History of Rugby Union

Rugby Union is a team sport that originated in the 19th century. The derivation of rugby is presumed to be a confrontation during a game of football at Rugby, England, in 1823 when William Webb Ellis picked up the ball with his hands and ran with it. The game is played with an oval-shaped ball. An ““H”“ shaped goal is placed at each end of the goal area. The first ever Rugby World Cup was conducted in 1987 and it is held every four years. Rugby Union was also played as an Olympic Sport in 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924. A game of rugby union consists of two teams of fifteen team members and seven substitutes. Both the teams consist of forwards and backs.

The Six Nations in the northern hemisphere and the Tri Nations in the southern hemisphere are the foremost global competitions held yearly. The Super League is a nationwide, semi-professional rugby union tournament in Canada. The Currie Cup tournament is South Africa’s leading domestic rugby union tournament. The term test match in rugby union is unofficially used for a match that has been recognized as a full international match by at least one of the team’s authorities. The technique of restarting a game after violation of rules is called as scrum. A free kick in rugby union is given to a team for a methodological mistake made by the opposing team.

Previous Rugby Union season(s)

In the southern hemisphere, the Super 14 rugby union club championship consists of four teams from Australia, five teams from New Zealand and five teams from South Africa. The Barbarian Football Club, commonly called as the Barbarians is the British invitational rugby union team. English rugby players and fans commonly sing the song Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. The New Zealand national rugby union team is celebrated as the All Blacks, where Eden Park is the main sports ground in Auckland. The South African National rugby union team is called Springboks. England has participated in every Rugby World Cup tournament since 1987 and won in 2003.The 2007 Rugby World Cup Champions are the Springboks. The Loftus Versfeld Stadium is a sports stadium situated in Pretoria, South Africa.