Georgia Rugby Union

The Georgian Rugby Union (GRU) (Georgian: საქართველოს რაგბის კავშირი) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in the nation of Georgia. Founded in 1964, it was part of the Rugby Union of the Soviet Union until 1991, with the Independent Georgian Rugby Union being established on May 27, 1991. It organizes the Georgia Championship, Georgia Cup, the Georgia national rugby union team and the Georgia A national rugby union team. It became affiliated to World Rugby, then known as the International Rugby Football Board, in 1992. It is based in Tbilisi.

See also

External links

Georgia Rugby Union (United States)

The Georgia Rugby Union (GRU) is the Local Area Union (LAU) for rugby union teams in the U.S. state of Georgia and other parts of the Southeastern United States. The GRU is part of USA Rugby. It is a non-profit organization and is the primary overseeing body for the promotion of rugby union in the region. The GRU has been in existence since perhaps as early as 1978.

The GRU is divided into four divisions: Senior Men, Senior Women, College Men, and College Women. The union includes clubs from across Georgia.

References

Related links

Rugby union

Rugby union, or simply rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line.

In 1845, the first football laws were written by Rugby School pupils; other significant events in the early development of rugby include the Blackheath Club's decision to leave the Football Association in 1863 and the split between rugby union and rugby league in 1895. Historically an amateur sport, in 1995 restrictions on payments to players were removed, making the game openly professional at the highest level for the first time.

World Rugby, originally the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) and from 1998 to 2014 the International Rugby Board (IRB), has been the governing body for rugby union since 1886. Rugby union spread from the Home Nations of Great Britain and Ireland, and was absorbed by many of the countries associated with the British Empire. Early exponents of the sport included Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France. Countries that have adopted rugby union as their de facto national sport include Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga and Wales. Rugby union is played in over 100 countries across six continents; there are 101 full members and 18 associate members of World Rugby.