The Little Book of Rugby Facts E-Book

Eddie Ryan

• Herausgeber: Mercier Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 193

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

In 'The Little Book of Rugby Facts' Eddie Ryan has gathered together a treasure trove of knowledge about a nation's passion. The book charts the history of Irish and world rugby, blending amazing stories and unique facts, records and outstanding achievements including;What was the first match played in Thomond Park?Which British and Irish Lion holds the all-time appearance record?Who is the oldest player to have appeared in a rugby World Cup?Which Irish player also won Wimbledon?Who is the Six Nation's top scorer?

Leseprobe

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© Eddie Ryan, 2015

ISBN: 978 1 78117 

Epub ISBN: 978 1 78117

Mobi ISBN: 978 1 78117

This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

The British and Irish Lions

- The British and Irish Lions first came into existence in 1888 as the Shaw & Shrewsbury Team. It mainly comprised English players, but also contained players from Scotland and Wales. The team would later be known as the British Isles team.

- Their first tour was not sanctioned by rugby authorities and was sponsored by businessmen Arthur Shrewsbury and Alfred Shaw, after whom the team was named.

- The Lions played no Test matches on their first tour. The games were against provincial, academic and club sides only.

- The nickname ’the Lions’ was first used by British and South African journalists on the 1924 South African tour, after the lion emblem on the team’s ties. The lion had earlier been used as the emblem on their jerseys, but was replaced by the four-sectioned badge containing the crests of the four represented unions in 1924.

- On the 1950 tour of New Zealand and Australia, the name British Lions was officially adopted.

- William and Edward Bromet were the first pair of brothers to be capped together in a Lions Test match. The English duo featured together in two internationals on the 1891 tour of South Africa.

- The 1888 tourists played sixteen games in Australia and a further nineteen in New Zealand. But they didn’t just play rugby union against their hosts. They also took part in nineteen Australian Rules football matches, which helped fund the tour.

- In 1936 the Lions visited Argentina for a second tour (the first had been in 1927). They won all ten of their matches and conceded only 12 points in the whole tour.

- Lewis Jones is the only Lion to have scored a full house in a Test match on tour. He was a late replacement when the Lions travelled to Australia and New Zealand in 1950. The Welsh teenager was in dominant form, scoring two conversions, two penalties, a drop goal and a try in the first Test win over the Wallabies.

- Willie John McBride of Ireland holds the all-time appearance record. The Irish second row wore the Lions jersey on seventy occasions across five tours in 1962, 1966, 1968, 1971 and 1974. Fellow Irish warrior Mike Gibson is a close second with sixty-eight appearances.

- The record for the highest number of points scored by a Lion in a single fixture is held by Alan Old. The England fly-half scored an impressive 37 points in the 97–0 win over South West Districts on the 1974 tour of South Africa. His haul of points included a try, a penalty and fifteen conversions.

- Since the 2001 tour of Australia, the official name British and Irish Lions has been used. The team is still often referred to simply as the Lions.

- Paul O’Connell’s appointment as captain for the 2009 tour saw the Lions follow a familiar pattern. The Irish lock’s selection meant that the two most recent (at the time) Lions tours had been led by Irishmen, with the two previous tours skippered by an Englishman, and the two before that by Scotsmen.

- Team coaches are a relatively new phenomenon for the tourists. The Lions didn’t travel with a coach until the 1966 tour, when John Robins took on the role, although he was officially described as an assistant manager.

- The Lions’ second-Test win over Australia in Sydney in 1950 was a big scalp for the visitors. The support for the natives appeared to be elsewhere. A crowd of 25,000 turned up for the final Test. This was some 50,000 fewer than were in attendance at a local rugby league match, played at the adjacent Sydney Oval.

- In 1989 the Lions played a Test series in Australia for the first time since 1966. It was certainly worth the wait. After losing the first Test by 18 points, they battled back to win the Battle of Ballymore in game two. Sir Ian McGeechan’s squad put the seal on a series win in Sydney. A try by Ieuan Evans and five penalties from Gavin Hastings were enough to land the spoils.

- Paul O’Connell may have been the tenth Irishman to captain the Lions but he was just the second Munster player to do so. O’Connell led the Lions in South Africa in 2009, forty-one years after full-back Tom Kiernan did the same.

- Representing your country as captain is no guarantee of making the Lions selection. The captains of England, Scotland and Wales all missed out on initial selection for the 2009 Lions tour. Steve Borthwick, Mike Blair and Ryan Jones didn’t make Sir Ian McGeechan’s original squad for the trip to South Africa, despite being their countries’ captains at the time of selection.

- The youngest Lion on that 2009 tour to South Africa was Leigh Halfpenny, aged just twenty. The oldest player was England’s Simon Shaw, who was approaching thirty-six by the time the Lions left for home.

- The 2013 British and Irish Lions players had eighty-three different items of playing kit for their tour of Australia and Hong Kong, as well as three Thomas Pink team outfits!

- The record number of points scored in New Zealand and Australia is 842 (by the 1959 Lions, across thirty-three games).

- Martin Johnson of England became the first player to captain two Lions tours, when he led the tourists to Australia in 2001.

- As well as rugby, Lions centre Jack Matthews was well versed in the Marquess of Queensberry Rules. He boxed against the legendary Rocky Marciano. Matthews, who was a Lion in 1950 and also a tour doctor in 1980, drew his contest with the unbeaten future heavyweight world champion at RAF St Athan in 1943.

- As the Lions represent two nation states, they do not have a national anthem. For the 2005 tour to New Zealand the Lions management commissioned a song. ’The Power of Four’ never caught the imagination of supporters, however, and was not used on the 2009 or 2013 tours.

- The Lions played an unofficial international match in 1955 at Cardiff Arms Park against a Welsh XV as part of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Welsh Rugby Union. While the Lions won 20–17, the team did not include most of the big names of the 1955 tour, such as Tony O’Reilly, Jeff Butterfield, Phil Davies, Dickie Jeeps, Bryn Meredith and Jim Greenwood.

- 1977 was a historic year for the Lions as they played their first official home game, against the Barbarians. The charity fund-raiser was held as part of the Queen’s silver jubilee celebrations. The Baa-Baas line-up featured a host of rugby greats, including J. P. R. Williams, Gerald Davies, Gareth Edwards, Jean-Pierre Rives and Jean-Claude Skrela. The Lions included the majority of the team that had played in the fourth Test against New Zealand three weeks before, and won 23–14.

- In 1986 a match was organised against a Rest of the World XV as a warm-up to that year’s South Africa tour. Although the tour was subsequently cancelled, the match marked the centenary of the International Rugby Football Board (it later became the International Rugby Board). The Rest of the World XV won 15–7.

- The Lions, led by Rob Andrew, were triumphant against France in Paris in 1989. The game was part of the bicentennial celebrations of the French Revolution. The Lions won 29–27.

- In 1990 a squad called the Four Home Unions played against a Rest of Europe XV. The fixture was used to raise money for the rebuilding of Romania following the overthrow of Nicolae Ceauşescu in December 1989. The team used the Lions logo, as it depicts the crests of the Four Home Unions united in a shield.

- Andy Irvine of Scotland is the all-time points record holder, with 274. Phil Bennett of Wales is next on 228, with England’s Bob Hiller a close third on 216 points.

- The Lions have played 618 matches in their history. They have won 457, lost 129 and drawn thirty-two times. The most consecutive wins is twenty-two.

- The most points scored by the Lions in a single match is 116 (against Western Australia in 2001). They also scored the highest number of tries in a Lions match during this game – eighteen.

- The heaviest defeat was against the All Blacks, when the Lions went under by 38 points to 6.

Scoring Chart (includes all 618 fixtures)

Total points for                       12,158

Total points against                5,996

Total tries for                            2,152

Total tries against                       855

Total conversions for              1,156

Total conversions against        399

Total penalty goals for              759

Total penalty goals against      664

Total drop goals for                     165

Total drop goals against              91

The Lions’ Touring Record

Test matches        Played       Won       Lost       Drew

The Irish Provinces

Munster Rugby

- Munster Rugby was founded in 1879.

- Munster have two main stadiums where they play their home matches: Thomond Park in Limerick and Musgrave Park (renamed Irish Independent Park in 2014) in Cork.

- Thomond Park has a capacity of 25,600, while Musgrave holds 9,500.

- In 1905 Munster played host to the Original All Blacks, the first New Zealand team to tour outside Australasia. The match was played at the Markets Field, Limerick. New Zealand won 33–0.

- Munster played their first-ever match at Thomond Park in 1938, beating Leinster.

- In 1947 Munster were on the verge of the biggest result in their history to that point. Playing Australia at the Mardyke in Cork they were on the cusp of victory when the Australians scored a try in injury time to snatch the win.

- The three crowns on the flag of Munster are thought to represent the three historic kingdoms of Munster: Thomond in the north, Desmond in the south and Ormond in the east.

- A new logo was introduced for the 2003–04 season, when a stag was added to the crowns to represent strength and competitiveness.

- The stag has been associated with Munster folklore as far back as the eleventh century. One of the historic Munster families, the McCarthys, who trace their origins back to the Carthach, the eleventh-century Prince of Munster, had as their coat of arms a red stag on a shield of metal grey.

- The motto of the McCarthy family, Forti et fideli nihil difficile (to the brave and the faithful nothing is impossible), has also been adopted by the team.

- Munster was the first Irish provincial side to defeat a major touring team. They defeated Australia 11–8 at Musgrave Park on 25 January 1967.

- On 31 October 1978 Munster became the only Irish side to beat the All Blacks. The 12–0 victory occurred at Thomond Park. Christy Cantillon scored a try, with Munster legend Tony Ward converting. Ward also added a drop goal in each half. The epic win inspired a stage play by John Breen entitled Alone it Stands. The victory is also the subject of a book by Alan English called Stand Up and Fight: When Munster Beat the All Blacks.

- Munster took part in the Heineken Cup for the first time in 1995. In their first match, captained by Pat Murray, they secured a victory over Swansea at Thomond Park.

- Donncha O’Callaghan, with 263 caps, is the most capped Munster player of all time.

- In 2006 Munster won the all-Irish semi-final of the Heineken Cup, beating Leinster 30–6 at Lansdowne Road. They then defeated French giants Biarritz in the final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

- Two Munster men have captained the British and Irish Lions: Paul O’Connell and Tom Kiernan.

- Anthony Horgan is the province’s top try scorer, with a total of forty-one. He played his last game for Munster on 15 May 2009 in a 36–10 Celtic League win over the Ospreys at Thomond Park. In a fairytale finish to his career, Horgan scored Munster’s final try, much to the delight of the home crowd.

Players Who Have Reached 200 Caps for Munster

Anthony Foley (1994–2008): 201 caps

David Wallace (1997–2012): 203 caps

Mick O’Driscoll (1998–2003, 2005–12): 207 caps

Alan Quinlan (1996–2011): 212 caps

John Hayes (1998–2011): 217 caps

Marcus Horan (1999–2013): 225 caps

Peter Stringer (1998–2013): 232 caps

Ronan O’Gara (1997–2013): 240 caps

Donncha O’Callaghan (1998–present): 263 caps

Record Against Touring Sides

1905    New Zealand   Markets Field        0–33        Lost

1947    Australia           Mardyke                  5–6          Lost

1951    South Africa     Thomond Park       6–11       Lost

1954    New Zealand   Mardyke                   3–6         Lost

1958    Australia           Thomond Park        3–3         Drew

1960    South Africa    Musgrave Park       3–9         Lost

1962    Canada              Musgrave Park       11–8       Won

1963    New Zealand   Thomond Park       3–6         Lost

1967    Australia            Musgrave Park       11–8        Won

1970    South Africa      Thomond Park       9–25       Lost

1973    New Zealand     Musgrave Par k     3–3         Drew

1973    Argentina           Thomond Park       12–12     Drew

1974    New Zealand     Thomond Park      4–14        Lost

1976     Australia             Musgrave Park     13–15       Lost

1978     New Zealand     Thomond Park      12–0        Won

1980     Romania              Thomond Park     9–32        Lost

1981     Australia              Musgrave Park     15–6        Won

1984     Australia              Thomond Park     19–31      Lost

1989     New Zealand      Musgrave Park      9–31       Lost

1990     USSR                     Clonmel                 15–19     Lost

1992      Australia             Musgrave Park     22–19     Won

1996      Samoa                 Musgrave Park     25–35      Lost

1996      Australia             Thomond Park      19–55     Lost

1998      Morocco             Thomond Park      49–17     Won

2008      New Zealand    Thomond Park      16–18     Lost

2010      Australia              Thomond Park       15–6      Won

Honours

Heineken Cup/Champions Cup (2): 2006, 2008

Celtic League/Magners League/Pro12 (3): 2003, 2009, 2011 (runners-up: 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012)

Celtic Cup (1): 2005

British and Irish Cup (1): 2012

Irish Interprovincial Championship: 22 wins

Individual Records

Top points scorer: Ronan O’Gara (2,625)

Most appearances: Donncha O’Callaghan (263)

Most tries: Anthony Horgan (41)

British and Irish Lions from Munster

The following Munster players have represented the British and Irish Lions:

W. J. Ashby: 1910; Oliver Piper: 1910; Michael Bradley: 1924; William Roche: 1924; Tom Clifford: 1950; Mick Lane: 1950; Jim McCarthy: 1950; Tom Reid: 1955; Michael English: 1959; Gordon Wood: 1959; Noel Murphy: 1959, 1966; Tom Kiernan: 1962, 1968; Jerry Walsh: 1966; Barry Bresnihan: 1966, 1968; Mick Doyle: 1968; Moss Keane: 1974, 1977; Colm Tucker: 1980; Tony Ward: 1980; Mike Kiernan: 1983; Gerry McLoughlin: 1983; Donal Lenihan: 1983, 1989; Mick Galwey: 1993; Richard Wallace: 1993; Keith Wood: 1997, 2001; Rob Henderson: 2001; Ronan O’Gara: 2001, 2005, 2009; David Wallace: 2001, 2009; John Hayes: 2005, 2009; Donncha O’Callaghan: 2005, 2009; Paul O’Connell: 2005, 2009, 2013; Keith Earls: 2009; Conor Murray: 2013; Simon Zebo: 2013.

Leinster Rugby

- In 1875, in their first ever interprovincial match, Leinster lost to Ulster by a converted try. They went on to beat Munster in their second game by a single penalty goal to nil.

- The Leinster Branch of the IRFU was formed in 1879 at a meeting at 63 Grafton Street to organise the game of rugby football in the province.

- They play their home matches at the RDS Arena (capacity 18,500) and the Aviva Stadium (capacity 51,700). Before this they played their home fixtures at Donnybrook Stadium, which has a capacity of 6,000. When Leinster turned professional, in 1995, the ground was deemed too small to host European matches.

- The first major touring side to play Leinster was a team drawn from the New Zealand Army – the Kiwis – in 1946. The game ended in a 10–10 draw.

- The first official overseas touring side to play Leinster was Australia, in 1957, with the visitors winning 10–8.

- The Leinster Lions name came into existence during the 2001–02 season, as part of a marketing initiative with Leinster’s kit sponsors, Canterbury Clothing Company. The name was not retained, although Leo the Lion was retained as the province’s mascot.

- Though Leinster now compete in blue, the team wore green during their early years.

- Leinster have sported a harp symbol since their first interprovincial game in 1875. The story of how the harp was adopted as the Leinster symbol comes from the seventeenth century. Apparently Eoghan Ruadh (Owen Roe) Ó Néill, a famous Irish soldier from Ulster, flew a green flag with a golden harp from his ship, the St Francis, when it was anchored at Dunkirk. The Leinster connection came when he returned to Ireland in 1642 to help the Irish Confederation, which was headquartered in Kilkenny.

- In 2010 Leinster played a home league game against Munster at the Aviva Stadium, which was the first time the venue sold out.

- In the 2010–11 Heineken Cup Leinster defeated the Leicester Tigers, Saracens and Northampton Saints, as well as French giants Toulouse (who were the defending European champions), Racing Metro and Clermont Auvergne (the French champions).

- In the 2011 Heineken Cup final, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Leinster were in deep trouble at half-time. Then they scored 27 unanswered points in the second half to win 33–22 and claim their second European crown with the biggest comeback in European cup final history.

- Leinster were chasing a Pro12 and Heineken Cup double in 2011 but lost 19–9 to great rivals Munster in the Pro12 final.

- The following season Leinster hosted Munster, Bath and Cardiff at the Aviva Stadium and remained unbeaten at the ground until December 2012 when they lost 21–28 to ASM Clermont Auvergne.

- On 19 May 2012 Leinster won a record third Heineken Cup in four years with a 42–14 win over Ulster. It was the first final to feature two teams from Ireland.

- Three stars have been added to the Leinster jersey, just above the crest, to represent the three Heineken Cup titles won to date.

- Since turning professional in 1995, Leinster has had eight different coaches, two of whom were Irish. Gerry Murphy acted as interim coach when future Irish international coach Declan Kidney departed in 2005.

- Sean O’Brien and Rob Kearney of Leinster were voted EPCR (European Professional Club Rugby) player of the year in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

- Great rivals Leinster and Munster have played each other eighty-eight times. Leinster have won forty-three times to Munster’s forty. There have been only five draws in well over a century of rugby matches.

Honours

Heineken Cup /Champions Cup (3): 2009, 2011, 2012

Amlin European Challenge Cup (1): 2013

Celtic League/Magners League/Pro12 (3): 2002, 2008, 2013 (runners-up: 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012)

British and Irish Cup (1): 2013

Interprovincial Championship: 22 wins

Individual Records

Top points scorer: Felipe Contepomi (1,225)

Most tries: Shane Horgan (69)

Most appearances: Gordon D’Arcy (253)

British and Irish Lions from Leinster

The following Leinster players have represented the British and Irish Lions:

Tom Crean: 1896; Karl Mullen: 1950; Robin Roe: 1955; Tony O’Reilly: 1955, 1959; Niall Brophy: 1959, 1962; Ronnie Dawson: 1959, 1968; Mike Hipwell: 1971; Sean Lynch: 1971; Fergus Slattery: 1971, 1974; Tom Grace: 1974; John Moloney: 1974; Willie Duggan: 1977; Philip Orr: 1977, 1980; Rodney O’Donnell: 1980; John Robbie: 1980; Ollie Campbell: 1980, 1983; Hugo MacNeill: 1983; Paul Dean: 1989; Brendan Mullin: 1989; Vince Cunningham: 1993; Eric Miller: 1997; Malcolm O’Kelly: 2001, 2005; Brian O’Driscoll: 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013; Shane Byrne: 2005; Gordon D’Arcy: 2005, 2009; Denis Hickie: 2005; Shane Horgan: 2005; Rob Kearney: 2009, 2013; Luke Fitzgerald: 2009; Jamie Heaslip: 2009, 2013; Cian Healy: 2013; Sean O’Brien: 2013; Jonathan Sexton: 2013.

Connacht Rugby

- The Connacht Branch of the IRFU was founded on 8 December 1885.

- The Galway Sportsground has been the spiritual home of Connacht Rugby since the 1920s. The ground opened in 1927 and has a capacity of 7,500. This can be increased to a maximum of 9,500 when temporary seating is added.

- With just over 7 per cent of the total number of Irish rugby union players, Connacht has the smallest pool of players of the four provinces.

- The IRFU originally designated Connacht as a development team. This meant that they operated on half the budget of the other Irish provincial teams. In 2003 the IRFU proposed shutting down Connacht Rugby as a professional team.

- The Connacht Eagles (formerly known as Connacht A) is the team that represents Connacht in the British and Irish Cup.

- The eagle and the sword arm that form the centre of the Connacht Rugby crest are taken from the flag of the province. The crest was presented to Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, the King of Connacht, by an Irish monastery founded in Regensburg, Bavaria, in the eleventh century.

- Ciaran Fitzgerald, who has captained the Lions, is one of the province’s most famous players.

- Current Lions coach and former Ireland manager Warren Gatland took the reins for the 1997 season.

- Connacht have never won the Irish Interprovincial Championship outright. They have, however, shared the Championship on three occasions in its fifty-four-year history.

- They were European Challenge Cup semi-finalists on two occasions, in 2005 and 2010.

- In November 2011 Connacht made their first-ever Heineken Cup appearance. This was courtesy of Leinster winning the 2011 Heineken Cup, which gave an extra place to an Irish team.