As England women win the Six Nations Women's Championship 2010 this is their fourth Grand Slam win in six years. England's women won the RBS Six Nations in a close final as they edged out France 11-10 and bring home this fantastic rugby trophy. As we celebrate this win we started to think about previous and championships but also how did the game of rugby start?
When it comes to the history of the game of Rugby those who play this invigorating sport will have heard one particular story. That is the one that whilst at Rugby School in England a young lad by the name of William Webb Ellis in 1823 decided when playing football to ignore the rules and pick the ball up and run with it. However, there is plenty of evidence around that will suggest that when it comes to how did it all start this occurred well before William Webb Ellis’s time. In fact there is evidence around that will suggest that those involved in sports where a ball was involved were picking it up and running with it centuries before.
Yes there may be some truth to the story revolving around William Webb Ellis when it comes to the history of the game. However, many historians who have looked closely at this sport feel that the earliest form of football played at this school at the time Ellis was there was similar to the Rugby we see played today. But if Ellis was the actual creator of this sport is still under some discussion and it may be that the game evolved of its own accord during the time that he attended Rugby School.
If you were to ask the members of the English Rugby Union they say that the kind of football played when Ellis was at the school was not in fact the kind of football we are so fond of today. Instead it was a combination of both the rules that you will find in football and Rugby today. During this period of the sports history you were not allowed to handle the ball unless it was in the air and this was when a player was allowed to catch it. But unlike the modern game of Rugby where you are able to run with the ball once caught this was not allowed. The player who had caught the ball along with all others on the field would be required to stand still. Then this player could choose either to kick the ball wherever he wanted or to place it on the ground and then attempt to kick the ball into the opponent’s goal.
Another thing that you need to take into consideration when it comes to the history of the game of Rugby that when it was played originally at the time of Ellis the students in public schools would develop their own rules for each game of football they played. This was as a result of their being little or no refereeing occurring when matches were played. So of course there may have been an opportunity during one game where Webb Ellis chose to pick up the ball and run with it rather than kick it and this is something others playing in future games chose to do.
However there is one thing that we can be certain of when it comes to the history of the game of Rugby and how did it all start is that it did not originate from the game of football. What most historians believe is that in fact these two games actually developed beside each other.
Photo Source: Official RBS Six Nations