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Scrums!
Rugby has a long history and is played in over 100 countries. Learn about this history and other facts in this selection.
Adduonal Credits "Rugby has a long and exciting history as a sport. Teams from over 100 countries compete to enter the Rugby World Cup.
The World Cup has been held every four years since 1987 to determine which country has the best team."Rugby has a long and exciting history as a sport. Teams from over 100 countries compete to enter the Rugby World Cup. The World Cup has been held every four years since 1987 to determine which country has the best team.
In 1823, students at Rugby School, an educational institution for boys, were playing soccer. They changed the rules of soccer to allow players to carry the ball with their hands instead of just kicking it with their feet. There is a legend that the first rugby player was a student named William Webb Ellis, but there is little evidence that this is true. Over time, the game became more popular at schools and colleges around England. But there were no formal rules--teams would meet before a game to decide the rules they would play by. By 1845, the game had grown so popular that one set of rules needed to Over time, rugby divided into rugby football, rugby league, and rugby union. Rugby football evolved into the game we know today as American football. Rugby league and rugby union divided in 1895 when rugby leaders disagreed on what the rules should be for the game. Rugby league rules are designed to make the game faster and are believed to be simpler than the rules of rugby union. The rugby union rules are more traditional and complex.
"Traditional" (truh-DISH-uh-nuhl) means having been done the same way for a long time. While rugby league is more popular in Australia, rugby union is more popular around the world. The Rugby World Cup is played by the rules of the rugby union.
Rugby competitions have been held since 1882, when the Four Nations Cup began between England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. However, teams from elsewhere around the world didn't compete against each other until
1987, when the Rugby World Cup was created. Before this, many teams did not want to have a global competition. Sixteen countries participated in the
first Rugby World Cup, with New Zealand defeating France to become the first champions.
Rugby began in England but is now played all over the world. There are teams in over 100 countries that compete to enter the Rugby World Cup
tournament. Each of these countries and teams has a different story.
The 2019 Rugby World Cup will be held in Japan. This is the first time a tournament will take place in Asia. Over 2.5 million people from around the world have requested to buy tickets for all the matches--a record number! About 70 percent of those people are from outside Japan. The tournament is expected to bring a lot of money to the Japanese economy. Japan has about 125,000 registered rugby players and more than 3,600 rugby clubs.
(dis-KRIM-uh-nate-id) means treated someone unfairly. But black and white
people were still divided.