Northern Ireland 2016. The six counties of Northern Ireland are among the nine governed by the Ulster branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union, the governing body of rugby union in Ireland. Ulster is one of the four professional provincial teams in Ireland and competes in the Pro14 and European Cup. It won the European Cup in 1999. In international competitions, the Ireland national rugby union team's recent successes include four Triple Crowns between 2004 and 2009 and a Grand Slam in 2009 in the Six Nations Championship. Northern Ireland plays as the Ireland cricket team which represents both Northern Ireland and
2000 Six Nations Championship and finished in sixth place. The teams involved were: 2000 Six Nations Championship The 2000 Six Nations Championship was the first series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, following the inclusion of Italy into the Five Nations championship. It was the 106th international championship overall. The championship was won by England. England won their first four games and met winless Scotland in their final match. Scotland earned a surprising victory and denied England the Grand Slam. Italy won their first game in the championship with a surprising 34–20 win over Scotland, who had won the previous year's Five Nations.