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Article: Midlands Millennium: Rugby runaway success story; Chris Upton looks at the origins of rugby union football at Rugby School. Ross Reyburn sees how the sport's "inventor" is remembered.(News)
- Article from:
- The Birmingham Post (England)
- Article date:
- September 11, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Few schools in England can claim a classic novel and an international game among their achievements, but Rugby School can.
Thomas Hughes' Tom Brown's Schooldays gives the above account of the November free-for-all which was the school's contribution to world sport. There are few signs of enterprising play from the backs or of runs by talented wingers, but the heat generated and the energy expended are in direct descent.
The novel is set in the 1830s, at exactly the time when the rules of this warfare were coalescing into something resembling a sport. The ...