The International Rugby Board (IRB) was founded in 1886. With its headquarters in Dublin, the IRB is the world governing and Law making body for the game of Rugby Union. The day to day business of the Board is conducted by a professional staff of over 50, the majority of whom are based in Dublin. There are 8 Regional Development Managers, High Performance Managers and Regional General Managers working in Europe, Asia, Africa,The Americas and Oceania.

Rugby is played by men and women, boys and girls, in more that 100 countries across 5 continents. The IRB membership currently totals 96 Unions in full membership, 19 Associate members and six Regional Associations.

The IRB Council, under the Chairmanship of Bernard Lapasset, meets twice a year. It consists of the eight foundations Unions each with two seats - Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France. Argentina, Canada, Italy and Japan each have one seat on the Council as do all the Regional Associations.

The Executive Committee meets on a regular basis in order to formulate and oversee the implementation of the IRB Strategic Plan, monitor performance and implement good corporate governance principles and practices.

The full membership meets at a General Meeting convened every two years. Regional meetings are held at regular intervals.

There are a number of tournaments under IRB control, including the Womens Rugby World Cup, Rugby World Cup Sevens, IRB Sevens, IRB Junior World Championship, IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy and IRB Nations Cup. The principal IRB property is, however, Rugby World Cup.

Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup (RWC) is the financial engine which drives the development of the game world-wide. The revenues from RWC provide the IRB with the funds which are distributed to the Member Unions to aid and assist them in the expansion and development of the game.

Rugby World Cup Ltd, under the control and direction of the IRB, is the owner of all rights associated with the Tournament.

The inaugural Rugby World Cup was held in New Zealand and Australia in 1987. The first winners of the Webb Ellis Cup were New Zealand. In 1991 Australia were the winners at Twickenham; South Africa, as hosts, were the winners in 1995; in 1999 Australia won the Cup for a second time at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

2003 saw the first northern hemisphere winners - England - in Sydney, but the trophy returned south in 2007 when South Africa became the first team to win two Rugby World Cups in the Stade de France, Saint-Denis. 

RWC has now become established as the third most important sporting event behind the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup.