Common Talk Weeklyshuang yu zhou kan
issue date

The world in union
October 22, 2003
By Angela Lehmann

Four billion world wide TV viewers and 1.8 million ticket holders will this month watch 20 nations play 48 games in 2003's biggest sports event - the Rugby Union World Cup. This year the competition is being hosted by Australia and over 44 days in 10 Australian cities 600 players will battle to reach the final on November 22.

Held once every four years, the Rugby World Cup is being contested by teams from around the globe, from places as far apart as Namibia, Canada , Tonga, Japan, England, France and South Africa.

Rugby? It was created at Rugby School in England in 1823. While playing soccer, a schoolboy, William Webb Ellis, picked up the ball in his hands and ran with it. This sparked and interest and led to the creation of Rugby. Cambridge University immediately adopted the game, popularised it and made local rules. The game grew popular and in 1871 the first Rugby Union was founded in London and firm rules for the game were established. Later, players in north America altered the rules to form American football sometimes known as gridiron.

Rugby has spread across the world and is now played in over 100 countries. It especially flourished in Britain, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. The sport is continuing to grow and teams are now playing in North America, Europe and Asia.

The object of Rugby is to kick or carry the ball down the field to score points, either by touching the ball down beyond a try-line or kicking the ball through the posts and over the cross bar. The primary rule of the game is that the ball cannot be passed forward by hand. Teams are made up of fifteen players, eight forwards and seven backs, with seven reserves. One referee and two touch judges signal when the ball has left the field of play, and assist the referee by informing him of foul play or other infringements.

China doesn't have a team at this year's world cup but if the International Rugby Board (IRB) has their way, this will change in the future. In 2012 the IRB hope to have enough interest in rugby in China, Russia and the USA to hold a Superpowers Cup between the three nations. Currently many Chinese universities have rugby teams and there are 30 local clubs China-wide. The sport is also played by the Chinese army as part of their fitness training. Hong Kong annually hosts the prestigious Rugby Sevens Tournament which is attended by top rugby teams from around the world.With interest growing across the nation, China may well be part of the Rugby World Cup in the future.