The Leicestershire Rugby Union (LRU) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland in England. The union is the constituent body of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for those counties. The LRU administers and organises rugby union clubs and competitions in those two counties and administers the Leicestershire county rugby representative teams.
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History
The Leicestershire Rugby Union was founded as the Leicestershire County Football Union in 1887 after a meeting of rugby clubs in Leicester and was affiliated to the RFU in 1890. The union was a sub-union of the Midland Counties Rugby Union until just after World War One when the Midland Counties union was dissolved, partly because players from Leicester had come to dominate the Midland Counties team. In 1920 the LRU became a full constituent member of the RFU and began competing in the County Championship. The union initially also administered rugby union Nottinghamshire as well as Rutland and the first AGM of the new union took place in June 1920, when the name was changed to the Leicestershire Rugby Union. The union's control over Nottinghamshire ended when Notts, Lincs and Derbys Rugby Union was founded in 1925
County team
The Leicestershire senior mens county team currently competes in the County Championship Plate (also called the Bill Beaumont Cup Div 2), which is the second tier competition for county teams in England. Leicestershire won the third tier competition, the County Championship Shield, with victory over Cumbria at Twickenham Stadium in June 2015, having previously finished as losing finalists four times. Following their Shield win, the county moved up to County Championship Plate level.
County team honours
County Championship winners: 1925
County Championship Shield winners: 2015