Ireland Six Nations Championship Guide
The Irish are best known for their dogged play but are beginning to emerge in their style of play but this is after decades of just trying to compete with the bigger nations such as England and Wales, who have a much bigger playing base to recruit from.
The emergence of the European Cup has definitely benefited the Irish game as it has allowed the game in Ireland to focus on provincial teams rather than club teams and this has improved the standard. Also the game going professional has allowed the young Irish players who mostly come from elite schools to stay in the game as the rewards are now there where they once where not.
The likes of Tony O’Reilly hung up his shoes to make his name in the business field and Irelands best known rugby entrepreneur.
The Irish Rugby Football Union was formed in 1874 and they played their first international against England at the Oval in London on February 15, 1875. In total Ireland have won 10 Five Nations titles outright and shared eight. They have won nine Triple Crowns.
Top Irish players include Mike Gibson, Willie John McBride, Tony O'Reilly, Keith Woods, Fergus Slattery, Ollie Campbell, Tom Keirnan and current superstars Brian O'Driscoll and Ronan O'Gara.
Ireland 2008 Six Nations Fixtures
Ireland play host to the first match of the 2008 6Nations Championship by playing Italy at Croke Park.
Saturday, 2nd February 2008
Ireland v Italy (2:00pm)
Saturday, 9th February 2008
France v Ireland (4:00pm)
Saturday, 23rd February 2008
Ireland v Scotland (5:00pm)
Saturday, 8th March 2008
Ireland v Wales (1:15pm)
Saturday, 15th March 2008
England v Ireland (3:00pm)
Six Nations Rugby Union Championship 2008
These days the Six Nations is run for TV like all sports and you can see every game live on TV over the Saturday and Sunday of the five weekends of the tournament with week one commencing on the 2nd of February with the highlight on this day the England Wales match at Twickenham. France will be looking to build on their great recent form in the Six Nations having won it four times in the last six years.
Six Nations Fixtures | Six Nations Team Guides
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Latest Rugby News
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Six Nations Fixtures
The fixtures for the 2009 Six Nations Championship will be available shortly.
Six Nations Venues
Each of the Six Nations venues have their own rich six nations Ruby Union history and you can get a good overview on each of these grounds through our venue reviews.
