Bristol Rugby is a rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 club based in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, England. The club currently plays in the RFU Championship

RFU Championship

The RFU Championship replaced National Division One as the second tier in the English rugby union system in September 2009. Unlike National Division One, which is semi-professional, the RFU Championship is a fully professional league.-History:...

 and competes in the British and Irish Cup

British and Irish Cup

The British and Irish Cup is a semi-professional northern hemisphere rugby union competition. It took place for the first time in the 2009/10 season...

. They rely in large part on the many junior rugby clubs in the region, particularly those from 'the Combination'

Bristol and District Rugby Football Combination

The Bristol and District Rugby Football Combination is an organisation for the promotion of junior rugby union in the city of Bristol, England....

. Significant players it has produced have include Tom Richards, who played for both the British Isles

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

 and Australia

Australia national rugby union team

The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

, Sam Tucker

Sam Tucker

Sam Tucker was a rugby union international who represented England from 1922 to 1931. He also captained his country.-Rugby union career:Tucker made his international debut on 21 January 1922 at Cardiff Arms Park in the Wales vs England match....

, John Blake, John Pullin

John Pullin

John Vivian Pullin is a former England international rugby union player. A hooker, he played club rugby for Bristol RFC and captained the England national rugby union team for which he played 42 times between 1966 and 1976...

 and Alan Morley

Alan Morley

Alan John Morley MBE is a former English rugby union player. He played a record number of 519 times for Bristol Rugby, scoring 384 tries, between 1968 and 1986. He holds the world record for the number of tries scored in first class rugby, at 479...

. In the professional era several international stars have played for Bristol, including Argentina's

Argentina national rugby union team

The Argentina national rugby team, nicknamed Los Pumas, represents Argentina in international rugby union matches. The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union .Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British...

 Agustín Pichot

Agustín Pichot

Agustín Pichot is a retired Argentine rugby union player, formerly captain of the Argentine team and the English club Bristol. In addition to Bristol, he played for French sides Stade Français and Racing Métro after leaving Argentine team CASI from San Isidro in 1997...

 and Felipe Contepomi

Felipe Contepomi

Felipe Contepomi is an Argentine rugby union footballer. A fly-half and centre, he currently plays for Stade Francais of the French Top 14; he made his debut for the club in November 2009 after recovering from a torn ACL suffered in a 2008–09 Heineken Cup match with his previous club, Magners...

, Jason Little, double World Cup winner with Australia

Australia national rugby union team

The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

, and Gareth Llewellyn

Gareth Llewellyn

Gareth Llewellyn was born 27 February 1969 in St. David's Hospital Cardiff whilst his father was serving in Cardiff with the Army, is a Welsh rugby union player who gained a record 92 caps for Wales as a lock. His record for Wales caps has since been surpassed by Gareth Thomas, Colin Charvis,...

, until 2007 the most-capped player ever for Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

.
Bristol Football Club was formed in 1888 when the Carlton club merged with rival club Redland

Redland, Bristol

Redland is an affluent suburb in Bristol, England. The suburb is situated between Clifton, Cotham, Bishopston and Westbury Park. The boundaries of the district are not precisely defined, but are generally taken to be Whiteladies Road in the west, the Severn Beach railway line in the south and...

 Park to create a united Bristol team.