Major honours
In Wales, rugby is less a sport than a national identity. The Welsh Rugby Union was founded in 1881, and the 1905 win over the previously unbeaten New Zealand Originals at Cardiff Arms Park, 3-0, remains a foundational national story. Wales has had two golden eras: the team of the 1950s, and the 1970s side built around Gareth Edwards, Barry John, JPR Williams and Phil Bennett, which formed the spine of the British and Irish Lions on their 1971 series win in New Zealand and their unbeaten 1974 tour of South Africa. At the World Cup, third place in 1987 and semifinals in 2011 and 2019 are its best finishes. Its 12 Grand Slams, most recently in 2019, are among the most of any nation. Lock Alun Wyn Jones holds the all-time international caps record with 170 — 158 for Wales plus 12 for the Lions. The retractable roof of the 73,931-seat Principality Stadium is famous for trapping the noise of a sold-out crowd inside.
Record comparison
Bars are scaled to the strongest team in this list.
Club legends
Rivalry
The match against England is unlike anything else on the Welsh sporting calendar, and in years it's played in Cardiff, the whole city stops.