Ireland is set to host the 2024 British & Irish Cup at University College Dublin on the 24th and 25th of August. Below is your comprehensive guide to the competition, the teams, and the event!
What is the British & Irish (B&I) Cup
The B&I Cup is the annual competition between tag teams representing Ireland and Great Britain. The competition has run since 2014, and each nation takes turns hosting the competition. The 2023 edition was held in London in June 2023, so it's Ireland's turn this time around.
What are the categories?
Ireland and Great Britain will each enter 8 teams into the competition - one in each of 10 age- and sex-based categories. Those categories are:
Men's Open (Men of any age)
Men's Seniors (Men aged 28+)
Men's Masters (Men aged 38+)
Women's Open (Women of any age)
Women's Seniors (Women aged 27+)
Women's Masters (Women aged 35+)
Mixed Open (Men & Women of any age)
Mixed Senior (Men aged 31+, Women aged 28+)
The nations will also enter newly established teams into exhibition categories:
Men's 50s
Men's U23
Women's U23
How does it work?
The 8 teams named above will play each other 5 times over the course of two days. The team that wins the majority of the games in the category will claim a category win on behalf of their nation.
All games are full 40-min tests with a 5-min half-time break. Unlike social tag rugby they are played 8-a-side, with an enhanced set of international tag laws.
Each squad is allowed up to 20 players. Teams will typically use 16-18 players in a game to let players rotate and rest. Teams have been selected following a 6-month international programme which began with an open trial in January, leading to the selection of a broader panel in February.
The overall winner of the compeition is the nation with the most category wins. In the event of a draw, the results of each match will be taken into account and the nation with the most wins will be declared the winner.
The exhibition categories work slightly differently: the Men's 50s play three tests on the Saturday only, while the Men's and Women's U23s play two tests in single-sex format and one combined game as a mixed team on the Saturday only.
Can I attend?
Spectators are invited and encouraged to attend and support their team-mates, friends, family, or simply their fellow countrymen and countrywomen. The event is unticketed and attendance is free.
The event takes place on the Billings Park grass pitches in front of the UCD sports centre. Parking is available in a number of nearby lots (here and here) but is limited due to construction work and you are encouraged to avail of public transport if you are in a position to do so.
Toilets, a cafe, water, and a quiet place to relax are all located in the UCD Sports Centre just next to the pitches.
Please note that dogs are not permitted on the UCD sports pitches.
The schedule for the event is below:
Can I watch or follow the games online?
If you can't attend the event in person but would still like to tune in, you'll be able to follow a live stream on the ITRA YouTube channel. All games on Pitch 1 will be live-streamed with commentary, while all games on Pitch 2 will be live-streamed with referee mics. Games on Pitch 3 will not be streamed but will be recorded on our Veo cameras for future uploading.
Scores and regular tournament updates will be shared from our Instagram page.
Who is playing?
Ireland's full team lists are named on our Instagram account:
(Women's 23s to be named in August)
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