A Brief History of Rugby: Volume 2

FUN FACTS, STATS, QUOTES & TRIVIA Volume 2 covers the 1970–1999 This is the essential pick-up, put-down, and pick-up again rugby history for everybody. From players to fans, from newspapers to television and from computer games to bumper-stickers… and everything in between This is the rugby book for everyone! The 1970’s was described as the ‘Decade of the Dragon’, a period when Wales fielded teams with some of the greatest players who ever played the game. This rich vein of players filtered through to the British and Irish Lions who proved to be formidable opponents when touring New Zealand [1971] and South Africa [1974]. As amateur players these teams were often a combination of hard working coal miners and well-educated city professionals. This was the era of long international tours, often three month crusades dominated by hard physical clashes on the field and followed by wild alcohol fuelled parties. The 1980’s witnessed the introduction of streakers, such as Erica Roe who in 1982 erupted onto the Twickenham pitch like a galleon in full sail, minus her spinnakers! Kicking goals with the in-step became commonplace and the Wallaby’s were experimenting with bizarre moves such as Up the Jumper. Maybe the greatest advance during this period was the evolution of the Rugby World Cup. Concepts and formats had been touted for many years and in 1987 the first edition of this global sporting event took place in New Zealand. This inevitably transitioned to professional rugby, a major development of the modern game which has provided such rich pickings for A Brief History of Rugby.