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British Isles Rugby Union Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
British Isles Rugby Union Quizzes, Trivia

British Isles Rugby Union Trivia

British Isles Rugby Union Trivia Quizzes

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Fun Trivia
6 quizzes and 60 trivia questions.
1.
  The European Stage Part 4    
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
Almost since European club competitions began have teams from the British Isles been successful in them. Can you match these English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish rugby teams with their opponents in their first European final appearance?
Tough, 10 Qns, Red_John, Oct 19 20
Tough
Red_John
Oct 19 20
61 plays
2.
  The European Stage Part 3    
Match Quiz
 10 Qns
Following on from Parts 1 and 2, which look at British football teams in Europe, can you match these English rugby teams with their opponents in their first European final appearance?
Average, 10 Qns, Red_John, Oct 18 20
Average
Red_John
Oct 18 20
63 plays
3.
  Rugby's Celtic League    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
The Celtic League was a rugby union competition featuring sides from across the west of Europe. Good luck!
Average, 10 Qns, jonnowales, Aug 30 11
Average
jonnowales gold member
163 plays
4.
  British Isles Rugby Heroes    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This quiz is about some of the all-time greats of British and Irish Rugby Union players from the 1960s to the present day. I hope you find the quiz enjoyable and with memories of the achievements of these players.
Average, 10 Qns, bracklaman, Jun 04 04
Average
bracklaman
984 plays
5.
  Hooligan's Game Played by Gentlemen    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This is a general quiz about rugby. Questions will cover both codes, but the quiz is almost exclusively UK based.
Difficult, 10 Qns, romeomikegolf, Apr 07 08
Difficult
romeomikegolf gold member
498 plays
6.
  British Isles Rugby Union    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Quiz to test your knowledge on British and Irish Rugby Union.
Tough, 10 Qns, ajarman4, Jul 13 06
Tough
ajarman4
2298 plays

British Isles Rugby Union Trivia Questions
1. The Celtic League was founded in 2001 with teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The competition expanded in 2010 upon the introduction of two teams from which country?

From Quiz Rugby's Celtic League

Answer: Italy

As can be seen from its name, the Celtic League was initially contested by sides from the three Celtic nations: Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Upon the introduction of two Italian teams, Aironi and Benetton Treviso, the Celtic League became a somewhat inappropriate name for the competition. The name lingered on but the competition was already far better known as the Magners League by the time of Italian involvement.

2. In which city were the Barbarians RFC formed?

From Quiz Hooligan's Game Played by Gentlemen

Answer: Bradford

Back in 1890, almost every rugby club stopped playing in early March and packed up for the summer. A man named William Percy Carpmael came up with the idea of putting together a touring side with members from different clubs. At the time, he sat in Leuchters Restaurant in Bradford. The idea soon caught on, and the world's greatest team without a ground or clubhouse came into being. The Barbarians had been born.

3. Which team beat England in the first ever 6 Nations championship to deny them the Grand Slam?

From Quiz British Isles Rugby Union

Answer: Scotland

4. The Celtic League had strong competition from other leagues in the Northern Hemisphere upon its inauguration in 2001. One such league was the Top 14, the premier club rugby competition of what country?

From Quiz Rugby's Celtic League

Answer: France

In comparison to the very new Celtic League, France's Top 14 had already celebrated its 100th anniversary. The Top 14, instituted in 1892, was one of the oldest competitions in the world predating the modern Summer Olympic Games by four years and the Winter Olympic Games by 32 years.

5. Which rugby league side was the first to win all of its league games in a season?

From Quiz Hooligan's Game Played by Gentlemen

Answer: Hull Kingston Rovers

As with quite a lot of rugby league sides, Hull KR started out playing union. In the season 1897-98, they switched codes. The following season they won all 17 league matches they played.

6. This well known Scottish and British Lions lock was the son of a Scottish international goalkeeper, and the younger brother of another Scottish Rugby Union forward. Who was he?

From Quiz British Isles Rugby Heroes

Answer: Gordon Brown

Gordon Lamont Brown b. 1st November 1947. A true sporting gentleman. He toured with the British Lions on 3 separate occasions (NZ 1971 & 1977, SA 1974) playing in 8 Tests. He was capped by Scotland 30 times (1969 - 1976). Uniquely, at the time, he replaced his injured brother Peter Brown (Captain of Scotland), during a match in 1970.

7. Who was the first player in the world to have scored more than 1,000 points in international rugby?

From Quiz British Isles Rugby Union

Answer: Neil Jenkins

Hit his 1,000th point against England in the 6 Nations (2001), although Wales went on to lose 12-44.

8. The Irish provinces dominated the first season of the Celtic League in 2001. Which province (in which Dublin in situated), won the inaugural season?

From Quiz Rugby's Celtic League

Answer: Leinster

After getting off to a magnificent start, Leinster struggled to replicate their achievement in later years. The provincial team would have to wait another six seasons before lifting the trophy for a second time, coming second to neighbouring Ulster between the two victories.

9. Who scored the winning try for Scotland in the 1990 5 Nations Grand Slam decider?

From Quiz British Isles Rugby Union

Answer: Tony Stanger

Scott Gibbs gave Scotland the 1999 5 Nations crown by scoring against England in the final game.

10. Dan Parks is one of the few players to score over one thousand points during a Celtic League career. With much of his points coming from kicks at goal, what position did Dan Parks usually play?

From Quiz Rugby's Celtic League

Answer: Fly Half

Dan Parks, although born in Australia, represented Scotland in international Test matches and the Glasgow Warriors for many years. Parks mainly played in the fly half position, the player who receives the pass from the scrum half at breakdowns, rucks and mauls. The fly half position is one of the most pressurised in rugby union, with the player having to make many of the key decisions during a match. Such decisions involve choosing whether to run with ball in hand, to pass to players down the line or to kick the ball to gain territory. With precision kicks being required in open play, the fly half usually has the best kicking skills of all the players on the team and will thus have the responsibility of kicking penalties and conversions.

11. In which country was the first rugby league World Cup held?

From Quiz Hooligan's Game Played by Gentlemen

Answer: France

The first tournament was held in France in 1954, the first World Cup of either code. The French had been campaigning for a World Cup since 1935, and the idea gained momentum in 1951-52. At a meeting in 1953, the International Board agreed that France should be the inaugural hosts the following year. On November 13, 1954, Great Britain defeated France in the final.

12. He represented Wales as a sprinter in the 1970 Commonwealth Games. As a winger he scored 12 tries for Wales in 30 consecutive matches between 1973 and 1979. Chosen for two British Lions Tours. Who was he?

From Quiz British Isles Rugby Heroes

Answer: J J Williams

JJ Williams born 1st April 1948, in Nantyffyllon Bridgend. Against the Springboks for the Lions, he scored two tries in two test matches to set a then world record.

13. Who on his Welsh debut, got sin-binned within one minute of taking the field?

From Quiz British Isles Rugby Union

Answer: James Griffiths

A harsh decision, I think the HUGE Samoan deserved it!

14. The marketing and general look of the Celtic League changed in 2006 when an Irish company became a sponsor of the competition. What was the Celtic League commonly known as in the period 2006-2011?

From Quiz Rugby's Celtic League

Answer: Magners League

The Magners name became so strongly associated with the competition that the official name, the Celtic League, fell almost entirely out of use. When the Magners Irish Cider company's sponsorship of the league came to an end, the elegant green, black and yellow marketing colour scheme fell out of use. It was replaced by the blue, white and orange of RaboDirect, an Irish bank.

15. In 1974, the Irish Rugby Union celebrated its centenary. Who was captain of the national side for the whole of that season?

From Quiz Hooligan's Game Played by Gentlemen

Answer: Willie John McBride

McBride played a total of 63 international matches for Ireland between 1962 and 1975. He also played for the British and Irish Lions 17 times. In 1997, he was one of the first inductees into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, and in 2004, the magazine 'Rugby World' voted him Heineken Rugby Personality of the Century.

16. Another "thinking prop", he was first capped by England in 1971, and he went on to become England's most capped prop before poor health ended his career.

From Quiz British Isles Rugby Heroes

Answer: Fran Cotton

Francis Edward Cotton born Wigan Lancashire 3rd January 1947. His father was an England Rugby League International. He later became a senior member of the England RU set up.

17. Who famously drop kicked England to an outstanding victory over Australia in 1995?

From Quiz British Isles Rugby Union

Answer: Rob Andrew

18. Who has won the most caps for England?

From Quiz British Isles Rugby Union

Answer: Jason Leonard

Broke the record against Argentina and still going strong.

19. The Scottish sides competing in the Celtic League haven't had the same success as their Irish and Welsh counterparts. It took eight seasons before a Scottish side finished in the top two. What area of Scotland did that team represent?

From Quiz Rugby's Celtic League

Answer: Edinburgh

Edinburgh became the first Scottish side to finish the season in either of the top two positions on the Celtic League table. They were beaten to the 2008-09 title by Munster, the Irish team who had previously won the competition in 2002-03.

20. Between 1965 and 1980, the BBC televised an evening rugby league tournament on Tuesdays for the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy. The 1974-75 final ended in a 0-0 draw, the first time the match ended in a tie. Which two clubs were involved in this game?

From Quiz Hooligan's Game Played by Gentlemen

Answer: Salford and Warrington

The tournament was devised exclusively for television, and David Attenborough, the then director of BBC2, was instrumental in setting it up. When the competition started, not many clubs had floodlights, but 21 clubs installed them because of it. In the replay of the 1974-75 final, Salford beat Warrington 10-5.

21. Who was the first choice Hooker for the Lions on the 1997 tour of South Africa?

From Quiz British Isles Rugby Union

Answer: Keith Wood

22. The Ospreys, a regional team from Wales, were winners of the Celtic League on multiple occasions. For many years the Ospreys used the Liberty Stadium as their home ground thus sharing it with which professional football team?

From Quiz Rugby's Celtic League

Answer: Swansea City

The Ospreys were one of the four Welsh regions that regularly took part in the Celtic League, the other three being the Scarlets, the Dragons and the Blues. The Ospreys represented Neath, Swansea, Bridgend and the surrounding areas of central south Wales. They shared the Liberty Stadium with Swansea City, a professional football team that became the first Welsh side ever to compete in the Premier League. In addition to the aforementioned Welsh regional teams, another Welsh team took part in the 2003-04 season and that was the ill-fated Celtic Warriors (they lasted one season and folded). Their home gorund was taken over by the newly formed rugby league club, Celtic Crusaders (formed in 2005).

23. Which Irish rugby union international was also a former head of H.J.Heinz?

From Quiz Hooligan's Game Played by Gentlemen

Answer: Tony O'Reilly

Dr. Anthony Joseph Francis O'Reilly KBE was born in Dublin in 1936. As a rugby player he appeared for Leicester Tigers and London Irish as well as the national side and the British and Irish Lions touring team. He joined H.J. Heinz in 1969 and moved to the American headquarters in 1971. He became chairman of the company in 1987, the first non-Heinz family member to hold the position. He stayed with the company until 1998. His doctorate is in agricultural marketing.

24. When was the last time Wales won the 5 Nations championship?

From Quiz British Isles Rugby Union

Answer: 1994

25. Nigel Owens, Alain Rolland and George Clancy all featured in the Celtic League in what capacity?

From Quiz Rugby's Celtic League

Answer: Referee

The role of the referee is vital but the nature of the job makes it impossible to please everybody and extremely likely to please nobody. Referees are in a special group of people that include tax inspectors, traffic wardens and politicians - they are the group that people love to hate. Nigel Owens, Alain Rolland and George Clancy were amongst the best referees to regularly officiate a Celtic League match. All three had experience at international level with Alain Rolland taking charge of the final of the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.

26. A free scoring England test cricketer, who was a double international for England also being capped as an outside half in 1956?

From Quiz British Isles Rugby Heroes

Answer: Mike Smith

He was also a double Blue at Oxford University at Cricket and Rugby. He was England Cricket Captain for 25 matches between 1963 - 1966.

27. Who captained the 1997 Lions?

From Quiz British Isles Rugby Union

Answer: Martin Johnson

A man mountain.

28. In 2011 the official sponsor of the Celtic League changed from an Irish cider company to an Irish bank. Due to the new sponsor, what was the Celtic League also known as for the 2011-12 season?

From Quiz Rugby's Celtic League

Answer: RaboDirect Pro12

The Celtic League, after being known as the Magners League for five years, became the RaboDirect Pro12 for the 2011-12 season. Whilst the latter name is not as catchy as the former, the name change brought the competition in line with other rugby union tournaments such as France's Top 14 and the Southern Hemisphere's Super XV.

29. Who was the first rugby union player to kick 8 penalty goals in a single match?

From Quiz Hooligan's Game Played by Gentlemen

Answer: Mark Wyatt

Mark Wyatt played for Canada between 1982 and 1991. He was able to play at either fly half or full back, and had the ability to produce accurate kicks with either foot. His feat of 8 penalties was achieved in his final season in a game against Scotland.

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