Rugby

History

Rugby started with two versions. The first version was similar to other sports played in ancient civilisations, like among Romans for instance. There are those that consider that rugby was a simple evolution of these sports. However, its invention is credited to William Webb, a Rugby School student in Great Britain, who during a football match in 1823, picked the ball up and ran towards goal.

Controversies aside, it was actually Rugby Scholl students who drew up the sport’s first rules, with help from colleagues from Cambridge, between 1845 and 1848. The first national rugby federation - Rugby Football Union, in England – was founded in 1871, same year when the English and Scots played the first ever international match, won by Scotland. Later, in 1886, the International Rugby Board was created, organisation that governs the sport until today.

Rugby, alongside golf, will be one of the new sports at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. But the sport has its short Olympic history well documented. It was part of the Olympic programme at the 1900 Games in Paris, in 1908 in London, 1920 in Antwerp and 1924 in Paris. In four editions, France, Australia and United States (twice) won the gold medal.

However, the version to be included in the 2016 Olympic programme is the variant known as rugby sevens, with shorter faster paced matches. This version of the sport, where teams use seven players, instead of the usual 15 was created in Scotland in the 19th century. However, it only started winning followers over in 1921, when the first tournament was held outside of Scotland. The Rugby World Cup Sevens was created in 1993 for men and in 2009, women were allowed to compete.

Curiosities

Success
Despite still being relatively new, in its Olympic debut, rugby achieved a great feat at the 1900 Games in Paris: the sport drew in the biggest crowd at that edition of the Games. In total, 6 thousand people watched the final between France and England, with 4,389 of them paying for tickets.

In the final, the French won the rugby's first ever Olympic gold medal. The home team won the final 28-8.

Confusion in the final
Back in Paris in 1924, rugby again drew a big crowd at the Olympics. Once more, the French played the final in front of their home crowd. However, this time they faced the United States, who steam rolled to a convincing 17-3 win.

Angry because of moves that led to the injury of two French players, the crowd that packed out the stadium - almost 40 thousand people - got into a ruckus.  In addition to fights, the fans booed and cursed the Americans, who had to leave the medal award ceremony escorted by the police.

See also

Confederação Brasileira de Rugby
Site: www.brasilrugby.com.br
E-mail: office@brasilrugby.com.br
Conselho Internacional de Rugby (IRB): www.irb.com