- Home Nations
:"Home nation" (common noun) redirects here; home nation is also used to refer to the host country of
multi-sport events (eg. the Olympics), or other international sports championships."Home Nations (often written as the
common noun home nations) is a collective term used to refer toEngland ,Northern Ireland ,Scotland andWales , which together form theUnited Kingdom .In most sports, Northern Ireland does not have a separate international team, as the whole island of Ireland fields a single national team. The term "home nations" has extended to Irish national teams in some of these sports (such as
rugby union and hockey) even though they draw players from both Northern Ireland and theRepublic of Ireland , which is a separate country from the UK.Occasionally the term Home Countries is used. [http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/gbr/CommonwealthGames2006/20060316_CG_Home_Nations.asp "historic rivalries between the home nations and the Commonwealth were once again centre stage with the Home Countries having great success"] ,
British Cycling , March 2006]porting events
'Home Nations' is often used in reference to sporting events in which each competes separately, such as
rugby union 'sSix Nations Championship and the now defunctBritish Home Championship in association football.Between 1883 and 1909, what is now the Six Nations was played between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales and was known as the Home International Championship; it reverted to that name when, from 1932 to 1939, France was excluded from the tournament even though, by then, Ireland had been partitioned into
Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and the independentIrish Free State (Ireland from 1949). The term continues to be used in rugby union andrugby league [ [http://www.rte.ie/sport/2005/1110/easterby.html RTÉ Sport: Easterby relishing New Zealand clash ] ] even though theIreland national rugby union team andIreland national rugby league team draw players from the entire island. The term "Home Union" is used to refer to the four national governing bodies. [http://www.google.ie/search?q=%22home+nations%22+site%3A.irishrugby.ie]In
association football , the British Home Championship (also known as the Home International Championship) was an annual competition contested between the UK's four national teams, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (later, Northern Ireland), between 1884-1914, 1919-1939, and 1946-1984.Other sports which use the term "Home Nations" include
boxing ,cricket ,curling , [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/other_sports/disability_sport/4179455.stm "Scotland have been nominated as the home nation to score points towards a place for Great Britain"] , BBC Sport website, 16 January 2005]cycling ,disabled sports , fencing, hockey,golf ,mountaineering , rowing,skiing ,swimming andtennis .Fact|date=August 2008The term is also used to refer to the seven representative teams — England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey — from the
British Islands that participate in theCommonwealth Games .ee also
*
British Isles (terminology)
*Constitutional status of Cornwall
*Constituent country
*Home rule
*Home Counties - counties in or surrounding London
*United Kingdom
*Symbols of the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man References
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