The History of Rugby – Hamish F. (Yr 7)
Rugby is a complex sport consisting of two teams that have to get a ball over the opposite line, the teams are only aloud to pass backwords. To defend, a team can tackle the player with the ball by wrapping their arms around the players legs and pulling them to the floor.
The sport was invented by a boy called William Webb Ellis during a football match in 1823, as he decided to pick up the ball and run with it. The sport was named rugby after the school that William went to. The first rules of rugby were created by three senior pupils at rugby school in 1845, these people were William Delafield Arnold, the seventeen-year-old son of the former headmaster, W.W. Shirley, who was just sixteen and Frederick Hutchins. The sport became popular in the UK in 1850-1860 and it is still played today.
The first ever international match was England against Scotland on the 24th of march 1871, Raeburn Place, Edinburgh in front of 4,000 spectators. Scotland won the match, scoring two tries and a goal (an old score in the game that was worth 3 points) to England’s single try. The trophy, the Calcutta cup, was created in India in Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) were a rugby club got disbanded, but as a gift the remaining players melted there remaining rupees and turned them into a beautiful cup adorned with serpents and elephants to show its exotic origins. The match is now played every year in the 6 nations when England play Scottland.
In 1987 the rugby world cup was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia. New Zealand was the first ever winner of a rugby world cup. Other winners include South Africa (1995, 2007, 2019 and 2023), Australia twice (1991and 1999), and England once (2003). The rugby world cup is the largest rugby event in the world along with the 6 nations (northern hemisphere teams) and the 4 nations (southern hemisphere teams).
Rugby has changed a lot from the old rugby with goals to modern rugby with lineouts and scrums but it will always be the favourite sport of many for its need for strength intelligence and skill.
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