List of rugby union competitions
Name Participants First played Last played Frequency Notes
Rugby World Cup Top 12 teams from previous World Cup ( the top 3 in each group ) plus 8 nations from regional qualifying tournaments 1987 2019 Quadrennial
Women 's Rugby World Cup 12 top national women 's teams 1991 2017 Quadrennial
Six Nations Championship England , France , Ireland , Italy , Scotland , Wales 1883 2019 Annually Originally the Home Nations Championship , then the Five Nations with France 's entry into the competition in 1910 . Became the Six Nations when Italy was added in 2000
Women 's Six Nations Championship England , France , Ireland , Italy , Scotland , Wales 1996 2019 Annually Originally the Home International Championship . Became the Five Nations in 1999 when France joined . Spain was added in 2000 , but Ireland did not play all the other countries in 2000 or 2001 , making the first true Women 's Six Nations the 2002 competition . Spain were replaced by Italy effective in 2007 after the competition was taken over by the ( men 's ) Six Nations committee
The Rugby Championship Argentina ( since 2012 ) , Australia , New Zealand , South Africa 1996 2019 Annually From its inception through 2011 , the competition involved only Australia , New Zealand and South Africa , and was known as the Tri Nations
Rugby Europe Women 's Championship Up to 16 European national teams 1988 2019 Annually Tournament for European women 's national teams . Number of participants varies from year to year . The tournament is often divided into two pools , dependent on playing strength . France and England , when they take part , normally enter A teams
Rugby Europe International Championships 36 European national teams 2000 2019 Annually Excludes European sides in the Six Nations Tournament . Currently played over a single season on a single round-robin basis with the competition split into five divisions , with promotion and relegation
World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup Fiji , Samoa , Tonga 2006 2019 Annually Originally Pacific Five Nations - replaced the Pacific Tri-Nations . The original teams were Australia A , the Junior All Blacks ( New Zealand 's official A side ) , and the three Pacific Island nations . In 2008 , the New Zealand Māori replaced the Junior All Blacks . From 2010-2012 , only the Pacific Island nations and Japan participated who were then joined by Canada and USA . Due to their inclusion in the Quadrangular tournament in South Africa , Samoa did not feature in the 2013 edition of the Pacific Nations Cup. , to the competition in 2014 . Canada , Japan , and the USA withdrew for the 2016 and 2017 editions due to commitments to 2019 Rugby World Cup qualification
World Rugby Pacific Challenge Fiji Warriors , Junior Japan , Samoa A , Tonga A 2006 2019 Annually Originally Pacific Rugby Cup . Introduced in 2006 with two developmental sides each from Fiji , Samoa , and Tonga . Since 2011 , the three Pacific nations have been represented by their A sides , and Junior Japan ( that country 's A side ) joined them as a core team in 2013 . At various times , Super Rugby academy teams and Argentine developmental side Pampas XV have also featured
Nations Cup Varies from year to year ; the participants in the most recent edition in 2016 were Argentina XV , Italy A , Namibia , Romania , Spain , and Uruguay 2006 2019 Annually Argentina XV were formerly known as Argentina A and Argentina Jaguars . The inaugural tournament in 2006 featured Argentina A , Italy A , Portugal and Russia
Americas Rugby Championship Argentina XV , Brazil , Canada , Chile , United States , and Uruguay 2009 2019 Annually Originally involved Canadian regional sides plus a USA developmental side and Argentina XV ( then known as Argentina Jaguars ) . Later editions mostly featured national A sides , though Uruguay normally sent its senior national team . Following a hiatus in 2015 to accommodate that year 's Rugby World Cup , the competition was relaunched in 2016 with its current lineup of teams , all senior national sides except for Argentina XV
Asia Rugby Championship Top three Asian sides 2008 2019 Annually Originally known as the Asian Five Nations ; the inaugural tournament in 2008 featured Japan , Korea , Hong Kong , Kazakhstan and Arabian Gulf . Tournament renamed as Asia Rugby Championship in 2015 , with the top division reduced to three teams playing in a home-and-away Tri Nations format . Yearly promotion and relegation with three lower divisions
International tournaments
The following is a list of notable rugby union competitions that are still currently in existence. This includes both international tournaments played by national Test teams and also domestic club and provincial competitions.