2. What is Rugby
• Rugby union, widely known simply as rugby, is a full
contact team sport that originated in England in the first half
of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it
is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common
form, a game is played between two teams of 15 players using
an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch. The
field has H-shaped goalposts at both ends.
• Rugby union is a popular sport around the world, played by
male and female players of all ages. In 2014, there were more
than 6 million people playing worldwide, of whom
2.36 million were registered players. World Rugby, previously
called the International Rugby Football Board and the
International Rugby Board, has been the governing body for
rugby union since 1886, and currently has 101 countries as full
members and 18 associate members.
3. History of Rugby
• Rugby is said to have originated at Rugby School in
Warwickshire, England, in 1823 when during a
game of football, William Webb Ellis decided to pick
up a ball and go with it. Although there is very little
evidence to support this theory, the Rugby World
Cup Trophy is now named after William Webb Ellis.
In 1863 a collection of boarding schools and clubs
decided upon a rule set and 1871 Rugby Football
Union was officially formed. That same year, the
first ever international match was played between
England and Scotland with Scotland taking the win
1-0.
4. To be continued…
• In 1900, rugby union was introduced to the Summer Olympics by Pierre de
Coubertin, who had previously refereed the first French domestic
championship as well as France's first international game. France, Germany
and Great Britain all entered teams for the oplympics, and France won gold
by defeating both opponents.
Rugby actually drew the largest crowd at that particular games - it was next
played at the 1908 games in London, with Australia winning, by defeating
Great Britain.
Even though rugby drew some of the biggest crowds at the games, it was
eventually dropped in 1924.
• By 1908 all three major Southern Hemisphere nations (New Zealand,
Australia and South Africa) had formed teams and sent them on
international trips to play against the Northern Hemisphere nations. As a
side fact, the first time the Haka was performed by New Zealand prior to a
match was in 1905, which the Welsh responded to by having Teddy Morgan
sing the Welsh national anthem. Soon enough the crowd joined in, which
was the first time a national anthem was sung prior to a sporting event.
5. • The first Rugby World Cup was played in 1987
and was held in Australia and New Zealand -
both semi-finals were played in Australia while
the final was played in New Zealand, with the All
Blacks defeating France in the final.
First Rugby World Cup 1987
6. How to play rugby
• This 10 min video will explain how to play rugby
and its rules.
• https://youtu.be/ke4XcnbulT0