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Level 3 – Intermediate
The Fourth Rugby World Cup
The Rugby World Cup is a relatively new sporting event which is held every four years. The Northern and Southern Hemispheres take it in turns to stage the event.
Rugby has come a long way since it was started in 1823. It is named after Rugby boys' 'public' school because during a school football match, a boy called William Webb Ellis suddenly picked up the ball and ran.
Today it is played in over 100 countries around the world. There are sixteen countries participating in the final round of the competition. The Rugby World Cup is now the third largest sporting event after the football World Cup and the Olympic Games.
The first Rugby World Cup was held in Australia and New Zealand in 1987 and was won by the All Blacks from New Zealand. In 1991 the competition was held in Britain and Australia beat England in the final at Twickenham. The most exciting World Cup final so far was in South Africa in 1995 when the Springboks beat the All Blacks by scoring a try in extra time. The event took place just a year after the first democratic elections in South Africa and president Nelson Mandela presented the Webb Ellis Trophy to the first mixed black and white South African rugby team.
Over the years there has been a lot of opposition to the creation of a Rugby World Cup. Many people in the rugby world were afraid that this traditionally amateur game would have to turn professional and would become big business rather than a sport for gentlemen. These predictions were true and sponsors are now investing enormous amounts of money into the sport.
Rugby is one of the most spectacular spectator sports. It is sometimes called a 'game for hooligans played by gentlemen.' Let's hope that this new professional status and big money doesn't turn rugby into a game for hooligans played and run by hooligans.
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C2 Mastery
