Rugby Clubs
Rugby Clubs in Harrogate
Harrogate Ladies Rugby – Visit the website here
Location: Harrogate Rugby Club Rudding Lane, HG3 1DQ – Phone: E Mail: Team Manager: Lucy Barnett, lucybarnett@live.co.uk
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Harrogate Pythons RUFC
Location: Station View, Starbeck Harrogate HG2 7JA – Phone: 07889 117822
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Harrogate RUFC – Visit the website here
Location: Harrogate RUFC Ltd. Stratstone Stadium, Rudding Lane Harrogate North Yorkshire HG3 1DQ – Phone: 01423 815420
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Knaresborough Rugby Club – Visit the website here
Location: Knaresborough RUFC Hay – A – Park Lane Knaresborough North Yorkshire HG5 0FE – Phone: 01423 868532
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Ripon Rugby Union Football Club – Visit the website here
Location: Mallorie Park Drive Ripon North Yorkshire HG4 2QD – Phone: 01765 604675
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Rugby Clubs are establishments created with the primary purpose of coaching, developing, mentoring, and training individuals of all ages and genders to play the sport of rugby. These clubs serve as the foundational stepping stones for aspiring rugby players, providing them with the skills and knowledge needed to progress in the sport. Rugby, often referred to as rugby union, is a close-contact team sport with its origins in Rugby School during the early 19th century. It is one of the two major codes of rugby football and is characterized by ball-carrying and running. In its most common form, a rugby game is played between two teams, each consisting of 15 players, on a rectangular field known as a pitch. The field features H-shaped goalposts at both ends.
Rugby union has gained widespread popularity worldwide and is played by people of all genders and ages. In 2014, there were over 6 million rugby players globally, with 2.36 million registered players. The governance of rugby union is overseen by World Rugby, formerly known as the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) and the International Rugby Board (IRB). World Rugby has held authority over the sport since 1886 and currently boasts 101 countries as full members and 18 associate members.
The history of rugby dates back to 1845 when the first set of rules were written by students at Rugby School. Significant events in rugby’s development include Blackheath F.C.’s decision to break away from The Football Association in 1863 and the 1895 split between rugby union and rugby league. Historically, rugby union was an amateur sport, but in 1995, formal restrictions on player payments were lifted, allowing the sport to become openly professional at the highest level.
Rugby union’s influence expanded from the Home Nations of Great Britain and Ireland to countries like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and France. The sport’s following is most pronounced in the British Isles, France, Georgia, Oceania, Southern Africa, Argentina, and to some extent, Italy, Uruguay, the United States, Canada, and Japan. Its growth was facilitated by the expansion of the British Empire and French proponents in Europe (Rugby Europe). Some nations, such as Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, and Wales, have adopted rugby union as their de facto national sport.
International rugby matches have been taking place since 1871, beginning with the game between Scotland and England at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh. The Rugby World Cup, inaugurated in 1987, is held every four years, with other key international competitions including the Six Nations Championship in Europe and The Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere.
On a national and provincial level, various rugby competitions include the Premiership in England, the Top 14 in France, the Bunnings NPC in New Zealand, the League One in Japan, and the Currie Cup in South Africa. Additionally, there are transnational club competitions like the United Rugby Championship involving club teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales, the European Rugby Champions Cup in Europe, and the Super Rugby Pacific encompassing Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.
Rugby football collectively refers to the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football, were once considered variants of rugby football but are now rarely referred to as such. Notably, the governing body of Canadian football, Football Canada, was known as the Canadian Rugby Union until as late as 1967, more than fifty years after the sport diverged from rugby rules.
The inception of rugby football can be traced back to around 1845 at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. However, variations of football involving ball-carrying and tossing date back to the Middle Ages. Rugby football extended to other English public schools in the 19th century and subsequently spread across the British Empire as former pupils continued to play the sport.
A significant split occurred in rugby football in 1895 when twenty-one clubs from the North of England left the Rugby Football Union to establish the Northern Rugby Football Union, later renamed the Rugby Football League in 1922. This schism arose over the issue of payments to players who took time off work to play, known as “broken-time payments,” making rugby league the first code to turn professional and remunerate players. Rugby union transitioned to professionalism a century later, following the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa. The respective governing bodies for the two codes are World Rugby for rugby union and the Rugby League International Federation for rugby league.
Rugby Clubs