The sport of rugby is named after The Rugby School in England, where the game was first played. The game is said to have been invented in 1823 when William Webb Ellis caught the ball while playing a game of soccer at school, and ran to the goal with it.
As rugby balls and footballs were originally made from pigs’ bladders and they had to be blown up by breath alone, it was possible to become ill if blowing up a diseased bladder, and the wife of Richard Lindon, a man who made balls for Rugby School in the 19th Century, died after breathing in the air from too many bad bladders.
The United States is the reigning Olympic rugby champions having won gold in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, France. The game of rugby has only been played four times at the Olympic Games from 1900 through to 1924.
Rugby, in the form of the 7-aside version of the game, is being re-introduced into as an Olympic Sport in the 2016 Rio Games. The United States has two teams in contention to participate, the Men’s and Women’s Eagles Teams. Qualifying for the Olympic games will occur in 2015 so stay tuned to hear about our own bid to be part of that team.