RUGBY TRIVA
Here is some interesting Rugby Trivia ;
From 1896 to 1956 the Springboks were unbeaten in a test series - a period of 60 years !
The first British side to go to South Africa consisted of 21 players and the played 20 games in 60 days and lost just one of those games.
The Morkel family of Somerset West in South Africa produced 10 Springboks from 1903 - 1928.
The highest scoring international rugby union player in history is Johnny Wilkinson from England with 1152 career points.
The origin of the distinctive shape of the rugby ball is easier to establish. Original rugby balls were fashioned by a shoemaker named William Gilbert who lived near Rugby School. The first balls were simply inflated pigs bladders, which take on a distinctive oblong oval shape when fully inflated.
The longest game in history, took place on October 7, 2011 and lasted for 24 hours and 30 minutes and 6 seconds. The contest was between the Mali Lions and Congleton Bears clubs. The Lions won 894-715.
Somewhat surprisingly, considering the game's English origins, the first official rugby club was actually formed at the University of Dublin in Ireland.
The International Rugby Union game with the Highest Rugby Score in history was played in October 1994. Hong Kong beat Singapore 164-13.
The biggest lead in the history of the International Rugby Union was taken by Argentina over Paraguay in May 2002. They won 152-0
Rugby is the dominant sport in the commonwealth countries as Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
The New Zealand National team, the All Blacks, was founded in the 1880's, before the country even gained independence!
The native Maori of New Zealand found the game well adapted to their warrior culture, and they still make up a large percentage of All Blacks players even today.
As if facing the NZ All Blacks, with their contingent of fearless 200-pound native warriors with face tattoos was not intimidating enough, the team adopted the bone chilling Maori war chant tradition, the Haka, in 1884. Called the Kora, this primal ritual is performed before every game.
While the USA is not known as a fertile ground for rugby, it was technically the reigning world champion for over 60 years! The USA team took the gold medal in Rugby at the 1924 Olympics, after which the sport was dropped from the competition. Until the first Rugby world cup in 1987, the absence of any other international competitions left the USA champions by default.
