Photo - Masha Anderson
Rugby is a contact team sport that originated in England in the 19th century. A rugby match is a competition between two teams. The main task of each of the opponents is to perform effective actions, that is, hitting the goal (hitting above the crossbar) or bringing the ball into the opponent's end zone.
In a programme Olympic Games Rugby first appeared during the 1900 Paris Olympics. For the 1924 Olympics in Paris, the Colomb Stadium, huge at that time, was built for sixty thousand seats with a rugby field of 144x74 meters, including test fields. The US team then became the champion, the hosts of the Games took second place, rugby players from Romania became bronze medalists.
One of key concepts Rugby's philosophy is respect: respect is accepted by the opponent, the match officials and the supporters of the other team. Despite all the apparent rigidity of the techniques on the field, rugby is one of the friendliest games, and international tournaments– always a holiday for all fans!
OLYMPIC GAMES
October 9, 2009 is a significant date for all rugby fans: in Copenhagen, at the Congress of the International Olympic Committee, a vote was held, at which two new sports were accepted into the program of the Olympic Games from 2016 - rugby-7 and golf. 12 women's and 12 men's teams will take part in the tournament in Rio
RUSSIA
There is little official information about rugby in pre-revolutionary Russia; the main sources of information are the memories of eyewitnesses and participants in the matches. Here is what Lieutenant General N. Biyazi writes about the “match” that took place in 1908: “Many foreign ships came to the port of Odessa. Once a ship of an English company moored... The team of this ship called the inhabitants of Odessa to a rugby match. It was a new game for us, but we nevertheless agreed, and the meeting took place ... The game had a sharp, rough character: for example, the ship's cook grabbed my leg while I was rushing with an oval ball to the front line, playing . Of course, I fell, but I didn’t let go of the ball, as a result of which a fight was immediately arranged over me, in which everyone tried to knock down the opponent and take possession of the ball. After the game, the cook said: "Grabbing your leg, I applied another delicate trick."
The first officially registered rugby match took place already in Soviet times, in 1923, at the Moscow Burevestnik stadium (the Olimpiyskiy sports club was later built in its place). Teams of the Society met on the field physical education workers and the Moscow River Yacht Club.
In 1936, the first USSR championships were held in both football and rugby. But already in 1949, rugby in the USSR was banned by the country's leadership - a struggle was waged against "cosmopolitanism" and "admiration for the West." Rugby was declared a game that did not correspond to the moral principles of the Soviet people.
Rugby revived in the USSR only after the World Festival of Youth and Students in 1957.
Photo - Masha Anderson
Rugby is a contact team sport that originated in England in the 19th century. A rugby match is a competition between two teams. On the front line of the field there are H-shaped gates, and behind the front lines of the field there are scoring zones of the teams. The main task of each of the opponents is to perform effective actions, that is, hitting the goal (hitting above the crossbar) or bringing the ball into the opponent's end zone. The rules allow touching the ball with your hands, which determines the main difference between rugby and football. At the same time, a restriction is imposed on the game with hands: the ball, oval in shape, cannot be passed by hand if the receiving player is closer to the opponent's end zone than the passer.
In the classic version, each team has 15 players, the game consists of two halves of 40 minutes. In rugby sevens, included in the program of the Summer Olympic Games, each team has 7 players, and the half lasts 7 minutes (the final match of the tournament consists of two halves of 10 minutes each). The game is played on a rectangular grass field measuring 100×70 meters. The lines on which the gates are located are adjacent to rectangular scoring zones with a width of 10 to 22 meters. Thus, the maximum size of the field is 144×70 meters, and the largest possible playing area is 1.008 hectares. The field marking includes several more lines parallel to the front. Of particular importance are the line dividing the field in half and the lines located 22 meters from both goal lines. Rugby goals are H-shaped and consist of two vertical posts, located at a distance of 5.6 meters from each other, and a crossbar, which is fixed at a height of 3 meters from the ground. Initially, the field parameters were included in the rules in the Imperial system of measures, and then were converted to metric.
Actually, the date of the emergence of rugby, as it is, is considered to be a memorable day on April 7, 1823, when a certain young man named William Webb Ellis grabbed the ball with his hands with the intention of simply moving or throwing it into the "city" of opponents during a game of football. A flagrant violation of the then accepted rules was the impetus for the creation of a new game - the name of William Ellis went down in history, and the game began to bear the name of the English town where the memorable match was held - the city of Rugby in Yorkshire. And today you can see here on the stand of the college a memorial plaque that reads: “Let this plaque remember the glorious deed of William Webb Ellis, the first who dared to break the rules, grabbed the ball with his hands and ran with it. Thus the game of rugby was born in 1823.
Disputes, you can take the ball with your hands or not, continued for another forty years. The final demarcation of football and rugby took place on 26 October 1863 at the London Freeman Tavern. Passions between adherents of opposing points of view flared up with such force that the parties considered it best to simply split one game into two. Rugby acquired its current look in 1871, when the Rugby Football Union was created and when the first international match in the history of the game took place (between England and Scotland). However, before the approval of a single set of rules was still far away. Yes, on international match in 1871, 20 people from each team played on the field. A few years later, the 15-player format became generally accepted. The scoring system has also changed many times.
The Scottish Rugby Union was formed in 1873 and the Irish Rugby Union in 1875. In 1890 they merged into International Council rugby (International Rugby Football Board), which was later joined by Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In 1934, the International Amateur Rugby Federation was created. Now rugby is one of the most popular sports in the world, and in some countries, such as New Zealand, it is almost a religion.
| INTERNATIONAL AND CONTINENTAL SPORT ASSOCIATIONS |
REPRESENTATIVES OF RUSSIA |
|---|---|
| INTERNATIONAL RUGBY FEDERATION (IRB) President: Bill BEAUMONT (UK) Date of formation: 1886 Number of national federations: 116 Address: Huguenot House, 35-38 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2 , Ireland 353 1 240 92 00 +353 1 240 92 01 [email protected] |
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| EUROPEAN RUGBY FEDERATION (RUGBY EUROPE) |
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After long break rugby matches are back in Olympic family. Last time rugby players had the opportunity to win Olympic medals back in the delёkom 1924 on. And here is the long-awaited decision for all fans of this sport: on October 9, 2009, at the 121st session of the IOC in Copenhagen, according to the voting results, rugby-7 was included in the program of the 2016 Olympic Games. Unlike classic rugby, where there are 15 people on the field, in rugby-7 only 7 athletes play on the field - 3 attackers and 4 defenders. A match consists of two halves of 7 minutes each with a break of 1 minute.
Competitions at the 2016 Olympics will be held from 6 to 11 August. 2 sets of medals will be played - among men's and women's national teams.
Period: August 6-11, 2016
Award sets: 2 (men - 1, women - 1)
Commands: 24 (men - 12, women - 12)
Athletes: 288 (144 men and 144 women)
Location: Olympic Stadium Joao Havelange (capacity: 60,000)
Medalists
| Discipline | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |
| M | Men |
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| AND | Women |
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Overall standings
| № | A country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Schedule (Moscow time)
| date | Medals | Competitions |
|
17:00-20:00
22:00-01:00 G Group round (6 matches) |
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17:00-20:00
G Group round (6 matches) 22:00-01:00 W Matches for 9th-12th places W Quarterfinals |
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18:30-21:30
G Match for 11-12 places G Match for 9-10 places W Matches for 5-8 places W Semi-finals 23:30-02:00 G Match for 7-8 places G Match for 5-6 places W Third place match G Final F Award Ceremony |
||
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17:00-20:00
22:00-01:00 M Group round (6 matches) |
||
|
17:00-20:00
M Group round (6 matches) 22:00-01:00 M Matches for 9-12 places M Quarterfinals |
||
|
18:30-21:30
M Match for 11-12 places M Match for 9-10 places M Matches for 5-8 places M Semi-finals 23:30-02:00 M Match for 7-8 places M Match for 5-6 places M Match for third place M Final M awards ceremony |
Rugby returned to the list of Olympic sports almost a century later. What changes have occurred 92 years later and how will it look like in Rio now?
How it all began.
The history of the oval ball game and the Olympic Games is quite complex and simple at the same time. Difficult, because having been 24 years olympic view sports, after that rugby for a long 92 years said goodbye to such an honorary status. And she couldn't get it back. And it never fully returned. Why exactly - more on that later.
The story is simple just because it is not too intense and rich - this is only the fifth Rugby Games in 116 years. The first Olympic rugby match took place in 1900 in Paris, in which the teams of France and Germany met (27:17), and in total ... three teams participated in the tournament. The third was the British team. Then, in a rather intricate way, the “gold” went to the hosts, who won two of their fights, while the rivals had only one. For a banal reason - there was not enough time. History is silent on how this could happen, but it is only known that the French played their second match on the last day of the competition, after which the teams of Great Britain and Germany were supposed to play, but the match was never played.
Thus, the French became the first winner of the rugby Olympic Games.
The final match of the Olympics between the US and France. 1924 year.
In subsequent years, rugby was presented either even more modestly, or not at all. So, in two tournaments (1904 and 1912), not a single rugby team took part in the Games, and in 1908 and 1920, two teams played only one match, which, in fact, was the final.
For example, in 1908, an outlandish team became the Olympic champion Australasia, consisting of the Australian and New Zealand Olympic teams. The thing is that at that time the New Zealanders did not have their own Olympic Committee and this did not give them the right to compete at the Olympics. However, teaming up with their neighbors, the athletes won a total of five medals (1 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze), and the rugby team won the most honorable of them. These were the only Games in which Australasia took part. Later, in 1911, New Zealand had already acquired its own Olympic Committee and could continue to compete under its own flag.
In 1924, three rugby teams returned to the Olympic Games. It is clear that the medal was guaranteed to each of the teams, and the only question was who would get what. According to the results of the draw, the US team, which was then made up of American football players, became the owner of the "gold". In the final they beat the French (17:3). By the way, it is American rugby players who are the most titled at the Olympic Games - they have two victories to their credit.
Interestingly, the third team that participated in the Games at that time was the national team of ... Romania. "Oaks" lost both matches, which, nevertheless, did not prevent them from getting the "bronze" of the Olympics.
What is Olympic rugby now?
With such meager historical baggage, rugby, after 92 years of Olympic stagnation, has come to 2016, where it will finally be a full-fledged participant in the Games. The reason for such a long absence of rugby in the Olympic program was banal - until the 90s of the last century, rugby did not have a single international federation. However, with the advent of the IRB (later renamed World Rugby), the prospects for the return of rugby to the Olympics have become brighter. One of the significant contributions to the inclusion of rugby in the list of Olympic sports was made by the Argentine Agustin Pichot - former player Argentina national team, and now vice-president of World Rugby. According to some reports, he is now the most influential person in rugby.
Agustin Pisho is one of the main initiators of the return of rugby to the Olympic Games system
True, it was not the same “classic” rugby (also known as rugby-15) that was returned to the Olympics, but its offshoot form - rugby-7. What does it represent?
Everything is very simple. It is not difficult to distinguish rugby-7 from the "classics" - firstly, the "seven" is traditionally a more dynamic sport, it requires more running, dexterous feints and less tactical delights. And secondly, the number 7 in the name was chosen for a reason - that is how many rugby players should be on the field from each team, and one half lasts seven minutes ... Teams play two halves with a minute break and as a result full match takes only 15 minutes of "pure" time.
A simple and easily digestible "product" designed for the mass consumer. Just what you need for the Olympics.
Deodoro Stadium - the Olympic "home" of rugby
About the format.
The inclusion of rugby sevens as part of the Olympic sports was made possible precisely because of such a simplified form of the game that can easily fit into the time frame of the Olympic Games. With "classic" rugby matches lasting 80 minutes, it might have been a little more difficult. But be that as it may, for the old new Olympic sport, getting into the list of the Games is already a victory.
Due to the transience and short duration of rugby-7, a total of three days. It would seem that there is nothing surprising here, because in the 20th century there was approximately the same situation, but now instead of a couple of teams for the title Olympic champion 12 teams will fight, divided into three groups. According to the results of the group round, the first two teams from each group (six in total), as well as two more, who took third places with the best results, advance to the 1/4 finals. Next up are the semi-finals and the final.
The same format will be in the women's part of the competition. By the way, now representatives of the weaker sex also play rugby-7 at the Olympic Games.
Group round (men)
The president International Union rugby(IRB) Bernard Lapassé has said he hopes rugby sevens will be officially included in the 2016 Olympics.
According to Lapassé, over the past two years he has repeatedly met with representatives of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and national Olympic committees talking about this sport and the prospects for its development. The Executive Committee of the IOC on August 13 in Berlin will select two sports from seven sports, which will be finally approved at the IOC session on October 6 in Copenhagen.
“Now we are actually entering the finish line. And we really hope that rugby-7 will be among the two selected sports,” he said summing up the work in Moscow of the 82nd General Assembly of the European Rugby Association FIRA-AER, noting that in Russia the candidacy “rugby receives support from all sports."
Rugby 7s' competitors for inclusion in the 2016 Games are golf, inline skating, baseball, softball, squash and karate. Lapassé is sure that there are no clear favorites among the contenders for obtaining Olympic status.
“Maybe we are a more versatile sport than others, maybe we are more preferred in some other aspects. But there are no clear rules and criteria to predict in advance the choice in favor of a particular sport. But we have 116 national federations on our side who want to express the same message - to become an Olympic sport, ”Lapassé emphasized, answering a question from RIA Novosti.
The head of the IRB believes that rugby sevens, "young, dynamic and attractive appearance sport that is actively developing and attracting considerable spectator interest all over the world”, has all the components necessary to be included in Olympic program.
“We have a significant sports and cultural component, since rugby is played all over the world, a significant economic background, since many TV channels broadcast rugby matches and tournaments, and a huge army of fans moving after their teams from continent to continent,” — he said.
At the FIRA-AER General Assembly in Moscow, the President of the Russian Rugby Union (CER) and Vice-President of FIRA-AER Vyacheslav Kopyev was included in the FIRA-AER Executive Committee, and British specialist Thomas Howard, who is the CER Executive Vice-President, headed the established Rugby Commission -7.
Rugby was included in the Olympic program of four Games - in 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924. However, then this sport lost Olympic status due to lack International Federation rugby and the impossibility of supervising national divisions and holding international competitions.
At the 2012 London Games, rugby sevens will be presented as a demonstration sport.