Rugby union in Wales

Rugby union is the national sport of Wales. It is particularly strong in the south of the country.

History

Rugby-like games have a long history in Wales, with games such as cnapan being played for centuries. Rugby seems to have reached Wales in the 1850s.

Although several clubs had been in existence since the mid 1870s the Welsh Football Union (later renamed Welsh Rugby Union) was not formed until 1880. Wales have played in red since 1880 prior to this they had worn black.

However the strength of Welsh rugby developed over the following years, primarily thanks to the 'big four' South Wales clubs of Newport (who lost only seven games between 1891 and 1895), Cardiff, Llanelli (who lost just twice in 1894 and 1895) and Swansea.

The undeniable highpoint of Welsh rugby was the seventies, when Wales had players such as Barry John, Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennett, Tommy David and JPR Williams. Wales won four consecutive Triple Crowns. All of these players are considered legends, especially Edwards, who was voted the greatest player of all time in a players poll in 2003, and scored what is widely regarded as the greatest try of all time in 1973 for the Barbarians against New Zealand.

Many attributed Welsh success to the fact that their forwards were toughened by manual work, according to the theory when Welsh industry declined and players started to be drawn from 'soft jobs' the team suffered. The legendarily strong Pontypool front row of Graham Price, Bobby Windsor & Charlie Faulkner were all manual workers, and Robin McBryde was formerly the holder of the title of Wales's strongest man.

The eighties and early nineties were a difficult time for Welsh rugby union when the team suffered many defeats. Harsh economic times in the eighties meant that players such as Jonathan Davies and Scott Gibbs were always tempted to 'go North' to play professional rugby league in order to earn a living. They often faced social ostracism as a result as many believed that they were traitors to Wales. Professionalism has halted this flow of players, but the Welsh Rugby Union is still relatively poor, citing lack of funds as the reason for the recent demise of the Celtic Warriors regional team.

The choral tradition of Wales manifests itself at rugby games in singing. Popular songs among the fans are 'Delilah' by Tom Jones, 'Cwm Rhondda' and 'Calon Lan'.

Considering the small size of Wales, and its relative poverty, it has had a disproportionate impact on the game, providing many legendary British and Irish Lions and Barbarians players, as well as fighting well above its weight in the international game.

Governing body

Main article: [[:Welsh Rugby Union]]

The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in Wales. Their responsiblities include producing the national team and the four regional franchises Cardiff Blues, Llanelli Scarlets, Newport Gwent Dragons and the Ospreys from the Neath-Swansea region.

Competitions

Wales' four professional rugby regions play in the Celtic League and take part in the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup. in 2006 they also took part in the Powergen Cup.

There is also a Welsh league and Welsh Cup competed for by Wales' traditional club teams.

Popularity

Rugby union has a particular hold on the national psyche of Wales, especially the Six Nations tournament. The phenomenon of fans inexplicably claiming to be ill and taking sick leave around the Six Nations championship was described in Max Boyce's 'We All Had Doctor's Papers.' Welsh people living outside the country will go to extraordinary lengths to watch the games.

At the time of the 1999 World Cup held in Cardiff, Graham Henry, the new Welsh coach, was relatively unexposed to Welsh culture. Despite coming from New Zealand, a country with notoriously passionate rugby followers, he was taken aback by the fervour of Welsh supporters: he was somewhat surprised for example when informed of one supporter's decision to sell the lead off the roof of his house to be able to buy World Cup tickets.

The Wales-England match of the 2005 Six Nations, achieved international attention far beyond the usual interest that would have followed a rugby match [1][2]. Before the match, Welsh supporter Geoff Huish was drinking in the Leigh social club in Senghenydd, Caerphilly. He declared that he was so certain that England would win, that if Wales won he would "cut [his] balls off". After Wales achieved their first win over England since 1999, Huish returned home, castrated himself and returned to the pub with his testicles in a bag.

For the match against Scotland in 2005, 40,000 Welshmen went to Edinburgh to watch the game. This is remarkable as that is 1 in every 70 Welshmen. Over 400,000 gathered on "Henson Hill" to watch a big screen of Wales v. Ireland that gave Wales its first Grand Slam since 1978. The result was greeted with national delirium and was even used to explain a sudden economic surge.

Demographics

Whereas Rugby in England fractured into the two separate sports of rugby union and rugby league over the issue of money Wales for the most part stayed loyal to the union game. There were some attempts to run professional rugby league sides in Wales but the heartland of Welsh rugby was simply too far from Yorkshire and Lancashire for this to be sustained. Rugby union in Wales therefore did not become as elitist as it did in England.

There has always been an element of class warfare to rugby union in Wales - it was seen as a way to symbolically take revenge on England, the ruling power, particularly as England's team is often made up of upper middle class players from private schools.

The Welsh valleys north of Cardiff produced so many quality number tens that it was often referred to as 'The Outside Half Factory' immortalised in a song by Max Boyce. Boyce's humour refers to rugby union very often and he has written many songs about the trials and tribulations of following the game as a fan eg. 'Asso Asso Yogoshi', 'The Scottish Trip', 'Hymns and Arias'.

The national team

Main article: Wales national rugby union team

The national team play at the Millennium Stadium, built in 1999 to replace Cardiff Arms Park.

See also

• History of rugby union
• Welsh Rugby Union
• Wales national rugby union team
• Celtic League
• Cardiff Blues
• Llanelli Scarlets
• Newport Gwent Dragons
• Ospreys
• Welsh Premier Division
• WRU Challenge Cup
• Rugby League in Wales
• Sport in the United Kingdom

External links

• The BBC's Welsh rugby union news page
• IC Wales's rugby union news page