Portal:Rugby union
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The Rugby Union Portal
Like other forms of rugby football the game was developed from the rules used to play football at Rugby school in England. The crucial differences from football (soccer) are that in rugby the ball is a prolate spheroid instead of a sphere and that the players are allowed to pick the ball up and run with it. The players are also allowed to throw the ball from player to player, but unlike American football they are not allowed to throw it forward; ie the ball must only be passed sideways or backward.
Rugby union was invented in the town of Rugby, England in 1823. It has established itself as a major global sport, especially popular in New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Wales, England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Australia, Argentina and South Africa. Rugby is also gaining popularity in Italy, which was accepted into the Six Nations in 2000, and Japan, despite their unsuccessful bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which went to New Zealand.
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The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union. They compete in the Rugby World Cup and annually in the Six Nations Championship. They are governed by the Welsh rugby union, and first played in 1881 against England.
Wales have won the Six Nations 23 times, second only to England, the last being in 2005. Their best result in the Rugby World Cup is third, which they achieved in 1987. They also hosted the 1999 Rugby World Cup. The International Rugby Board (IRB) regard Wales as a Tier One rugby nation. In particular, several Welsh players of the 1970s are acknowledged as some of the best in the game's history. Although several poor results in the late 1980s and 1990s hurt the team’s reputation, a resurgence in form in the 2000s and a Six Nations Grand Slam in 2005 has helped reverse that. Due to this success, Wales became the first team ever to win the Grand Slam while playing more matches away than at home. (More...)
Recent news
- 14 November, 2009: Scotland's first match under new coach Andy Robinson results in a 23-10 victory over Fiji.
- 1 August 2009: South African captain John Smit becomes the most capped captain in history, playing in his 60th Test as captain. This was during the second match between the Springboks and the All Blacks of the 2009 Tri Nations Series.
- 18 July 2009: The 2009 Tri Nations Series gets under way with Australia playing New Zealand at Eden Park
- 10 July 2009: One of the oldest rugby competitions in the world, South Africa's Currie Cup, kicks off.
- 4 July 2009: The 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa ends with the visitors losing 2-1 to the Springboks
- 6 July: New Zealand Māori defeat Australia A 21–18 in each team's last match of the tournament to win the 2008 IRB Pacific Nations Cup.
- 5 July: The 2008 Tri-Nations starts with the All Blacks defeating South Africa 19–8.
- 28 June: Toulouse defeat Clermont 26–20 in the final of the 2007-08 Top 14 season.
- 22 June: New Zealand defeat England 38–3 in final of the inaugural IRB Junior World Championship.
- 7 June: The 2008 mid-year rugby Tests kick off with the All Blacks defeating Ireland and South Africa defeating Wales.
- 7 June: Fiji defeats Samoa 34–17 in the first match of the 2008 IRB Pacific Nations Cup.
Did you know...
- ... that Mariusz Pudzianowski (pictured), has won more World's Strongest Man titles than any other strongman competitor, is a keen rugby player and plays for the Polish amateur team Blachy Pruszyński Budowlani Lodz?
- ...that Netherlands team at the Hong Kong Sevens in 1989 contained no less than four brothers?
- ...that Hugh McLeod's description of Frans ten Bos as a "big lump o' potted meat" helped Scotland win against France in 1963?
- ...that David Rollo always played with his socks down?
- ...that Blair Swannell was killed in the Landing at Anzac Cove, during the first day of the Gallipoli Campaign?
- ... that Ireland rugby player James Magee is mentioned in James Joyce's novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and that Bethal Solomons's father is mentioned in his Finnegans Wake?
- ... that Eric Liddell, of Chariots of Fire fame, also played in seven out of eight Five Nations matches in 1922 and 1923 for Scotland?
- ... that rugby balls were an integral part of mercenary Mike Hoare's plot to overthrow the government of the Seychelles in 1978?
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The relationship between the Welsh and the English is based on trust and understanding. They don't trust us and we don't understand them.
Selected biography
Mark Hammett (born 13 July 1972 in Christchurch) is a rugby union coach and former New Zealand rugby union player. Hammett played provincial rugby for Canterbury, as a hooker, between 1992 and 2002. When the Crusaders franchise was formed for the Super 12 in 1996, Hammett was contracted, becoming a founding player. He continued to play for the Crusaders until 2003; winning four championships in the process. He first played for the All Blacks in 1999, and played until his retirement following the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Hammett represented Canterbury 76 times, the Crusaders 81 times, and the All Blacks 30 times (including 29 Tests). After retiring from playing, he began coaching, and worked as forwards advisor for both the Crusaders and Canterbury in 2006. He succeeded Vern Cotter as assistant coach at the Crusaders for the 2007 season.
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