The top level of competition in the Irish rugby union system is the Pro12 (currently known for sponsorship purposes as the RaboDirect Pro12), a league of professional teams originally from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales that expanded to include two Italian teams in the 2010–11 season. Ireland currently has four entries in the RaboDirect Pro12.
Ireland also has a domestic competition the All Ireland League and Provincial Leagues run by the different provincial branches of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU).
Read more about Irish Rugby Union System: RaboDirect Pro12, All Ireland League, Provincial Leagues
Famous quotes containing the words irish, union and/or system:
“I went to a very militantly Republican grammar school and, under its influence, began to revolt against the Establishment, on the simple rule of thumb, highly satisfying to a ten-year-old, that Irish equals good, English equals bad.”
—Bernadette Devlin (b. 1947)
“You can no more keep a martini in the refrigerator than you can keep a kiss there. The proper union of gin and vermouth is a great and sudden glory; it is one of the happiest marriages on earth, and one of the shortest-lived.”
—Bernard Devoto (1897–1955)
“A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true.”
—Socrates (469–399 B.C.)