The Men In Green
The Ireland national rugby union team is Ireland’s international rugby union team. Ireland stands out from the rest of the world because the one rugby team reporesents both political parts of the island, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
These days home games are played at Landsdowne Road in Dublin, but in the past have been played in Belfast. For 2007 and 2008 during the demolition of Landsdowne Road home games will be played at Croke Park (headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Assocation - GAA).
Ireland play in the Six Nations, having won only one Grand Slam but won the Triple Crown eight times, most recently in 2006. However, they have received the wooden spoon for finishing bottom of the Championship table on thirty occasions!!
The side wears the traditional Irish green shirt and white shorts at all its home games except against South Africa when they wear the second strip which is a reversal of those colors: white top with darker forest green shorts. As of 2005 the strip is made by Canterbury of New Zealand and from June 2006 bears the sponsorship of O2.