Irish Universities Rugby Union
| Union | Irish Universities Rugby Union, affiliated to the Irish Rugby Football Union |
|---|---|
| Emblem(s) | The Shamrock on the cross of Saint Patrick with white background |
| Ground(s) | Aviva Stadium |
| President | Derek McGrath |
| Coach(es) | Dan Van Zyl |
The Irish Universities Rugby Union (IURU) is the representative body for university rugby union in Ireland. The union was established in 1904 and currently consists of the following members; University College Dublin RFC, Dublin University FC, Queen's University RFC, University College Cork RFC, NUI Galway R.F.C., NUI Maynoooth R.F.C.. University of Ulster Coleraine RFC. In addition University of Limerick have in the recent past competed in IURU competitions.
The IURU organizes the Combined Universities Representative Rugby Team which competes annually. While the Irish Universities side had played games against other Irish & English representative sides since the 1930s the first game against International opposition was played against the Scottish Universities side in 1954. In the past the Combined Universities played against all the major southern hemisphere full international touring sides, e.g. playing and beating the Springboks in 1965 in Thomond Park therefore making them the first Irish side to beat an international touring team. The Combined Universities have also played against Australia in 1968 and New Zealand in 1974. The Combined Universities have toured overseas on 4 occasions, to New Zealand in 1978, to Japan & South Korea in 1987, to South Africa in 1994 and to Australia in 1997. Uniquely the Combined Universities team players wear their respective universities clubs socks with the green international jersey.
Since the advent of professional rugby, matches against full senior international sides have become a thing of the past, however the IURU has continued to arrange annual international fixtures against other National University and Student sides from France, England, Wales and Scotland and against IRFU developmental sides. The most recent Combined University fixture was held on 09 April 2015 against the English Students side in College Park, Trinity College Dublin with the English students coming out on top on a 57:30 scoreline in what all present agreed was a feast of open attacking rugby. This fixture was preceded by a lunch to honour the surviving members of the 1965 Combined Universities team who defeated the full South African test side by 12 points to 10 in Thomond Park, Limerick.
The IURU also organizes four domestic tournaments across the full spectrum of performance and participation grades on an annual basis. In recent years all four competitions have been competed for within a " University Festival of Rugby" tournament. The inaugural tournament was hosted in 2014 by UCD, The 2015-2016 University Festival of Rugby was held in Terenure College RFC grounds in Dublin on 24 October 2015. 8 universities were represented putting 22 sides onto the field and over 550 players participating making it the largest 3rd level rugby event in Ireland. The following four competitions were held;
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