| World Rugby ranking | |
| Current | 4 (as of 28th November 2016) |
| Highest | 2 (2015) |
| Lowest | 9 (2013) |
| First international | |
|
England 7–0 Ireland (15 February 1875) |
|
| Biggest win | |
|
United States 3–83 Ireland (10 June 2000) |
|
| Biggest defeat | |
|
New Zealand 60–0 Ireland (23 June 2012) |
|
| World Cup | |
| Appearances | 8 (First in 1987) |
| Best result | Quarter-finals, 1987, 1991, 1995, 2003, 2011, 2015 |
| Website | www.irishrugby.ie |
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland (both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship, which they have won twelve times outright and shared eight times. The team also competes every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions (1999 and 2007). Ireland is also one of the four unions that make up the British and Irish Lions – players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions.
Ireland's highest ever position in the World Rugby Rankings is second, which they reached for the first time in 2015. As of 5th December 2016, Ireland are 4th in the world rankings.
Eight former Ireland players have earned induction into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, with five of them also having earned induction into the World Rugby Hall of Fame; one other former player is a member of the World Rugby Hall only. Former outside centre and captain Brian O'Driscoll, Ireland's all-time leader in tries scored, was considered one of the best rugby players in the world, and led Ireland to only their second Grand Slam in 2009.
Dublin University was the first organised rugby football club in Ireland, having been founded in 1854. The club was organised by students who had learnt the game while at public schools in Great Britain. During the third quarter of the nineteenth century, and following the adoption of a set of official rules in 1868, rugby football began to spread quickly throughout Ireland, resulting in the formation of several other clubs which are still in existence, including NIFC (1868); Wanderers (1869); Queen's University (1869); Lansdowne (1873); Dungannon (1873); Co. Carlow (1873); UCC (1874); and Ballinasloe (1875) which amalgamated with Athlone to form Buccaneers.
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