How it all began

It is said that a student named William Webb Ellis, was playing a game of soccer and picked up the ball and began running with it, the problem is soccer wasn't invented at this time.

So, rugby was not just invented, it evolved over thousands of years. It is said that it can date back to when japan and china were playing an early form of the game 2,000 years ago



An early game between France and Germany
wikipedia.com

The ball.

At the beginning the ball was made of leather and an inner section made from pigs bladder


Richard Lindon invented the inner rubber
bladder, after the pigs bladder
wikipedia.com

IRB World Cup

The IRB world cup takes place every 4 years

- The venue changes each world cup

Winners of previous world cups

• 2011 - Newzealand
• 2007 - South Africa
• 2003 - England
• 1999 - Australia
• 1995 - South Africa

2015 world cup

• England will be hosting
• Twickenham in London will host the final
• The Millennium stadium will also be used

wikipedia.com

Club rugby

Again, like international, not all countries have clubs or at least not clubs that compete at the highest level.

In the northern hemisphere there are two main leagues-

• Rabo direct (Teams from,Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales)

http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/25568.php

• Aviva Premiership (Only English teams)

http://www.rugbyunplugged.com/tkts.html


In the southern hemisphere there is one main league-

• Super 15 or Super Rugby

http://www.thebounce.co.za/2011/02/14/the-super-15-lets-understand-the-format/
- This league consists of teams from Newzealand Australia and South Africa

where rugby is mostly played ?

The game of rugby is widening across the world greatly but it is most common in places like

• England
• Ireland
• wales
• Scotland
• France
• Australia
• Samoan islands
• Newzealand
• South Africa

 

In the northern hemisphere the main competition between , england ireland scotland wales france and italy is the 6 nations.

http://kickology.blogspot.ie/2011/02/rbs-6-nations-6-kickers.html

In the southern hemisphere the main competition between, Newzealand australia south africa and argentina is the Rugby Championship, formerly known as the tri nations but only recently argentina have been added into the competion and the name has changed

http://www.speartackle.co.za/rc-results/

http://www.irb.com/rankings/full.html This shows the world IRB rankings for all countries who play rugby.

The Scrum

       (rugbyfix.com)

• The scrum is brought into play when an accidental infringement occurs or when the ball is knocked on.
• teams can be penalised for deliberately collapsing the scrum or for incorrectly putting the ball in to the scrum.
• the scrum consists of 8 players (forwards) on each side colliding and competing for the ball.

scrums

Rules Of The Game

                        Who controls the rules in a game?

The IRB control the rules, for every match there will be a referee to control the game and make decisions on the pitch.

Some basic rules

• the pitch

• Two teams of 15 players
• A try equals 5 points
• A conversion is taken after a try is scored and if successful it equals 2 points
• you can not pass the ball forward in play
• it is a contact sport so tackling is allowed but if tackles are too high i.e above shoulders, will result in a penalty
• a penalty is worth 3 points if successful





Introduction

My name is Andrew and i am doing a blog on the geography of rugby, the reason i have chosen to do my blog on this topic is because i have an interest in rugby and i have also played from the age of five.