Ireland national rugby union team

The Ireland 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 compete 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 Ireland players have earned induction into the International Rugby Hall of Fame.

Ireland's highest ever performance in the IRB World Rankings is third which they reached in 2006. They currently lie in eighth position after a disappointing 2008 Six Nations campaign, in which they finished fourth, and an early exit in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Shortly after the end of the Six Nations, coach Eddie O'Sullivan resigned his position.