Irish Rugby | IrishCentral

O'Driscoll intercept try versus Munster

Geordan Murphy's try for Leicester v Cardiff Blues in the Heineken Cup semifinal May 3

Highlights from Ireland's Grand Slam in the 2009 RBS Six Nations Championship

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The Irish rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union, which is a popular sport throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, though only dominant in limited geographical areas. Ireland competes annually in the Six Nations Championship (which they have won ten times outright and of which they have shared the championship eight times) and in the Rugby World Cup every four years where they have been eliminated at the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions (1999 and 2007). They also form a quarter of the British and Irish Lions. Eight former Irish rugby players have earned induction into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, with Jack Kyle also having earned induction into the IRB Hall of Fame. Historically, Irish rugby teams have been less successful then their British neighbors, with the fewer Six Nations Championships (10) and Grand Slams (one). However, the Irish rugby union is widely acknowledged to have made the transition to professionalism more successfully than other middle-ranking rugby powers, and Ireland has produced good results, especially for an island with a population of just six million with strong competition for players with Gaelic games and football. They won three Triple Crowns in the four years from 2004 through 2007. Outside center Brian O'Driscoll, the current captain and Ireland's current all-time leading try scorer, has been frequently named the finest rugby player in the world. Other world-class Irish rugby players on the side include center Gordon D'Arcy; prop Marcus Horan; lock, Paul O'Connell; out half and all-time leading Ireland points scorer Ronan O'Gara; back row forward, David Wallace; winger, Shane Horgan . In the recent past, Keith Wood, O'Driscoll's predecessor as Ireland captain before retiring in 2003, was the inaugural IRB International Player of the Year in 2001. Ireland's highest ever performance in the IRB World Rankings is third, which they reached in 2006. They currently lie in eighth position after an early exit in the 2007 Rugby World Cup and a disappointing 2008 Six Nations campaign, in which they finished fourth. Shortly after the end of the Six Nations, head coach Eddie O'Sullivan resigned his position.

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