Rugby

Updated: December 04, 2008

Rugby is the only major sport in the world named not for the nature of its primary element, but for the place where the game is reputed to have been invented. In 1823, near the English town of Rugby, the version of the soccer game then being played at Rugby School was changed to permit a player to handle the ball and carry it toward the opponent's goal.

The sport quickly evolved to include tackling. The rules of rugby were not formalized until 1845, and by 1871, an association known as the Rugby Football Union was created.

It is said that the essential difference between soccer and rugby may be stated as a credo, that "soccer is a gentleman's game played by toughs, and rugby is a tough's game, played by gentlemen."

Unlike American football and its specialized play, every player on the rugby field must have a basic command of all physical aspects of the sport: running, tackling, passing, kicking, and carrying the ball.

Source Citation: "Rugby Strength Training and Exercises." World of Sports Science. Eds. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2007. 2 pp. 2 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Gale Trial Site. 10 Mar. 2009 .