Foundation of National Unions/Federations

• 1871 (England) Rugby Football Union (RFU)
  
  
• 1873 Scottish Rugby Union
  
  
• 1874 Southern (Australian) Rugby Union (later New South Wales Rugby Union)
  
  
• 1879 Irish Rugby Football Union (a merger of two Irish unions both formed in 1874)
  
  
• 1880 Welsh Rugby Union
  
  
• 1883 Northern (Australian) Rugby Union (later Queensland Rugby Union)
  
  
• 1889 South African Rugby Board
  
  
• 1892 New Zealand Rugby Football Union
  
  
• 1895 Rhodesia Rugby Football Union (Zimbabwe RFU after 1980)
  
  
• 1899 Argentinian Rugby Union
  
  
• 1913 Fijian Rugby Union
  
  
• 1919 French Rugby Federation
  
  
• 1923 Spanish Rugby Federation
  
  
• 1923 Tongan Rugby Football Union
  
  
• 1923 Samoan Rugby Football Union
  
  
• 1926 Japanese Rugby Football Union
  
  
• 1928 Italian Rugby Federatin
  
  
• 1931 Romanian Rugby Federation
  
  
• 1949 Australian Rugby Union
  
  
• 1951 Uruguay Rugby Union
  
  
• 1961 Cote d’Ivoire Rugby Federation
  
  
• 1964 Georgian Rugby Union
  
  
• 1965 Rugby Canada (founded as Canadian Rugby Union)
  
  
• 1975 USA Rugby (founded as United States of America Rugby Football Union)
  
  
• 1990 Namibian Rugby Union
  
  
• 1992 South African Rugby Football Union (a merger of the white South African Rugby Board and the non-racial South African Rugby Union)
  
  
• 1999 Philippine Rugby Football Union