Rugby Football Union

The Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in England. Founded in 1871, it oversees the game’s rules, competitions, and national teams.

England national rugby union team: England’s national team in the fifteen-a-side code of rugby union. The RFU selects and administers the national side, which represents England in international matches.
Rugby School: An independent school in Warwickshire, England, where rugby football developed during the nineteenth century. The school’s form of football inspired the clubs that founded the RFU.
Rugby Football Union v. Welsh Rugby Union: A historical dispute between the English and Welsh rugby unions over governance and the sport’s rules. The disagreement exposed the RFU’s early influence beyond England’s borders.
Scottish Rugby Union: The governing body for rugby union in Scotland. It governs a neighboring national game rather than the English system overseen by the RFU.
Premiership Rugby: The top professional league for men’s rugby union clubs in England. The RFU shares responsibility for the English professional game with the league’s organizers.
Edwin Ash: A nineteenth-century English rugby administrator and one of the founders of the Rugby Football Union. Ash helped convene the clubs that established the union in 1871.
Rugby union professionalism: The acceptance and organization of paid players in rugby union. The RFU’s long resistance to professional payments helped provoke a split in rugby.
Welsh Rugby Union: The governing body for rugby union in Wales. Its jurisdiction over Welsh rugby contrasts with the RFU’s responsibility for England.
RFU Championship: The second tier of men’s club rugby union in England. This national competition sits below the Premiership in the English league system.
Rugby football laws: Rules governing rugby football, including its handling, tackling, and scoring. The RFU’s founders adopted an early written code to standardize play among member clubs.

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