See also: List of top rugby union players by international caps and List of top scoring international rugby union players
According to a 2011 report by the Centre for the International
Business of Sport, over four and a half million people play rugby union
or one of its variants organised by the IRB.[190] This is an increase of 19 percent since the previous report in 2007.[191]
The report also claimed that since 2007 participation has grown by 33
percent in Africa, 22 percent in South America and 18 percent in Asia
and North America.[191]
In 2014 the IRB published a breakdown of the total number of players
worldwide by national unions. It recorded a total of 6.6 million players
globally, of those, 2.36 million were registered members playing for a
club affiliated to their country's union.[2]The most capped international player from the tier 1 nations is former New Zealand openside flanker and captain Richie McCaw who has played in 148 internationals.[192] While the top scoring tier 1 international player is New Zealand's Dan Carter, who has amassed 1442 points during his career.[193] In April 2010 Lithuania which is a second tier rugby nation, broke the record of consecutive international wins for second tier rugby nations. In 2016, the All Blacks of New Zealand set the new record 18 consecutive test wins among tier 1 rugby nations, bettering their previous consecutive run of 17.[194] This record was equalled by England on 11 March 2017 with a win over Scotland at Twickenham.[195]The highest scoring international match between two recognised unions was Hong Kong's 164–13 victory over Singapore on 27 October 1994[196] While the largest winning margin of 152 points is held by two countries, Japan (a 155–3 win over Chinese Taipei) and Argentina (152–0 over Paraguay) both in 2002.[196]
The record attendance for a rugby union game was set on 15 July 2000 in which New Zealand defeated Australia 39–35 in a Bledisloe Cup game at Stadium Australia in Sydney before 109,874 fans.[197] The record attendance for a match in Europe of 104,000 (at the time a world record) was set on 1 March 1975 when Scotland defeated Wales 12–10 at Murrayfield in Edinburgh during the 1975 Five Nations Championship.[197] The record attendance for a domestic club match is 99,124, set when Racing 92 defeated Toulon in the 2016 Top 14 final on 24 June at Camp Nou in Barcelona. The match had been moved from its normal site of Stade de France near Paris due to scheduling conflicts with France's hosting of UEFA Euro 2016.[198]
In culture
Henri Rousseau – The Football Players (1908)
Henri Rousseau's 1908 work Joueurs de football shows two pairs of rugby players competing.[201] Other French artists to have represented the sport in their works include Albert Gleizes' Les Joueurs de football (1912), Robert Delaunay's Football. L'Équipe de Cardiff (1916) and André Lhote's Partie de Rugby (1917).[202] The 1928 Gold Medal for Art at the Antwerp Olympics was won by Luxembourg's Jean Jacoby for his work Rugby.[203]
In film, Ealing Studios' 1949 comedy A Run for Your Money and the 1979 BBC Wales television film Grand Slam both centre on fans attending a match.[204] Films that explore the sport in more detail include independent production Old Scores (1991) and Forever Strong (2008). Invictus (2009), based on John Carlin's book Playing the Enemy, explores the events of the 1995 Rugby World Cup and Nelson Mandela's attempt to use the sport to connect South Africa's people post-apartheid.[205][206]
In public art and sculpture there are many works dedicated to the sport. There is a 27 ft bronze statue of a rugby line-out by pop artist Gerald Laing at Twickenham[207] and one of rugby administrator Sir Tasker Watkins at the Millennium Stadium.[208] Rugby players to have been honoured with statues include Gareth Edwards in Cardiff and Danie Craven in Stellenbosch.[209]
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