Rugby union in South Africa Rugby union in South Africa Rugby union in South Africa is a very popular team sport, along with cricket and football, and is widely played all over the country. The National team is among the strongest in the world and has been ranked in the top seven of the World Rugby Rankings since its inception in 2003. The country hosted and won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and won again the 2007 tournament in France. Given South Africa's history, as with much else in South Africa, the organisation and playing of rugby has been entangled with politics, and racial politics
Rugby League World Cup competition (Australia eleven times, Great Britain three times and New Zealand once). Australia, France and New Zealand are the only teams to have played in all tournaments (Great Britain has been split into England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland since 1995, while England and Wales had previously competed as separate teams in the 1975 World Cup). Since 2000, the RLIF has also organised World Cups for women, students and other categories. The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was held in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea which was won by Australia. The Rugby League World Cup was an initiative of