1.
New Zealand national rugby union team
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The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly called the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in mens rugby union, which is regarded as the countrys national sport. The side has won the last two Rugby World Cups, in 2011 and 2015, as well as the tournament in 1987. They have a 77% winning record in test match rugby, and are the international side with a winning record against every opponent. Since their international debut in 1903, they have lost to only six of the 19 nations they have played in test matches, since the introduction of the World Rugby Rankings in 2003, New Zealand has held the number one ranking longer than all other teams combined. The All Blacks are statistically the best side to have played the game, New Zealand competes with Argentina, Australia and South Africa in The Rugby Championship. The All Blacks have won the fourteen times in the competitions twenty-one-year history. As of the end of 2016 competition, they hold the Bledisloe Cup, which is contested annually with Australia, New Zealand have achieved a Grand Slam four times –1978,2005,2008 and 2010. Fifteen former All Blacks have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, All Black coaches have won World Rugby Coach of the Year nine times since the awards 2001 launch. The teams first match was in 1884, and their first international test match was in 1903 against Australia in Sydney, the following year they hosted their first ever home test, a match against a British Isles side in Wellington. This was followed by a 34-game tour of Europe and North America in 1905, New Zealands early uniforms consisted of a black jersey with a silver fern and white knickerbockers. By the 1905 tour, they were wearing all black, except for the silver fern, the team perform a haka – a Māori challenge or posture dance – before each match. The haka performed has traditionally been Te Rauparahas Ka Mate, although since 2005 Kapa o Pango is often performed, the first recorded game in New Zealand took place in May 1870 in Nelson between the Nelson club and Nelson College. The first provincial union, the Canterbury Rugby Football Union, was formed in 1879, NSW did not face a New Zealand representative team but played seven provincial sides – the tourists won four games and lost three. Two years later the first New Zealand team to travel overseas toured New South Wales, a privately organised British team, which later became the British and Irish Lions, toured New Zealand in 1888. No test matches were played, and the only played provincial sides. The British players were mainly from Northern England, but there were representatives from Wales. The first officially sanctioned New Zealand side toured New South Wales in 1893, the following year New Zealand played its first home international game, losing 8–6 to New South Wales. The teams first true test match occurred against Australia on 15 August 1903 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in front of over 30,000 spectators, a representative New Zealand team first toured the British Isles in 1905
2.
Australia national rugby union team
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The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. Australia have competed in all eight Rugby World Cups, and have won the World Cup on two occasions, in 1991 beating England in the final, and in 1999 when their opponents in the final were France. Australia also lost in the final after extra time to England in the 2003 competition, Australia are governed by the Australian Rugby Union. Eleven former Australian players have been inducted into either the International Rugby Hall of Fame or the IRB Hall of Fame, three are members of the International Hall only, four are members of the IRB Hall only, and four are members of both Halls of Fame. In 1882 the Southern Rugby Football Union toured New Zealand, the New Zealand national team toured New South Wales in 1884 – defeating New South Wales in all three matches, and winning all nine matches on tour. The first tour by a British team took place in 1888, a British Isles team toured Australia and New Zealand, though no Test matches were played. Although they had representatives from all four nations, the players were drawn mainly from England. The tour was not sanctioned by the Rugby Football Union as it was organised by entrepreneurs, in 1899 the first officially sanctioned British Isles team toured Australia. Four Tests were played between Australia and the British Isles, the Australian team for the first Test match consisted of six players from Queensland and nine from New South Wales. The first Test was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground and won 13–3 by Australia, the first Test between Australia and New Zealand was played on 15 August 1903 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Despite Australia losing 22–3, this tour improved rugbys popularity in Australia and helped to increase attendances at matches in Sydney. In 1907 the New South Wales Rugby League was formed and star player Dally Messenger left the Rugby union for the rival code, the next year the first Australian team to tour the British Isles left Sydney. Newspapers in England initially gave the team the name Rabbits, the Australian players thought this nickname derogatory and replaced it with Wallabies. Australias last Test before First World War was against New Zealand in July 1914, the war had a very negative effect on rugby union in Australia. This resulted in all but closed down in New South Wales. In Queensland regular competitions did not commence again until 1928 and this caused many players to switch to rugby league – which did not cease playing during the war. War hero Sir Edward Weary Dunlop also played for Australia before World War II and he played on the side that was the first to win the Bledisloe Cup. The first Test to following World War Two was played at Carisbrook, Australia did not win on the three match tour, beaten 20–0 by New Zealand Maori, and then losing 14–10 to the All Blacks the following week
3.
Scotland national rugby union team
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The Scotland national rugby union team represents Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union, the team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and participates in the Rugby World Cup, which takes place every four years. As of 27 February 2017, Scotland are fifth in the World Rugby Rankings, the Scottish rugby team dates back to 1871, where they beat England in the first international rugby union match at Raeburn Place. Scotland competed in the Five Nations from the tournament in 1883. In 2000 the competition accepted a sixth competitor, Italy, thus forming the Six Nations, since this change, Scotland have yet to win the competition. Their best finish came in 1991, where they lost to the All Blacks in the third place play-off, Scotland have a strong rivalry with the English national team. They both annually compete for the Calcutta Cup, each year, this fixture is played out as part of the Six Nations, and Scotland last won it in 2008. In December 1870 a group of Scots players issued a letter of challenge in The Scotsman and in Bells Life in London, in front of around 4000 spectators, the Scots won the encounter by a try and a goal to a solitary try scored by England. England later got revenge by winning the match at the Kennington Oval. The Calcutta Cup was donated to the Rugby Football Union in 1878 by the members of the short-lived Calcutta Rugby Club, the members had decided to disband, the cup was crafted from melted-down silver rupees which became available when the Clubs funds were withdrawn from the bank. The Cup is unique in that it is competed for only by England and Scotland. The first Calcutta Cup match was played in 1879 and, since that time, in 1882 the Home Nations Championship, the fore-runner of the modern Six Nations Championship was founded with Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland taking part. Further Triple Crowns wins for Scotland followed in 1901,1903 and 1907, however, Scotlands triumph in 1907 would be the last for eighteen years as the First World War and Englands dominance afterwards would deny them glory. In 1897 land was purchased, by the SFU, at Inverleith, thus the SFU became the first of the Home Unions to own its own ground. The first visitors were Ireland, on 18 February 1899, international rugby was played at Inverleith until 1925. The SFU bought some land and built the first Murrayfield Stadium which was opened on 21 March 1925, in 1925 Scotland already had victories over France at Inverleith, Wales in Swansea and Ireland in Dublin. England, the Grand Slam champions of the two seasons were the first visitors to Murrayfield. 70,000 spectators saw the lead change three times before Scotland secured a 14–11 victory which gave them their first-ever Five Nations Grand Slam
4.
Ireland national rugby union team
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The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship, which they have won twelve times outright, the team also competes every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions. Ireland is also one of the four unions that make up the British and Irish Lions – players eligible to play for Ireland are also eligible for the Lions, Irelands highest ever position in the World Rugby Rankings is second, which they reached for the first time in 2015. Dublin University was the first organised football club in Ireland. The club was organised by students who had learnt the game while at public schools in Great Britain, carlow, UCC, and Ballinasloe which amalgamated with Athlone to form Buccaneers. In 1874, the Irish Football Union was formed, Ireland lost their first test match against England 7–0 at the Oval on 15 February 1875. Both teams fielded 20 players in match, as was customary in the early years of rugby union. Irelands first home game was also against England in the year held at the Leinster Cricket Club in Rathmines as Lansdowne Road was deemed unsuitable. The first match at Lansdowne Road was held on 11 March 1878 and it was not until 1881 that Ireland first won a test, beating Scotland at Ormeau in Belfast. Ireland turned up two men short for their game in Cardiff in 1884 and had to borrow two Welsh players, the first victory Ireland had at Lansdowne Road took place on 5 February 1887. It was also their first win over England, by two goals to nil, on the third of March 1888, Ireland recorded their first win over Wales with a goal, a try and a drop goal to nil. In 1894, Ireland followed the Welsh model of using seven backs instead of six for the first time, after victory over England at Blackheath, Ireland won back-to-back matches for the first time when recording their first win over Scotland on 24 February 1894. Ireland went on to beat Wales in Belfast and win the Triple Crown for the first time, in the 1890s, Rugby was primarily a game for the Protestant middle class, the only Catholic in Edmund Forrests 1894 team was Tom Crean. Of the eighteen players used in the three games, thirteen were from three Dublin clubs – Wanderers, Dublin University and Bective Rangers – and the five were from Ulster. Such was the level of interest in the visit of the first All Blacks team to Dublin in November 1905 that the IRFU made the match the first all-ticket rugby international in history, Ireland played only seven forwards, copying the then New Zealand method of playing a rover. The game ended New Zealand 15 Ireland 0, on 20 March 1909, Ireland played France for the first time, beating them 19–8. This was Irelands biggest victory in international rugby at that time, their highest points tally,30 November 1912 was the first time the Springboks met Ireland at Lansdowne Road, the 1906 tour game having been played at Ravenhill. Ireland with seven new caps were overwhelmed by a margin of 38–0
5.
France national rugby union team
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The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and they have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams. Eight former French players have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by the British, and on New Years Day 1906 the national side played its first Test match – against New Zealand in Paris. France played sporadically against the Home Nations until they joined them to form a Five Nations tournament in 1910, France also competed in the rugby competitions at early Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal in 1900 and two silver medals in the 1920s. The national team came of age during the 1950s and 1960s and they won their first Grand Slam in 1968. Since the inaugural World Cup in 1987, France have qualified for the stage of every tournament. They have reached the three times, losing to the All Blacks in 1987 and 2011 and to Australia in 1999. France hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup, where, as in 2003, France traditionally play in blue shirts with white shorts and red socks, and are commonly referred to as les tricolores or les bleus. The French emblem is a golden rooster imposed upon a red shield and their alternative strip is composed of a white shirt and navy blue shorts and socks. Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by English merchants and students, on 26 February 1890, a French rugby team recruited from the Janson Desailly Lyceum defeated an international team at the Bois de Boulogne. Although France were represented at the 1900 Summer Olympics, their first official test match did not take place till New Years Day,1906 against the New Zealand All Blacks in Paris. France then played intermittently against the Home Nations until they joined them to form the Five Nations tournament in 1910, in 1913 France faced South Africas Springboks for the first time, losing 38–5. France also competed at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics, France were ejected from the Five Nations in 1932 after being accused of professionalism in the French leagues at a time when rugby union was strictly amateur. Forced to play against weaker opposition, France went on a winning streak, France was invited to rejoin the Five Nations in 1939 but did not compete until 1947 as international rugby was suspended during World War II. French rugby came of age during the 1950s and 1960s, they won their first Five Nations championship and their first championship was won in 1954 when they shared the title with England and Wales. France won their first outright Five Nations championship in 1959, they won with two wins, a draw and a defeat, France first toured South Africa winning the test series in 1958. The Springboks also visited Paris in 1961, the test was not completed due to fighting amongst the players. France also toured New Zealand and Australia in 1961 losing both tests against the All Blacks but defeating Australias Wallabies and they won their first Five Nations Grand Slam in 1968 by beating all four other competing teams, and won numerous titles in the following years
6.
England national rugby union team
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The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy and they are ranked second in the world by the International Rugby Board as of 20 June 2016. England were the first, and to date, the team from the northern hemisphere to win the Rugby World Cup. They were also runners-up in 1991 and 2007, the history of the team extends back to 1871 when the English rugby team played their first official Test match, losing to Scotland by one goal. England dominated the early Home Nations Championship which started in 1883, following the schism of rugby football in 1895, England did not win the Championship again until 1910. England first played against New Zealand in 1905, South Africa in 1906, England was one of the teams invited to take part in the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 and went on to appear in the final in the second tournament in 1991, losing 12–6 to Australia. Following their 2003 Six Nations Championship Grand Slam, they went on to win the 2003 Rugby World Cup – defeating Australia 20–17 in extra time and they again contested the final in 2007, losing 15–6 to South Africa. England players traditionally wear a shirt with a Rose embroidered on the chest, white shorts. Their home ground is Twickenham Stadium where they first played in 1910, the team is administered by the Rugby Football Union. Four former players have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, Englands first international match was against Scotland on Monday 27 March 1871. Not only was this match Englands first, but it proved to be the first ever rugby union international. Scotland won the match by a goal and a try to a try, in front of a crowd of 4,000 people at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. A subsequent international took place at the Oval in London on 5 February 1872 which saw England defeat Scotland by a goal, in those early days there was no points system, it was only after 1890 that a format allowing the introduction of a points system was provided. Up until 1875 international rugby matches were decided by the number of goals scored, in 1875, England played their first game against the Irish at the Oval, winning by one goal, one drop goal and one try to nil, the match was Irelands first ever Test. England defeated Scotland in 1880 to become the first winners of the Calcutta Cup and their first match against Wales was played on 19 February 1881 at Richardsons Field in Blackheath. England recorded their largest victory, defeating the Welsh by seven goals, six tries, in 1889, England played their first match against a non-home nations team when they defeated the New Zealand Natives by one goal and four tries to nil at Rectory Field in Blackheath. In 1890 England shared the Home Nations trophy with Scotland, England first played New Zealand in 1905. The All Blacks scored five tries, worth three points at this time, to win 15–0, England first played France in 1905, and Australia in 1909 when they were defeated 9–3
7.
Southern Hemisphere
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The Southern Hemisphere is the half sphere of Earth which is south of the equator. It contains all or parts of five continents, four oceans and its surface is 80. 9% water, compared with 60. 7% water in the case of the Northern Hemisphere, and it contains 32. 7% of Earths land. Due to the tilt of Earths rotation relative to the Sun, September 22 or 23 is the vernal equinox and March 20 or 21 is the autumnal equinox. The South Pole is in the middle of the southern hemispherical region, Southern Hemisphere climates tend to be slightly milder than those at similar latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, except in the Antarctic which is colder than the Arctic. This is because the Southern Hemisphere has significantly more ocean and much land, water heats up. In the Southern Hemisphere the sun passes from east to west through the north, sun-cast shadows turn anticlockwise throughout the day and sundials have the hours increasing in the anticlockwise direction. Cyclones and tropical storms spin clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Coriolis effect, the southern temperate zone, a subsection of the Southern Hemisphere, is nearly all oceanic. Forests in the Southern Hemisphere have special features which set apart from those in the Northern Hemisphere. Both Chile and Australia share, for example, unique species or Nothofagus. The eucalyptus is native to Australia but is now planted in Southern Africa and Latin America for pulp production and, increasingly. Approximately 800,000,000 humans live in the Southern Hemisphere and this is due to the fact that there is significantly less land in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern Hemisphere. Africa Antarctica Asia Australia South America Zealandia Media related to Southern Hemisphere at Wikimedia Commons
8.
Rugby Football Union
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The Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby in 1886. It promotes and runs the sport, organises international matches for the England national team and it is based at Twickenham Stadium, London. In September 2010 the equivalent womens rugby body, the Rugby Football Union for Women, was able to nominate a member to the RFU Council to represent women, the RFUW was integrated into the RFU in July 2012. On 26 January 1871 a meeting attended by representatives from 21 clubs was held in London at the Pall Mall Restaurant on Regent Street. C, kings College Hospital, St Pauls, Queen’s House, Lausanne, Addison, Mohicans, and Belsize Park. The one notable omission was the Wasps, as a result of this meeting the Rugby Football Union was founded. Algernon Rutter was elected as the first president of the RFU, three lawyers who were Rugby School alumni drew up the first laws of the game, which were approved in June 1871. The RFU took strong action against the involved in the formation of the NRFU, all of whom were deemed to have forfeited their amateur status. A similar interpretation was applied to all players who played either for or against such clubs and these players were barred indefinitely from any involvement in organised rugby union. The RFU long resisted competitions and leagues fearing that they would encourage foul play, the first club competition, then known as the R. F. U. Club Competition, took place in 1972, following a sponsorship agreement it became known as the John Player Cup in 1976. The RFU agreed to the formation of a pyramid in 1987. In 2005 the RFU began talks about a merger with the body for womens rugby union the RFUW. In September 2010 the RFUW was able to nominate a member to the RFU Council to represent women, the RFUW was integrated into the RFU in July 2012. Andrew also had the task of building bridges with the premiership clubs, on 6 January 2011 his role of Director of Elite Rugby was scrapped in an overhaul of the organisations structure. Official website Official RFU Clubs Website Army Rugby Union
9.
Wellington Rugby Football Union
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The Wellington Rugby Football Union are a New Zealand governing body of rugby union in the New Zealand province of Wellington. The main stadium is Westpac Stadium which is located in Wellington, the union also represents the Wellington Lions, which is professional rugby union team who compete in the Mitre 10 Cup competition and contest for the Ranfurly Shield. Before 2006 the Lions competed in the National Provincial Championship, players from Wellington who are eligible to play in the Super Rugby generally play for the Hurricanes, and traditionally contribute the core of the Hurricanes squad. This position is due to the Wellington basing of the Hurricanes. The reorganisation of provincial rugby in 2006 brought all three provinces into the ITM Cup, the senior Wellington representative team, the Wellington Lions play in the ITM Cup, which replaced the National Provincial Championship in 2006 as the Air New Zealand Cup. The Lions have won the competition four times since its inception in 1976. The titles came in 1978,1981,1986 and most recently in 2000 and their colours are gold and black as shown on the Lions jersey. The Lions play their games at the Westpac Stadium, previously playing at Athletic Park until 1999. In 2014 Wellington lost a record nine straight losses and were relegated to the ITM Cup Championship 2015, the Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o Wood, is perhaps the most prestigious trophy in New Zealand domestic rugby. First played for in 1904, the Ranfurly Shield is based on a challenge system, the holding union must defend the Shield in home matches, and if a challenger defeats them, they become the new holder of the Shield. Wellington won the first ever shield challenge winning it from Auckland in 1904 and it wouldnt be until 1914 when Wellington would get the shield back by winning it off Taranaki. This marked the longest time Wellington have held the shield successfully defending it for 15 matches until losing it again to Southland in 1920 and they beat Southland a year later to regain the shield before promptly losing to Hawkes Bay after only 2 matches. Wellington held the shield for one match in 1930 and after losing it to Canterbury they would not regain the shield until 1953. Up until the 1980s Wellington had short stints defending the shield, Wellington lost the shield to Canterbury on 29 August, losing 36–14 at Westpac Stadium. Canterbury then held the shield for 4 defences before losing to Southland on 22 October and it is currently held by Waikato who defeated Hawkes Bay on 9 October 2015 by 36–30. Wellington has a team that are part of the Womens Provincial Championship. Wellington Pride is the team aside from Auckland to have won the Womens Championship. Wellington has played a number of times against touring rugby teams
10.
Athletic Park, Wellington
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Athletic Park was a sports ground used mostly for rugby matches in Wellington, New Zealand. The ground was also the home of New Zealands principal knockout football tournament. It has now been demolished and replaced with a retirement village and it was famous for a very steep grandstand which used to sway a little in the regular strong winds that Wellington is famous for. The stand was unsafe as Wellington is very susceptible to earthquakes, throughout the 1980s several proposals were made to modernise the grounds, but instead a decision was made to build a new stadium. Regardless of Westpac Stadiums location to transport and modern features, it has lacked the atmosphere. This could be due to Athletic Park being Rugby specific, which brought spectators close to the action, Westpac Stadiums flaw of attempting to be both a cricket stadium and rugby stadium has led to dwindling numbers of supporters showing up to rectangular sport in Wellington. The ground hosted many famous Test matches involving the All Blacks including the 43 -6 win over Australia in 1996, Athletic Park also played host to other non-sports events, including a visit by Pope John Paul II in 1986 and various rock concerts. KISS performed a concert in 1980 as part of their Unmasked Tour, in 1983, David Bowie and Dire Straits performed at Athletic Park, with further performances by Dire Straits in 1986 and 1991. Elton John performed 2 concerts there, the first on the 10 March 1982 as part of his Jump Up, Tour and the second was on the 22 February 1984 as part of his Too Low for Zero tour. Eurythmics performed on 28 January 1987 as part of their Revenge Tour, michael Jackson planned to perform a concert on 2 December 1987 during his Bad World Tour, but the performance was cancelled. Those attending chanted for the return of the band, New Zealands Street Talk as the music deteriorated
11.
Otago Rugby Football Union
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The Otago Rugby Football Union is the official governing body of rugby union for the Otago region of New Zealand. The union is based in the city of Dunedin, and its ground is Forsyth Barr Stadium. The top representative team competes in the ITM Cup, New Zealands top provincial competition, the union was to have been liquidated in March 2012. However a deal involving the Dunedin City Council allowed it to keep operating, the union was founded in 1881, celebrating its 125th year in 2006. Since the inception of the NPC in 1976, Otago have won the competition twice, furthermore, since playoffs were introduced, Otago have made the final on six occasions and the semi-finals on 11 Occasions. In Ranfurly Shield performance, Otago have won 36 of 74 shield matches, with only Auckland, Otago made two more NPC Division 1 finals since their last title in 1998, both in 2001 and 2005 finishing runners-up on both occasions. After 2005 the NPC was revamped into the Air New Zealand Cup, four new teams were promoted from the NPC Second Division into the Air New Zealand Cup. Otago had another season reaching the semi-finals, losing to Waikato 44–15 at Waikato Stadium,2007 began with a 68–7 defeat to Wellington in the Capital. Otago would win five matches to reach the finals where they were beaten by Canterbury 44–6 in Christchurch. 2008 saw Otago win four of their ten matches, however Otago would be the only team to defeat Wellington during the regular season. Otago finished 10th in 2009 and Otago finish 10th once again with five wins from thirteen matches,2010 saw a new adopted name. Otago would be known as the Razorbacks, however Otago won two of thirteen matches and finished with the wooden spoon. 2011 would see Otago placed in the reformatted championship,2011 was a significant year for Otago with the team playing its final season at Carisbrook before the mid-season relocation to the Forsyth Barr Stadium. Also Otagos Tony Brown would play for the Razorbacks, Otago began the season defeating North Harbour 46–29 at Carisbrook. The following week Otago created history by defeating Auckland 32–25 at Eden Park and it was Otagos first win at Eden Park since 1976. Otago started with just as many wins as they had all of the 2010 ITM Cup season, Otago would play Southland in the teams final ever game at Carisbrook, losing 19–12 to the Stags. Manawatu were supposed to be Otagos first new opponents at the Forsyth Barr Stadium, bad weather however would postpone the game to later in the season. Otago played Canterbury in the teams first game at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Canterbury won 29–16 in front of a crowd of 14067
12.
Carisbrook
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Carisbrook was a major sporting venue in Dunedin, New Zealand. The citys main domestic and international rugby venue, it was also used for other sports such as cricket, football, rugby league. Carisbrook also hosted a Joe Cocker concert and frequently hosted pre-game concerts before rugby matches in the 1990s, in 2011 Carisbrook was closed, and was replaced by Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza in North Dunedin. Floodlit since the 1990s, it could cater for day and night fixtures. Known locally simply as The Brook, it has been branded with the name The House of Pain, state Highway 1 also ran close to the northern perimeter of the ground. Carisbrook was named after the estate of colonial settler James Macandrew. Developed during the 1870s, it was first used for cricket in 1883. It hosted rugby union internationals since 1908 and full cricket internationals since 1955, the stadium was home to both the Highlanders in Super Rugby and Otago in the ITM Cup through each sides respective 2011 season. The grounds final regular capacity was around 30,000, but has hosted crowds as high as 42,000 in the past with temporary seating, until 1998 the sides of the Caversham bypass motorway allowed a free view of the ground and was known as the Scotsmans Grandstand. Occasionally trains would slow to a crawl or stop on the track above the stadium to allowing passengers to watch an entire event, in 1998 a new stand and corporate boxes were built that blocked the view. Partly due to Dunedins relatively large number of students, Carisbrook has a unique atmosphere. This is enhanced by the terraces, a concrete embankment at the eastern end of the ground. Construction and ownership of the new $NZ198 million stadium, officially named the Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza, until the new stadium was completed, all international and Super Rugby games were still held at Carisbrook. The last international game was expected to be the All Blacks versus South Africa Tri Nations match on 12 July 2008, however, the All Blacks returned to Carisbrook to play France on 13 June 2009 and finally Wales on 19 June 2010. This game meant that the All Blacks had played every major test-playing nation at Carisbrook, a later test match, destined to be the last at the ground, was scheduled between New Zealand and Fiji as a fundraiser for the Christchurch earthquake appeal on 22 July 2011. On 11 May 2011 the Dunedin City Council decided that Carisbrook would be sold after the 2011 Rugby World Cup, originally the floodlights were to be reused at the University Oval for day/night cricket matches. The turnstile building on Neville Street is a category I historic building, Carisbrook was sold to the Dunedin City Council in 2009 for $7,000,000. It was sold on in 2013 for $4,700,000 and this result appeared to support objections made at the time of purchase, of a decision not based on sound advice, and possibly blurred with non-commercial or personal considerations
13.
Eden Park
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Eden Park is New Zealands largest stadium. Located in central Auckland, New Zealands largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. Although used primarily for rugby union in winter and cricket in summer, it has hosted rugby league, in 2011 it hosted pool games, two quarter-finals, both semi-finals and the final of Rugby World Cup 2011. In doing so it became the first stadium in the world to host two Rugby World Cup Finals, having held the final in 1987. It was a venue for the 2015 Cricket World Cup, which was hosted by Australia. Eden Park has been a sports ground since 1900, the park began as a cricket ground in 1903, and was due to the vision of one Harry Ryan, a cricket enthusiast who approached landowner John Walters to lease part of his land as a sports field. Ryan knew or at least imagined better and that bit of land was in fact located just up the road from Cabbage Tree Swamp, now Gribblehirst Park. Interestingly, those who saw Ryans vision as madness most likely felt vindicated when, in 1907, the same thing happened again later in the year. In 1913 the park was leased to the Auckland Rugby Union so it became both a summer and winter sporting venue, and in 1921 hosted the first international event, a NZ v South Africa Test. The Western part of the ground was just open space until 1950 when a stand was erected for the British Empire Games. In 1956 a permanent stand was built, but subsequently moved to North Harbour Stadium, the name ‘Eden Park’ settled into general usage around 1912, soon after it had been taken over by the Auckland Cricket Association. Still the home of Auckland Cricket, Eden Park has hosted many international Tests, One Day International, Rugby arrived in 1913 when, after negotiations with the Auckland Cricket Association, Auckland Rugby was granted a 21-year lease for games during the winter season. The first rugby test was held on 27 August 1921, when the Springboks beat the All Blacks 5–9 before a crowd of 40,000, the Auckland Rugby Football Union officially made Eden Park its home in 1925. In 1926 a Trust was set up to manage Eden Park primarily for the benefit of Auckland Cricket, the Trust still manages the Park. In 2013 the New Zealand Warriors announced they would be playing three games at Eden Park in the 2014 NRL season. In 2015, it hosted four matches during the 2015 Cricket World Cup, the $256 million redevelopment completed in October 2010 provided a permanent capacity of 50,000 with a further 10,000 temporary seats for the 2011 Rugby World Cup games. This is the largest of any New Zealand sports arena, temporary seating in front of the North Stand and the West Stand is required for the capacity to be reached. Due to sight-screens and the area required for cricket matches
14.
Hawke's Bay Rugby Union
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The Hawkes Bay Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand. The union is based in Napier, the representative team of the HBRFU is the Hawkes Bay Magpies. The team jersey is white with black hoops, the Magpies home ground is McLean Park in Napier. Hawkes Bay has a team called the Hawkes Bay Tuis. This makes it the oldest Provincial Rugby Union outside the four main centres, Hawkes Bay has a very good Ranfurly Shield record with 24 defences from 1922 to 1927,21 successful defences between 1966 and 1969 as well as 2 defences in 1934. Hawkes Bay won the shield again, claiming it from Otago and they lost the shield soon after to Counties-Manukau, before winning it back from them in August 2014\. Hawkes Bays glory days as a rugby union came long before the NPC was founded, as such Hawkes Bay does not have a very flattering record in either that competition or the Air New Zealand Cup. The best position they have managed in either is 3rd, Hawkes Bay dominated the second division of the NPC in the 1990s before the Air New Zealand Cup was set up in 2006. In 1996 Hawkes Bay and Manawatu merged their teams to form the Central Vikings and it was an attempt to elevate the unions back to the then first division. Players including Mark Bull Allen, Christian Cullen, Mark Ranby, Stephen Bachop, the 1997 season saw Central finish overall second with 6 wins,2 losses and into the semi-finals. In the semi-final, the Vikings avenged their loss to Bay of Plenty in round robin play to face Northland in the final, Northland were thus promoted to the First Division. However, had the Vikings won, they would not have been eligible to be promoted,1998 saw a repeat of form for the Vikings who went unbeaten in the season. They subsequently won the final against Bay of Plenty at McLean Park, however, due to financial issues, the merger split back to Hawkes Bay and Manawatu. Both unions subsequently became foundation unions of the Air New Zealand Cup which started in 2006, in the past Hawkes Bay has produced some great All Blacks including Kel Tremain and George Nepia. Hawkes Bay also defeated the 1993 British Lions and in 1994 defeated France, in 2009 Hawkes Bay announced they intended to apply to join the Super Rugby competition, when it was announced a fifteenth franchise was to be created. However, in August 2009 the clubs chairman Richard Hunt announced they were withdrawing their bid because they had not had sufficient time to present a business plan and he insisted the club remained very serious about joining the club in the future. Hawkes Bay would be New Zealands sixth team if they were to join Super Rugby, Hawkes Bay made their best effort to date in the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup winning many games even against bigger unions such as Wellington and Waikato. They were the story of the competition surprising everyone to reach the semi-finals where they were beaten by Auckland
15.
McLean Park
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McLean Park is a sports ground in Napier, New Zealand. The two main sports played at the ground are cricket and rugby union and it is one of the largest cricket grounds in New Zealand. McLean Park is a ground of international standards which includes the main outdoor stadium. The home teams for this ground are the Hawkes Bay Rugby Union, the two ends of the stadium are named the Centennial Stand End and Embankment End. Its close proximity to the International Date Line makes it the worlds most easterly Test match ground, the ground was initially named Sir Donald McLean Park by an act of Parliament after Sir Douglas McLean donated ten acres of land as a memorial to his father. In cricket, the ground is primarily a venue with square dimensions that allow attacking batsman to score freely especially in the opening overs. There are four covered stands and a grass bank opposite the Centennial Stand. The wicket tends to slow up throughout the day therefore captains prefer to set targets on this pitch and it has held first class matches since 1952 and ten tests since 1979. New Zealands Test record at the ground is seven draws, one win and it has held at least a single one-day international every season since 1990. The ground has a capacity of 19,700 and the pitch is turf and it has been announced they will no longer host one-day internationals after 2017/18 season due to poor drainage. The ground is used for hosting both ODIs and Test matches and it has hosted a total of 5 Tests and 40 ODIs. The first ODI played here was between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Rothmans Cup of 1982/83, in this match New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by 7 wickets. Apart from this, the McLean Park Complex also hosts rugby matches, including one match at the 1987 Rugby World Cup and it is the home of the Hawkes Bay rugby team in the ITM Cup. It has also hosted several New Zealand Maori games in the past, melbourne Storm Rugby League club are planning to stage an NRL game against St. George-Illawarra Dragons at the stadium on 25 July 2015. Redevelopments took just one year to complete, the stand was built for the 2011 Rugby World Cup and to a lesser extent the 2015 Cricket World Cup of which both events will have games at the venue. McLean Park is regarded as one of the most batting friendly wickets in the world, brendan McCullum is the top run scorer on the ground with 411 while Iain OBrien has the most wickets with 15. McLean Park also has known as a good batting strip for one day cricket. The average runs per wicket is 30.66 while the average runs per over is 4.90
16.
Lancaster Park
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Lancaster Park, previously known as Jade Stadium and AMI Stadium, was a sports stadium in Waltham, a suburb of Christchurch in New Zealand. The stadium was closed due to damage sustained in the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the Hadlee Stand has been demolished and the fate of the rest of the stadium is unresolved. The stadium had been the venue for sports including rugby union, cricket, rugby league, association football, athletics. However the stadium was primarily a rugby and cricket ground and was the home of the Crusaders rugby union team, in 1880 Canterbury Cricket and Athletics Sports Co. In 1882, Edward Stevens and Arthur Ollivier initiated the purchase of a parcel of farmland which became Lancaster Park. For Stevens, this was a transaction through his company, Harman and Stevens, on behalf of the owner, Canterbury Cricket and Athletics Sports purchased 10 acres 3 rods 30 perches for £2,841 at £260 per acre. In 1904 Canterbury cricket would become the owner of the ground. Then in 1911 the Canterbury Rugby Union became co-owners with the Canterbury Cricket Association over the ground, an Act of Parliament in November 1919 vested title to Lancaster Park in the Crown, and established the Victory Park Board to take responsibility for its management. JADE Stadium Limited was established in December 1998 to manage the facilities on behalf of the Victory Park Board. A five-member board of directors, drawn from Christchurchs business community, in 1881 the first cricket match to be played on the ground was scheduled for the opening on 8 October, but it was cancelled because of rain. An athletics meeting became the first event held on the ground, in 1912 a Floral Fete, a festival, was held to raise funds to clear the debt of £2,000 in order to prevent the ground being cut up into building sites. The embankment was expanded in 1957, increasing the capacity to 33,000, two new stands were opened in 1965 further increasing the capacity to 38,500. In 1995 the Hadlee Stand opened in tribute to the successful cricketing family which came from Canterbury, the Hadlee stand was the first stand to be demolished due to earthquake damage. In 2000 saw the demolition of the embankment and No.4 stand and the opening of the DB Draught stand, both stands sustained severe slump damage during the earthquake in 2011. Although deemed repairable it is unlikely they will be as the cost would be too expensive, as part of a $60 million redevelopment for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the Eastern Stands were demolished and replaced with the new Deans Stand. The Stand was designed to reflect the newly completed Western Stand, the Deans Stand has a seating capacity of 13,000. The stand was damaged in the earthquake when the piles it stood on were violently forced up. The Deans name has been a part of rugby at the stadium for more than a century, the name Deans is also the family name of the first successful settlers in the city with brothers John and William Deans building their house in 1843
17.
Sydney Sports Ground
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The Sydney Sports Ground No.1 was a Stadium and Dirt track racing venue in Sydney, New South Wales. The ground was located where the car park of the Sydney Football Stadium currently sits, the ground had two main grandstands and was surrounded by a grass covered hill, giving it a capacity of more than 35,000. It was demolished along with the smaller No.2 Ground in 1986 to allow the building of the SFS, during its lifespan the Sports Ground hosted Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, Motorcycle speedway and Speedway car racing. The Sports Ground was the ground of NSWRL team, the Eastern Suburbs Roosters. The Roosters played their last game at the Sports Ground on 29 June 1986, the South Sydney Rabbitohs club also used it as a home ground from 1928 to 1947. The Roosters recorded their biggest ever win at the Sydney Sports Ground on 18 May 1935, easts ran in 19 tries to one with Australian test centre Dave Brown, the Bradman of rugby league, scoring 45 points from 5 tries and 15 goals. Easts would win their 5th premiership in 1935 while Brown would go on to be the leading try scorer with 38. The Sports Ground was used as the Sydney Cricket Ground was in use on that day, Soccer and rugby league were among the sports held at the ground, but soccer teams also used the ground for major matches. It was also an important open-air boxing venue between the 1930s and 1960s, the champion Australian boxers Jack Carroll, Ron Richards and Jimmy Carruthers has memorable victories there. The Sydney Sports Ground was one of the used in the 1938 British Empire Games. The average attendance at the Sports Ground for the tournament was 17,270, for many years the ground also hosted minor Rugby union representative matches and the annual Sydney rugby premiership grand final. Among some of the most memorable of these games were wins by the Sydney team over more fancied visitors such as Wales and Ireland, from 1907 the Sydney Sports Ground was used as a Motorcycle racing track. The track that was later to become the dirt speedway was then concrete, the Sydney Sports Ground Speedway was officially opened in 1937 by Mr E. A. Buttershaw, NSW Minister for Lands. Between 1938 and 1953, eight Solo riders and four Speedcar drivers died as a result of accidents on the dirt track, the Sports Ground held its last speedway meeting on 25 March 1955. On 19 June 2004 a plaque was unveiled on the site of the former Sports Ground and it reads, In an era when death was an accepted risk of the sport,12 competitors lost their lives while racing at the Sydney Sports Ground. In the most tragic accident, close friends off the track Norm Clay and Ray Duggan both died after crashing together in a Solo race there on 21 January 1950
18.
Northampton Saints
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Northampton Saints are a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They were formed in 1880, and play in black, green, the team play their home games at Franklins Gardens, which has a capacity of 15,500. Their biggest rivals are Leicester Tigers, the East Midlands Derby is one of the fiercest rivalries in English Rugby Union. This is how the club got its two nicknames of The Saints or Jimmies and his original concept was to promote order to his younger parish members by creating a youth rugby club, with the philosophy of a hooligan sport designed to turn them into gentlemen. It was not long before Northampton had one of the rugby union teams in the country. Twenty years after its establishment, the first Saints player, local farmer Harry Weston, was awarded an England cap, as the club progressed through the early years of the 20th century one player dominated this era for the club, Edgar Mobbs. Edgar was a hero throughout the town and he was the first Northampton player to captain his country but is best remembered for his exploits in World War I. After initially being turned down as too old, Edgar raised his own Sportsmans battalion otherwise known as Mobbs Own. Edgar was killed in battle, leading his battalion over the top by kicking a ball into no mans land on 29 July 1917 attacking a machine gun post. The club arranged the Mobbs Memorial Match as a tribute and it had been played every year since 1921 and the fixture took place between the Barbarians and East Midlands at Franklins Gardens until the Barbarians withdrew their support in 2008. In this postwar period the Saints continued to grow, and they started to produce some of the best players in England, some of whom went on to captain their country. They were one of the forces in the English game for the next 60 years producing players such as Butterfield, Jeeps, Longland, White and Jacobs. Some former players formed their own task force which swept out the old brigade in the 1988 Saints Revolution and put a plan into action which would put the club back at the top of the English game. Barry Corless, as director of rugby, set about restructuring the club and soon the Saints were back on the way up, helped by the signing of All Blacks legend Wayne Buck Shelford. In 1990, Northampton Rugby Union Football Club gained promotion to the then First Division and they lost in extra time but the foundations of a good Saints line-up were beginning to show in the following few seasons. This season is referred to by fans of the club as the Demolition Tour of Division Two. In 1995, rugby union turned professional and the club was taken over by local businessman Keith Barwell, in 1999, Saints came runners-up in the Allied Dunbar Premiership, their league campaign climaxing with a crucial home local derby with eventual winners Leicester Tigers which they lost 15–22. Steele relied on the foundations laid by McGeechan, as well as the captaincy of Samoan Pat Lam to lead the club to European success the following season
19.
Fylde Rugby Club
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Fylde Rugby Union Club /ˈfaɪld/ is a rugby union club based in Lytham St Annes, on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England. The home venue is the Woodlands Memorial Ground on Blackpool Road in Ansdell and the first team play in English rugbys National League One, the third tier of the English rugby union system. There are another three teams, the Wanderers, the Saracens and the Vandals who play in the English North West Leagues, respectively in the NW Premiership, NW1 North. There is currently no Colts team, in previous seasons the Colts have played in the Lancashire & Cheshire regional leagues. In the past, Woodlands Memorial Ground was shared by Blackpool Rugby League Club, a coin was tossed and it fell in favour of rugby union. The club grew steadily and achieved a strong fixture list by the 1960s and has been in the National Leagues since their inception in 1987, in May,1920 the present Woodlands site was first used for rugby. The admission was 5d and the first yearly gate receipts amounted to just over £57, in 1922, Harold Brooks was elected President and through his efforts Fylde progressed. He also provided the present stand, in 1924 the club was represented in the Lancashire team by players such as Ham Neville, who was capped 33 times, and Pop Ogden, who was classed as the most successful kicker of the time. He was the originator of the round the corner style of kicking now used by more or less all kickers worldwide, the club was strengthened by the merger with Blackpool Old Boys in the 1934–35 season. During the World War II, Fylde, along many other clubs, had to close as the Army took over the ground. Parkes, welcomed back members from the war and by time the ground had been purchased and named the Woodlands Memorial Ground in recognition of those members who gave their lives during the war. In the 1950s, the rooms were built and Pop Ogden was elected President of Lancashire. Arthur Bell and Rothwell Bamber were given life memberships for their work with the club, Bell served for 34 years as the Honorary Secretary. In 1964 the second England trial was held at Fylde and Sir Laurie Edwards opened the new pavilion extension,1969 was Fylde’s jubilee year, when they were fielding six or seven teams every Saturday. The clubs two most famous players were home grown, Malcolm Phillips and Bill Beaumont, Phillips, who attended Arnold School in Blackpool, won 25 England caps at centre between 1958 and 1964. He was President of the Rugby Football Union from 2004 to 2005 and has served on the International Rugby Board for a number of years. Beaumont was also a one man having joined Fylde as a 17-year-old in 1969. His father had played for Fylde and he wrote suggesting that his son be given a trial
20.
Rosslyn Park F.C.
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Rosslyn Park Football Club is a rugby union club based in London, founded in 1879 by cricketing friends in north London. At the end of their first season, Charles Hoyer Millar proposed forming a club to keep the players together during the winter. After an initial blue shirt with white Maltese cross, its current red-and-white hoops were adopted in 1881, the club became the first English side to play rugby internationally when it beat Stade Français in Paris on 18 April 1892. In 1912, the club played matches in Prague, Budapest and Vienna - the first rugby matches ever played in those cities -. In 1939, Rosslyn Park inaugurated the annual Rosslyn Park Schools Seven Tournament, with some 7,000 players annually, it is the worlds largest rugby tournament. After the Second World war, Park again led the way with a first international fixture in 1945 against traditional rivals Stade Français, in 1951, Park was the first to bring the Ladies Cup from the Melrose Sevens south of the border. In 1975 and 1976, the played in the final of the John Player Cup. Rosslyn Park also have one of the countrys largest mini- and youth-rugby set-ups with sides at all age groups from under-6s up, when English league rugby began in 1987, Park were placed in Division two, which they won. The first team play in the third division of the English league system. The club plays at Priory Lane, Roehampton in South-West London on a leased from the next-door Roehampton Club. There is one 4G pitch at the site, additional games are played on grass pitches in nearby Richmond Park. Changing facilities for sets of pitches are at the main site in Priory Lane. The clubhouse has two bars, which are named after two of the famous players – Andy Ripley and Alexander Obolensky. The first floodlights for the pitch were famously provided by the hell-raising actor Oliver Reed who was also a member of the club. Those lights have now been replaced after storm damage, some 350 Park members served in the Great War, of which 109 died, believed to be the highest number from any club. The story was told in a 2012 book The Final Whistle, the Great War in Fifteen players
21.
Leicester Tigers
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Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club based in Leicester, England that plays in the English Premiership. Leicester have also appeared in a record nine successive Premiership finals, the Tigers have never finished a league season below 6th position, and are one of only four teams never to have been relegated from the top division. The clubs first game was a draw on 23 October against Moseley at the Belgrave Road Cycle. That first season Tigers play a local fixture list against the likes of Northampton, Nuneaton, Rushden, Kettering, Market Harborough, in 1881 the club joined the Midlands Counties Football Association enabling them to enter the Midlands Counties Cup the next season. Tigers first ever cup game was a loss to Edgbaston Crusaders. This inauspicious start to the cup continued with losses to Moseley in each of the three seasons. In 1888 Tigers fixture list started to expand outside the midlands, the 1888-89 season saw Tigers welcome back Manningham as well as Oldham and Swinton, Cardiff Harlequins became the clubs first Welsh opponents. Leicester also reached their first Midland Counties Cup Final that year losing, again, 1889-90 saw Tigers travel to Wales for the first time playing Cardiff and Newport on consecutive days, the Monday and Tuesday of Easter week. Gloucester were added to the fixture list in 1891-92, whilst on 13 February Tigers played in London for the first time, on 10 September 1892 Leicester played their first game at their present ground, Welford Road, against a Leicestershire XV. That season saw derby matches produce attendances up to 7,000 whilst 10,000 saw Leicester lose 12-0 to Coventry in the round of the Midlands Counties Cup. Tom Crumbie was appointed secretary on 2 August 1895, a position he held for the next 33 years. Crumbie has been credited with dragging the club to prominence, he disbanded reserve and third teams making the First XV an invitation side. During his tenure 26 players from the club became capped at international level, Jones was forced to miss the final on medical grounds but Tigers still took home the cup for the first time winning 5-3. The only score coming from Percy Oscroft after only 3 minutes, in the final Nuneaton were beaten 20-3. For the next three seasons Leicester had the better of Moseley beating them in the each year, before seeing off Rugby in the final of 1903. Moseley were defeated again in 1904, Nottingham beaten 31-0 in 1905, having won the Midlands Counties Cup every year from 1898 to 1905, they dropped out to give other teams a chance. In 1903 Jack Miles became the first home produced England international and he had come to prominence scoring 43 tries in 52 appearances. In 1908 the club had three players selected for the 1908 Anglo-Welsh tour of New Zealand, John Jackett, Tom Smith and Fred Jackson became the first Tigers selected for an overseas tour
22.
Harlequin F.C.
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The Harlequin Football Club are an English rugby union team who play in the top level of English rugby, the English Premiership. Their ground in London is the Twickenham Stoop and they were one of the founder members of the RFU. Quins were crowned winners of the European Challenge Cup in 2011, the current club captain is Danny Care and the Director of Rugby is John Kingston. For sponsorship reasons they were known as NEC Harlequins, but principal sponsorship is currently held by DHL, Adidas. The Hampstead Football Club was founded in 1866 and the first recorded game took place in 1867, the club was renamed Harlequin Rugby Football Club in 1870, supposedly because the membership was no longer purely local but the HFC monogram had to be retained. The word Harlequin was found in a dictionary and all present agreed to the new name and this caused a split in the membership and the half that did not form the Harlequins went off and formed the club now known as the Wasps. During its first 40 years the club played at a total of 15 venues, since 1909, they have only played at three. In 1906, the club was invited by the Rugby Football Union to use the new stadium in Twickenham. In those early days, only one or two internationals were played there during the season, and before long Twickenham became the headquarters of the Harlequin Football Club. Despite this, the tour pales to insignificance when it is realised the Pretoria club spent four weeks in East Africa playing eight matches and another in Rhodesia on the way home. The London club arrived at Entebbe airport at dawn on 4 May and they played West Kenya Province at Kitale, and the Pretoria Harlequins on Saturday 13 May at the RFUEA ground, Nairobi. The next two matches were played at the location, beating the host club 16–0 the next day. The last match for the London club was against Kenya at Nakuru on Saturday 20 May and this last match was played under a typical long-rains shower that, though heavy, did not soften the hard ground enough to be a problem. The team was seen off by a crowd of the Kenya rugby fraternity. Touching down to refuel in Entebbe after midnight, they found that a contingent of the Ugandan rugby scene had turned up at the airport to wave them on their way. In 1963, Harlequin acquired a ground with 14 acres just over the road from the Twickenham ground. This subsequently become their home, the Stoop Memorial Ground which in 2005 was renamed The Twickenham Stoop and this is named after Adrian Dura Stoop, who won 15 caps for England and is said to have been the person who developed modern back play. With the introduction of leagues in 1987 bringing a more competitive environment, the club has won the Rugby Football Union clubs knockout competition on two occasions, the John Player Cup in 1988 and Pilkington Cup in 1991
23.
Cambridge University R.U.F.C.
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The Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club, sometimes abbreviated CURUFC, is the rugby union club of the University of Cambridge. The team plays Oxford University RFC in the annual Varsity Match at Twickenham Stadium every December, Cambridge players wear light blue and white hooped jerseys with a red lion crest. Many have gone on to represent their country and the British and Irish Lions, whilst at Cambridge University James Bevan became the first captain of the Wales national rugby union team. Football is believed to have introduced to Cambridge University in 1839 by Trinity College fresher Albert Pell. Pell had matriculated at Cambridge after going up from Rugby School, Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club was officially established in 1872, around three years after the Oxford rugby club was founded. The first Varsity match was contested between the two teams on 10 February 1872, the Cambridge team was led out by captain Isaac Cowley Lambert, wearing pink jerseys with a monogram on the left breast. Played away at the Park in Oxford, Cambridge lost by a goal to nil. CURUFC officials helped to draw up the laws of the game that were adopted by the Rugby Football Union when it was established in 1871, Cambridge became a Constituent Body of the Union in 1872, a status which the club still holds today. In 1874, Cambridge provided their first international player directly from the club, the following former players were selected for the British and Irish Lions touring squads whilst playing for Cambridge University. P. Oxford v Cambridge, The Story of the University Rugby Match
24.
Coventry R.F.C.
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Coventry Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in the city of Coventry, England. The club enjoyed great success during the 1960s and the 1970s. Coventrys home ground is the Butts Park Arena, which opened in 2004, between 1921 and 2004, the club played at Coundon Road Stadium, Coventry. The club currently play in SSE National League 1, the tier of the English rugby union system. It was back in 1874 when a group also included some members of Stoke Cricket Club took part in what could be described as the first organised game of rugby football played in Coventry. Played against Allesley Park College in Allesley, it took the form of one half conducted according to rugby rules, the first headquarters were established at Old Bull Fields and in the formative years Coventry remained pretty well unbeaten. When the ground became enclosed, it known as the Butts with the first match played there against Stourbridge in 1880. By the late 1890s, involvement began in the Midland Counties Cup which was won a total of five times, the first club captain was Harry Ratliff, who later emigrated to the United States. Ben Tuke & H G Wells were the club’s first internationals, W L Oldham became the first of the club’s great forwards of the 20th century to represent England. Early in the century the Butts was lost when the professional Northern Union game took brief hold in the city, what was considered to be the first golden era of Coventry rugby came in the mid-1920s when losses were infrequent. That brilliance continued and carried over with Coventry producing six England internationals as well as playing a part in the early Warwickshire successes in the County Championship. Regular representative matches by now were being staged at Coundon Road, the years of the Second World War brought more disruption, but from a playing point of view despite the inevitable difficulties, it became one of the most remarkable periods in the club’s history. All that ensured that when finished the club was immediately into its stride again as success continued. The early 1950s saw something of a dip in fortune, but it was not to last too long as the continued to produce many international players, not only for England but also Scotland. In 1958 the Midlands won their match against a touring side. This was also the time when again Coventry players totally dominated the County side, the early 1960s saw the club’s players continue to win international honours, indeed by the early 1970s at one time thirteen players from the club were representing England. The RFU Club Knock Competition, later to be known as the John Player Cup, was won in consecutive seasons 1972–73 and 1973–74, the second of which coincided with the centenary celebrations. Merit tables were then beginning to come on the scene, the early years seeing the club at the top end of both the England & Wales versions
25.
Bedford Blues
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Bedford Blues are a rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in The RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the largest towns in England without a football club. The Blues are a team, with a mix of experienced. The Blues are coached by Mike Rayer, within the next five years it was hoped that 50% of the clubs players would have been brought into the squad through the Academy and youth teams. The 2006–07 Academy Colts became champions of the English Colts Club Knockout Cup after beating Redruth at Franklins Gardens, 2007–08 season saw the Colts win the cup again. Being the first Colts team to retain the cup, Bedford RUFC was founded in 1886 after an amalgamation between Bedford Rovers and Bedford Swifts. Both parent clubs had close connections with Bedford School and Bedford Modern School, the Bedford colours of dark and light blue are believed to be a reflection of the schoolmasters association with Oxbridge and the full badge colours are based on the strip of Swifts and Rovers. Under the captaincy of Alfred Parrott, a Bedford Modern School master and these two distinguished teams suffered the fate of all other visitors to the clubs ground in that marvelous season, defeated by scores of 22–0 and 7–3 respectively in front of huge crowds. Indeed, the Club would complete its normal programme unbeaten, only to lose when somewhat understrength, the seasons final record was 29 played,27 won, one drawn and one lost, with 521 points and only 49 against. Records created that season stood for years and winger H. M Morris still holds the highest try-scoring tally with 38 scores in a season. While the success on the field had been good there was often a problem of where to play at home. There were two sites where pitches could be made available. One was known as The House of Industry ground in Goldington Road and this was the field in front of the House of Industry -now known as the North Wing Hospital. This is approximately where Bedford play now, the other site was known as Midland Road Ground, an area near the Queens Park railway bridge. The first matches in 1886–87 were in Goldington Road — where the Bedford Swifts had played — and it was recorded in local papers at the time that at least one game was played in the field where Queens Works now stands. The railway and industry required this land and Bedford Rugby returned to the Goldington Road area before an agreement in 1895 was reached with Bedford Cricket Club who actually held the lease, the pitch was laid out in virtually the same spot as it is now. The clubs record prior to 1905 was good enough to bring the all Blacks to the town for the first time, the match itself was a great attraction with the towns schools and factories closing for the half day to enable people to attend. The result was similar to the fate that most club sides suffered in their successful tour, in the seasons immediately preceding World War I the fixture list grew stronger, and the club lost only one game in 1913–14
26.
History of the England national rugby union team
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The History of the England national rugby union team covers the period since 1871, when the England national rugby union team played Scotland in the first ever rugby union international. The game of rugby union developed out of the game of football that was played at Rugby School from the mid-18th century. In the first half of the 19th century, the game began to spread, as ex-pupils of Rugby, at Cambridge University, in 1839, a game was organised between Old Rugbeians and Old Etonians, and a rugby club was formed at Guys Hospital, London in 1843. In 1848, representatives of the public schools agreed a code of rules. On 26 January 1871, a meeting was held in London that led to the founding of the Rugby Football Union. Following a challenge from Scottish members, teams representing England and Scotland met at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, Scotland won by four points to one, in front of 4,000 people. In a return match at the Kennington Oval, London, on 5 February 1872, the next game between the two nations was at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, and resulted in a draw. The succeeding match between the two took place two years later on Monday 23 February 1874 at the same location as their first game. England again won the game, though this time the score was a lot closer, the following year England played their first game against the Irish at the Oval, winning seven nil, the match was Irelands first Test. Another match between England and Ireland was held in December, with England winning again, games were played against Scotland and Ireland in 1876 and 1877 respectively, and although holding the opponents scoreless, the margin of scoring was low. A second game against Scotland that year resulted in Englands first loss since their first game, in 1878 Ireland hosted England at the Lansdowne Road stadium in Dublin. England emerged as winners, defeating Ireland seven points to nil, after defeating Ireland in 1879, England followed this up with another victory at Lansdowne Road, although the game was a lot closer, with England winning four points to one. England hosted Scotland in 1880 at the Whalley Range ground in Manchester and they beat Ireland at the same ground a year later. England played Wales for the first time, on 19 February 1881 at Richardsons Field in Blackheath, England racked up their largest victory, defeating the Welsh 30 points to nil. The subsequent meeting the year at St Helens in Swansea was a closer contest. England drew with Scotland then Ireland in 1881/82, and were beaten by Scotland in 1882. Scotland came close to defeating England again in 1883, the two try to one try win to England was watched by a crowd of 10,000. That year, the first Home Nations championship was held, in 1884, England defeated Wales at the northern venue of Cardigan Fields in Leeds
27.
England rugby union try record progression
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The progression begins with Reg Birketts try, scored in the first international rugby match of any code in 1871 when England succumbed to Scotland at Raeburn Place. When Birketts try was scored, it was not worth any points in itself, but rather afforded the opportunity of the side to kick a goal, or a try at goal. Birkett, who played association football for England, was for a short time during the match the joint international record holder as well. Despite the record being but a try, Birketts mark of one try for England stood for almost six years. Hutchinson set a mark that was to last for four years when Henry Taylor. Taylor played in the side as another prolific scorer of tries. Burton equalled the mark of five tries in Englands comprehensive victory over Wales in the latters first international. In that match, on 19 February 1881, of the thirteen tries scored, Taylor scored once but Burton scored four times, the tries scored in this match brought both players to six apiece, but as to which of these players reached that mark first is unclear. It was not until 1885 that another pairing of prolific try scorers, Wilfred Bolton and Charles Wade, Wade went on to hold the record outright for over fifteen years after he scored his seventh try on 2 January 1886 against Wales. For the third time, England was fielding a pairing of prolific try scorers, John Birkett was the son of Englands first try scorer, Reg Birkett and had scored the first try at Twickenham Stadium. He went on to set the England record with ten tries on 8 April 1912, as Birketts career finished, the young winger, Cyril Lowe, began his. Underwood had taken thirty-eight matches to reach this mark, compared to Lowes twenty-four. Before Lowe, other try scorers had had better scoring ratios, amongst them record holders Burton scoring six in six, Wade seven in eight, Tot Robinson eight in eight, daniel Lambert had also scored eight tries in a career of seven appearances. Lowes achievement has been singled out as being all the more due to the almost six year pause in the middle of his career. Underwood went on to score thirty more tries for England over a career spanning twelve years and eighty-five matches and he also scored once for the British Lions, bringing his career total of international tries to fifty. Underwoods mark, however, has never challenged, the next closest for England being Will Greenwood. List of top England international rugby union points scorers and try scorers
28.
Twickenham Stadium
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Twickenham Stadium is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, south west London, England. Owned by the body of rugby union in England, the Rugby Football Union. The RFU headquarters are based in the stadium and it is the second largest stadium in the UK, after Wembley Stadium, and the fourth largest in Europe. Twickenham is often referred to as the home of rugby union, the stadium, owned and operated by the RFU, hosts rugby union fixtures year round. It is the home of the English rugby union team, who nearly all their home games at the stadium. Twickenham hosts Englands home Six Nations matches, as well as inbound touring teams from the Southern Hemisphere, apart from its relationship with the national team, Twickenham is the venue for a number of other domestic and international rugby union matches. It is also the venue for the final of the Aviva Premiership as well as the season-opening London Double Header, Big Game, anglo-Welsh Cup, Heineken Cup and Champions Cup finals have also been held here in the past. Sold out Tests against New Zealand and South Africa at Crystal Palace saw the RFU realise the benefit of owning their own ground. Committee member William Williams and treasurer William Cail led the way to purchasing a 10.25 acre market garden in Twickenham in 1907 for £5,500 12s 6d, the first stands were constructed the following year. Before the ground was purchased, it was used to grow cabbages, after further expenditure on roads, the first game, between Harlequins v. Richmond, was played on 2 October 1909, and the first international, England v. Wales, on 15 January 1910. At the time of the English-Welsh game, the stadium had a capacity of 20,000 spectators. During World War I the ground was used for cattle, horse, king George V unveiled a war memorial in 1921. In 1926, the first Middlesex Sevens took place at the ground, in 1927 the first Varsity Match took place at Twickenham for the first time. On 19 March 1938, BBC Television broadcast the England – Scotland match from Twickenham, in 1959, to mark 50 years of the ground, a combined side of England and Wales beat Ireland and Scotland by 26 points to 17. Coming into the last match of the 1988 season, against the Irish, the Twickenham crowd had only seen one solitary England try in the previous two years, and at half-time against Ireland they were 0–3 down. During the second half a remarkable transformation took place and England started playing a game many had doubted they were capable of producing. A 0–3 deficit was turned into a 35–3 win, with England scoring six tries and this day also saw the origins of the adoption of the negro spiritual Swing Low, Sweet Chariot as a terrace song. In the 35–3 win against Ireland, three of Englands tries were scored by Chris Oti, a player who had made a reputation for himself that season as a speedster on the left wing
29.
England at the Rugby World Cup
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The England national team have competed in every Rugby World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987. They have played 44 matches in eight tournaments, and won 31 for a record of 70. 45%. Their best ever position was first in 2003, whilst they also participated in the 2007 final and they have beaten three countries three times, Australia, France and the United States. Their worst record is against New Zealand whom they have never beaten in three matches, and South Africa who have defeated them in three of their four encounters. England co-hosted the 1991 Rugby World Cup with Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France, England was the sole host of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, although eight games were held at the Millennium Stadium, the Welsh national stadium in Cardiff. Davies, Gerald The History of the Rugby World Cup (Sanctuary Publishing Ltd, Farr-Jones, story of the Rugby World Cup, Australian Post Corporation, Rugbyworldcup. com Official site of the Rugby World Cup. IRB. com Official site of the International Rugby Board
30.
Six Nations Championship
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The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions are England, having won the 2017 tournament, the Six Nations is the successor to the Home Nations Championship, played between teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, which was the first international rugby union tournament. With the addition of France, this became the Five Nations Championship, the winners of the Six Nations Championship are sometimes unofficially referred to in the media as the European Champions or Northern Hemisphere Champions. Since the Six Nations era started in 2000, only Italy and Scotland have failed to win the Six Nations title, although Scotland were the last outright winners of the Five Nations. Played annually, the format of the Championship is simple, each team every other team once. Prior to the 2017 tournament, two points were awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss, unlike many other rugby union competitions the bonus point system has not previously been used. On 30 November 2016, the 6 Nations Committee announced that the point system will be trialled for the 2017 Championship. The system will be similar to the one used in most rugby championships, a review on how well the system worked will take place following the tournament. If a team wins all its games, they are said to have won a Grand Slam, victory by any Home Nation over the other three Home Nations is a Triple Crown. Although this achievement has long been a feature of the tournament, also, the team that finishes at the bottom of the league table is said to have won the Wooden Spoon, although no actual trophy is given to the team. A team which has lost all five matches is said to have been whitewashed, since the inaugural Six Nations tournament in 2000, only England and Ireland have avoided the Wooden Spoon award. Italy are the holders of the most Wooden Spoon awards in the Six Nations era with eleven, however, each of the other five nations has accumulated more than that through competing in previous eras. Several individual competitions take place under the umbrella of the tournament, the oldest such regular competition is for the Calcutta Cup, contested annually between England and Scotland since 1879. It is named the Calcutta Cup as it is made from melted-down Indian Rupees donated by the Calcutta Club, prior to 1994, teams equal on match points shared the championship. Since then, ties have been broken by considering the difference of the teams. The rules of the championship further provide that if teams tie on both points and points difference, the team which scored the most tries wins the championship. Were this decider to be a tie, the teams would share the championship. To date, however, match points and points difference have been sufficient to decide the championship, the winners of the Six Nations are presented with the Championship Trophy
31.
Triple Crown (rugby union)
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In rugby union, the Triple Crown is an honour contested annually by the so-called Home Nations – i. e. England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales who compete within the larger Six Nations Championship. If any one of these teams defeats all three teams, they win the Triple Crown. England won the first Triple Crown – although the phrase was not in use at the time – in the inaugural 1883 series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. The latest winners are England, who beat Ireland, Scotland, traditionally the Triple Crown was an informal honour with no trophy associated with it. However a trophy now exists, which has awarded to Triple Crown winners since 2006. The origins of the name Triple Crown are uncertain, the concept dates to the original Home Nations Championship, predecessor of the Six Nations Championship, when the competition only involved England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Like the modern Grand Slam, the Triple Crown was an honour to a team that won the Championship with straight victories. The Irish victory in 1894 was reported as a Triple Crown by The Irish Times at the time and is possibly the first time the phrase was seen in print, the phrase Triple Crown is also used in a number of other sports. Until 2006, no trophy was awarded to the winner of the Triple Crown. Dave Merrington, a miner from South Hetton, County Durham. This has a sitting on a four-sided base on which are represented a rose, a shamrock, a thistle. It is kept in the Museum of Rugby at Twickenham and this has been awarded to Triple Crown winning sides since 2006. It has been won three times by Ireland, twice by Wales and twice by England, there has been a Triple Crown winner in 65 of the 120 competitions held from 1883 through to 2016. Only two teams have achieved the Triple Crown in four years, Wales and England. No other teams have won the crown more than twice in a row. To date, the Triple Crown winners who failed to win the Championship are Wales in 1977, England in 1997,1998,2002 and 2014, Triple Crown winners who succeeded only in sharing the Championship were England in 1954 and 1960, and Wales in 1988. The following table shows the number of Triple Crown wins by each country, and the years in which they were achieved
32.
Cook Cup
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The Cook Cup is a rugby union trophy that is contested between Australia and England. The cup was established in 1997 when the Wallabies and England contracted to play each other bi-annually for a decade, playing matches on a home, since the first two years the format has only been adhered to once. Most years there is only one match and World Cup matches are not counted, the cup is named after Captain James Cook, representing a strong English-Australian connection. The cup, which was designed by Royal Doulton in London, is made from crystal, the first test between England and Australia was played on 9 January 1909 at Blackheaths Rectory Field in England The Wallabies won the match 9–3. The two nations met in 1928, at Twickenham, and England won 18–11. Twenty years passed and England and Australia met again at Twickenham in 1948 and it would then be another decade until the two nations played another test against one another. In 1958, they met again at Twickenham, and England won 9–6, England and Australia played each other twice during the 1960s, with the first match in Australia in 1963. The Wallabies defeated England 18–9 at Sydneys Sports Ground, and again in 1967 by 11–23 at Twickenham, the nations played each other another four times during the 1970s, with the home team always victorious. The two nations would meet six times during the 1980s, the first encounter being in 1982, two years later the Wallabies broke the trend when the magnificent Grand Slam team of 1984 won away from home at Twickenham by 19–3. They were drawn against each other in the 1987 World Cup at Sydneys Concord Oval, the nations played 3 times in 1988, with Australia winning at home 22–16 at Ballymore and 28–8 at Concord Oval, and England winning 28–19 at Twickenham. The sides met three times during the 1990s before the Cook Cup was introduced, the first match was in 1991 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and Australia won 40–15. Later that year, Australia won the final of the 1991 Rugby World Cup 12–6 at Twickenham, the last pre-Cook Cup match was a quarter-final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup played at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa. England dramatically won 25–22 with the last kick of the match, the first Cook Cup match was played at Sydney Football Stadium on 25 June 1997. The series was decided through two tests, and with the match at Twickenham resulting in a 15–15 draw, Australia were crowned champions. In 1998, Australia ran out record 76–0 winners at Lang Park in Brisbane, the Wallabies were captained by John Eales and scored 11 tries. The subsequent meeting at Twickenham in December was a closer affair. In June 1999 Australia retained the trophy by beating England 22–15 at Stadium Australia, in 2000, England won the Cook Cup for the first time, beating Australia 22–19 at Twickenham with an injury-time try by Dan Luger. In each of the two years, the Cup was also decided in a single match at Twickenham, with England winning 21–15 in 2001
New Zealand
Australia
