Fun Facts

One of the most challenging field games played as a complete team game and tests the stamina, skill and speed of the players is the game of Rugby.

The game is said to have originated in England in the beginning of the 19th century and is one of the popular games played in more than 100 countries across the world as of date.

The primary requirement, or the essential code of the rugby game, is that the player runs with the ball in hand to the opponent’s area. Some sort of confusion about the game arose in 1823, it seems, when William Webb Ellis allegedly picked up the ball in hand, while playing football, and ran with the ball in hand towards the goal post in the opponent area. Rules were framed and the International Rugby Board came into existence in 1885 to govern and oversee the rules of the game.

How the game is played?

This is an outdoor game played in a rectangular field of 100 m length and 70 metres width. At the end of the each side, goal posts of the letter “H” are placed.

Two teams, comprising of 15 players each, take up the field in the Rugby game. The ball used in the game is of an oval shape, and is infiltrated with air. The fifteen players are divided into 8 forward players and 7 defenders. The play starts with a toss of coin to decide which team will start the kick off. After deciding the team, the game starts with a drop kick. Then the forwards and the defenders try to pick up the ball and run towards the opposition area with the ball in hand. The forwards in the opponent time will try to block the running of the player.

Basically the forwards are typically strong in structure and use their muscular power to block the opponent running with the ball. In contrast, the defenders are short in size and typically have good athletic skills, such that while the forwards block the opponents, the defenders run towards the goal post of the opponent, dodging the block and running at a relatively faster pace than the forwards. Invariably, most points are typically scored by the defendants. This is the unique feature of the game.

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One of the many popular sports played across many countries and also as a professional sport at an individual level is none other than Tennis or the Lawn Tennis.

Who can be not aware of Roger Federer, or Rafael Nadal of the recent times, or the famous Martina Navratilova, Boris Becker, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi or Ivan Lendl of the past – the great players in the game of Lawn Tennis?

If I were to say that the synonym for lawn tennis is Wimbledon, then it is not a flattery by any means. Yes, Wimbledon in England is the venue for the major Tennis tournament way back in 1877.

The game of tennis was first played in England in 1870 and subsequently propagated to other countries across the world. Now, almost all the countries have a presence in this interesting game that can be played either indoor or outdoor. The tennis court is typically a natural grass court, but other forms of court are also prepared such as the Hard Court and the clay courts.

The game is played with the help of rackets and a ball that is light and elastic in nature. The tennis court is typically of 78 feet in length and 28 feet in width, with a net at the centre of the court. The game is played by individuals or by a team of two players. The players occupy positions on either side of the net. The object of the game is to hit the ball by one player such that it crosses the net and falls in the opponent area such that it becomes difficult to the opponent to return back the ball into the playing area. For every miss, the player is awarded point. The points start as 0 or love, 15, 30, 40 and the game ends if a player gets more than the 40 point count.

A player who wins six games is awarded that set and usually one tennis match comprises of best of 3 games or best of 5 games as the case may be.

The Wimbledon tournament in England, the US Open, the Australian Open, and the French Open in the Rolland Garros are the premier tournaments in Tennis. A player winning titles in all the four tournaments in a single year is said to have won the Grand Slam.

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The most famous and popular sport in the South American country of Chile is Rodeo, an interesting sports activity that has been officially declared as the national sport of the country in the year 1962.

The game played in this country, referred to as Chilean Rodeo, is quite different from the type of Rodeo played in other parts of the world, especially North America.

The basic idea of this type of Rodeo game is to pin down a calf, driving through in a proper manner around the arena, by a team of two members, each riding on a horse. The members of the team participating in the game are called as Huasos. Corral is nothing but the ground or the space for the game to take place.

The game usually takes place in a medialuna, something like a stadium for a football match, and the medialuna is crescent-shaped in size.

As per the rules of the game, it is the responsibility of the riders or huasos is to bring the cattle to the main track or ground, try to separate a single calf from the cattle displaying their unique skills, and pin down that single calf against massive cushions in the medialuna without the assistance of any other riders. The experienced and talented riders, who get maximum points and emerge successful in pinning down the cattle, will be crowned as champions and showered with awards and honors.

Points are granted for the proper riding of the horse and how the calf is pinned against the cushions. Any fault in the riding or improper handling would involve negative points.

Though the game has been recognized as a national sport only in 1962, this interesting game of skill, speed, and stamina had been played in the country since the 1860.

How this game came into existence is in itself an interesting story. The ruling king at that time in the country, perturbed by the frequent missing of cattle and calves in the country, wanted to encourage the growth and development of calves. He came out with this interesting game among the people to encourage cattle rearing.

This rodeo of Chile is still very popular among the people and mostly played in rural areas.

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