The England men's national rugby union team represents the Rugby Football Union in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasions, winning the Grand Slam 14 times and the Triple Crown 26 times, making them the most successful outright winners in the tournament's history. They are currently the only team from the Northern Hemisphere to win the Rugby World Cup, having won the tournament in 2003, and have been runners-up on three further occasions.
The England team before playing in their first international match, versus Scotland in Edinburgh, 1871
Illustration by Frank Gillett showing the England versus The Original All Blacks Test attended by a then-record crowd of at least 50,000. The New Zealanders won 15–0.
Celebrations at Trafalgar Square after England's 2003 World Cup victory
The England national squad training for the 2007 Rugby World Cup at the University of Bath
The Ireland national rugby union team is the men's representative national team for the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Championship and in the Rugby World Cup. Ireland is one of the four unions that make up the British & Irish Lions – players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions.
First Ireland rugby team: defeated by England on 15 February 1875 at The Oval, by two goals and a try to nil
South Africa and Ireland teams posing together at their 1912 test at Lansdowne Road.
1920 illustration of the Ireland versus Wales match
The Ireland team that played Argentina at Ferro Carril Oeste in 1970