Sport in the United Kingdom World Cup in conjunction with the other Home Nations. In 2015, England hosted the Rugby World Cup; however, some games were played in Wales. In the 2011 Rugby World Cup Wales was the only home nation to progress beyond the Quarter Finals. Rugby union has a number of heartlands, notably South Wales, the Scottish Borders, the English West Country, London and the Midlands. Rugby union is generally regarded as the national sport of Wales. England organises its own national league in Premiership Rugby, which is launching the Premiership Rugby Cup in 2018–19 to replace the former Anglo-Welsh Cup, which had
Sport in Ireland a crucial match in the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in Wales. Paul McGinley captained the winning European team for the 2014 Ryder Cup. Cricket in Ireland is a minority sport. It has been played in Ireland since the early 19th century, and the game against Scotland (a match which has first-class status) has been played annually since 1909. The sport is organised on an all-island basis and is overseen by the Irish Cricket Union, founded in its present incarnation in 1923. Ireland has entered some domestic English tournaments since the early 1980s, but becoming an Associate Member of