Wales Sports & Outdoors Tips by M0B1US

Rugby - Grand Slam Winners 2005!

Funny how the national sport of this small country was invented on the playing fields of a private school in England - just beating the enemy at its game I guess... ;-)

Rugby, or 'Rygbi' in Welsh I guess has been so popular in Wales over the years as it represents the one way that the Welsh can beat the English on 'the field of battle' so to speak, and make up for the centuries of subjugation and sometimes tyranny of English rule.

After the English, the Welsh are easily the second most successful team in 6 Nations history having just won their 9th Grand Slam (whitewashing all the other teams!) with a famous final victory over the Irish at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff!

The game involves 15 large scary-looking guys barrelling up and down the pitch with a funny oval shaped ball passing backwards to each other in a long line (no forward passes allowed!) in an attempt to overlap the opposition's defenders and score a try by touching the ball down in the opponent's end.

You can also kick the ball forward as well, including into touch for positioning and drop goals through the uprights (shaped in an 'H').

Scoring is 5pts for a try (+2pts for a successful conversion through the uprights) and 3pts for penalty and drop kicks...

Other idiosyncracies of the game include such things as 'line-outs' where the ball is thrown in from the touchline against the lines of the two opposing teams and 'scrums' where the largest of the already large players of the teams lock heads (and other bits!) and push against each other using brute force to gain territory.

The fact that these men do all this without much in the way of protection means these guys are real tough hombres!

And yes some of the passing resemblance to American Football is because of the fact that American Football developed in the US from Rugby...

Directions: Millennium Stadium - home of Welsh Rugby...

Theme: Other

Website: http://www.wru.co.uk/2_4347.php