<Tr> <Th> Best result </Th> <Td> Quarter - finals, 1987, 1991, 1995, 2003, 2011, 2015 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> www.irishrugby.ie </Td> </Tr> <P> The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland (both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) in rugby union . The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship, which they have won twelve times outright and shared eight times . The team also competes every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter - final stage in all but two competitions (1999 and 2007). Ireland is also one of the four unions that make up the British and Irish Lions--players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions . </P> <P> Ireland's highest ever position in the World Rugby Rankings is second, which they reached for the first time in 2015 . </P>

Who do northern ireland rugby players play for