World Rugby

One of the oldest International Federations of any sport, World Rugby was formed by representatives of Ireland, Scotland and Wales as the International Rugby Football Board in 1886. England joined in 1890 but membership remained at just four members until the admission of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in 1949. France joined in 1978 but it was not until the mid 1980s that the organization embraced membership from the less developed rugby nations. The Board organized the first Rugby World Cup in 1987 and seven years later it received IOC approval. After successful lobbying by the newly renamed World Rugby the seven a side variant of the game was accepted into the Olympic programme in 2016 in Rio.

Known as International Rugby Football Board from 1886 to 1996 and as International Rugby Board 1996 to 2014. The members provided the chairman in yearly rotation up to 1996.