Irish Universities Rugby Union
Encyclopedia
The Irish Universities Rugby Union (IURU) is the representative body for university rugby union
in Ireland. The union was established by and consists of five members; University College Dublin RFC, Dublin University FC, Queen's University RFC
, University College Cork RFC
, and University College Galway R.F.C.
. The University of Limerick
did participate in the IURU for a number of years but has left the union and no longer competes in any competitions organised by the IURU.
The IURU organizes the Irish Universities Representative Rugby Team which competes annually on tour and against touring and invitational teams. The Irish Universities has played against full test teams, eg against the All Blacks
in 1978 and beat the Springboks in 1965 in Thomond Park. Since the advent of professional rugby, test matches against full senior international sides have become a thing of the past, however the IURU continues to arrange international fixtures. In the 2010/2011 Season, the Combined Universities of Ireland will play UCDRFC as part of UCDRFC's centenary celebrations. This game will take place on Friday 5th of November, 2010 in Belfield, UCD.
The IURU also organizes two domestic tournaments of varying success; The Dudley Cup is the senior inter university competition founded over one hundred years ago with University College Cork taking the most titles. In recent years it is often not completed due to time constrictions placed on the clubs due to AIB League
commitments. The initial proposal for the Dudley Cup in 2009/2010 was to play on the weekend of 13 February 2010 in format similar to the Conroy Cup. Unfortunately the inclement weather over the Christmas/New Year period meant that a number of AIL fixtures were rescheduled for the weekend designated and as a result the Dudley Cup in the proposed format had to be abandoned. However a solution was arrived at. Queens University Belfast had played UCC RFC earlier in the season as part of the AIB Cup. It was agreed by all clubs that this match be considered a Dudley Cup semi-final and that the Colours match between DUFC
and UCD RFC be considered the second semi-final. As a consequence and based on the results of the respective fixtures, UCD played QUB in Dublin on 24 April, 2010 in the final of the Dudley Cup, with UCD running out eventual winners and retaining the Dudley Cup for the second year in a row. The Dudley Cup in 2010/2011 is being held on Saturday 25th of September in College Park in Trinity College, Dublin.
The Conroy Cup is the U-20s level tournament. It is played over a weekend hosted by one of the member universities. It is significantly more successful then the Dudley Cup due to U-20 teams not having AIL commitments. Unlike the Dudley Cup, University College Galway R.F.C.
takes part in this competition. The Conroy Cup for season 2009/2010 was held on the weekend of the 17-18 of October, 2009 in UCC. Four of the five Universities competed, Once again the Conroy was fiercely contested and the eventual winners were UCD having beating UCC in the final. In the 2010/2011 season the Conroy Cup is being hosted by UCDRFC on the weekend of the 23/24 of October and is a key feature of UCDRFC's centenary celebrations.
The first ever junior intervarsity competition for junior university teams took place on 27 March, 2010 and was hosted by NUI Galway. NUI Galway (1st / 2nd XV), UCC RFC (3rd XV) and UCD RFC (4th XV) all competed for the Maughan/Scally Cup, which is named after to former members of UCD RFC who were great supporters of junior rugby. NUI Galway were the eventual winners having beaten UCC RFC and drawing against UCD RFC.
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...
in Ireland. The union was established by and consists of five members; University College Dublin RFC, Dublin University FC, Queen's University RFC
Queen's University RFC
Queen's University Rugby Football Club is the rugby union team of Queen's University Belfast. Founded in 1869, it is the second oldest rugby union club in Northern Ireland . They originally played as Queen's College, Belfast and have won the Ulster Senior Cup a record 21 times...
, University College Cork RFC
University College Cork RFC
University College Cork Rugby Football Club is the rugby union team of University College Cork, based in Cork in the Republic of Ireland. They currently play in Division 1B of the AIB League. Founded in 1872, they originally played as Queen’s College Cork, as UCC was then known. Recent successes...
, and University College Galway R.F.C.
University College Galway R.F.C.
University College Galway RFC is the rugby team of the National University of Ireland, Galway. Their colours are maroon and white. Although they have had a dip in form in recent years and are not currently competing in the AIB League , they have won more Connacht Senior Cup titles than any other...
. The University of Limerick
University of Limerick
The University of Limerick is a university in Ireland near the city of Limerick on the island's west coast. It was established in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick and became a university by statute in 1989 in accordance with the University of Limerick Act 1989...
did participate in the IURU for a number of years but has left the union and no longer competes in any competitions organised by the IURU.
The IURU organizes the Irish Universities Representative Rugby Team which competes annually on tour and against touring and invitational teams. The Irish Universities has played against full test teams, eg against the All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
in 1978 and beat the Springboks in 1965 in Thomond Park. Since the advent of professional rugby, test matches against full senior international sides have become a thing of the past, however the IURU continues to arrange international fixtures. In the 2010/2011 Season, the Combined Universities of Ireland will play UCDRFC as part of UCDRFC's centenary celebrations. This game will take place on Friday 5th of November, 2010 in Belfield, UCD.
The IURU also organizes two domestic tournaments of varying success; The Dudley Cup is the senior inter university competition founded over one hundred years ago with University College Cork taking the most titles. In recent years it is often not completed due to time constrictions placed on the clubs due to AIB League
AIB League
The Ulster Bank All-Ireland League is the national league system for the 48 senior rugby union clubs in Ireland, covering both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is not, however, the highest level of rugby union in Ireland, as teams representing the four provinces of Ireland play...
commitments. The initial proposal for the Dudley Cup in 2009/2010 was to play on the weekend of 13 February 2010 in format similar to the Conroy Cup. Unfortunately the inclement weather over the Christmas/New Year period meant that a number of AIL fixtures were rescheduled for the weekend designated and as a result the Dudley Cup in the proposed format had to be abandoned. However a solution was arrived at. Queens University Belfast had played UCC RFC earlier in the season as part of the AIB Cup. It was agreed by all clubs that this match be considered a Dudley Cup semi-final and that the Colours match between DUFC
Dublin University Football Club
Dublin University Football Club is the rugby union club of the University of Dublin, Trinity College, in Dublin, Ireland.-History:...
and UCD RFC be considered the second semi-final. As a consequence and based on the results of the respective fixtures, UCD played QUB in Dublin on 24 April, 2010 in the final of the Dudley Cup, with UCD running out eventual winners and retaining the Dudley Cup for the second year in a row. The Dudley Cup in 2010/2011 is being held on Saturday 25th of September in College Park in Trinity College, Dublin.
The Conroy Cup is the U-20s level tournament. It is played over a weekend hosted by one of the member universities. It is significantly more successful then the Dudley Cup due to U-20 teams not having AIL commitments. Unlike the Dudley Cup, University College Galway R.F.C.
University College Galway R.F.C.
University College Galway RFC is the rugby team of the National University of Ireland, Galway. Their colours are maroon and white. Although they have had a dip in form in recent years and are not currently competing in the AIB League , they have won more Connacht Senior Cup titles than any other...
takes part in this competition. The Conroy Cup for season 2009/2010 was held on the weekend of the 17-18 of October, 2009 in UCC. Four of the five Universities competed, Once again the Conroy was fiercely contested and the eventual winners were UCD having beating UCC in the final. In the 2010/2011 season the Conroy Cup is being hosted by UCDRFC on the weekend of the 23/24 of October and is a key feature of UCDRFC's centenary celebrations.
The first ever junior intervarsity competition for junior university teams took place on 27 March, 2010 and was hosted by NUI Galway. NUI Galway (1st / 2nd XV), UCC RFC (3rd XV) and UCD RFC (4th XV) all competed for the Maughan/Scally Cup, which is named after to former members of UCD RFC who were great supporters of junior rugby. NUI Galway were the eventual winners having beaten UCC RFC and drawing against UCD RFC.