Welcome to History's Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira! And I'm Finn! Before we start time travelling today, we have a massive, super special shout-out to send all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to Clackmannonshire, Scotland, for Seamus Mulrainey and his cousin Struan Critton.
SPEAKER_01Whoa, Clackmannonshire, Scotland? That sounds like an epic place to live. Hi Seamus, hi Struan, thanks for listening to our podcast.
SPEAKER_00Since Seamus and Struan live up in Scotland, where rugby is an incredibly popular and massive sport, we thought today would be the absolute perfect day to explore how this smash hit game actually began. Ooh, sports?
SPEAKER_01I love sports! Wait, which one are we doing? Soccer? Basketball?
SPEAKER_00We are talking about rugby! It is a game famous for being fast, rough, and totally action-packed. But Finn, what if I told you that this incredible sport, played by millions of people in massive stadiums today, was actually invented by a teenager who just decided to break all the rules during a completely different game.
SPEAKER_01Wait, wait, wait. You are telling me he flat out cheated. And instead of getting in trouble, they gave him his own global sport.
SPEAKER_00Yep, that is exactly what happened. It is one of the wildest origin stories in all of sports history, and we're going to tell you exactly how it all went down. To find out how, let's travel back in time to November of 1823. We are standing in a town called Rugby, which is located about 83 miles northwest of London in England.
SPEAKER_01Okay, my time travelling boots are on. I'm imagining it. Are there cobblestone streets? Is it super foggy and cold?
SPEAKER_00Exactly! It's a chilly English autumn, and right in the middle of this town sits a very famous, super strict boarding school called Rugby School. It's incredibly old, founded way back in the year 1567 by a man named Lawrence Sheriff.
SPEAKER_01Whoa, 1567? That's over 450 years ago. So what's happening at this old school in 1823?
SPEAKER_00Well, out on their giant grass playing field, which everyone called the close, the boys are playing a massive, chaotic game of football. And when I say massive, I mean it. Sometimes there were 75 boys playing against 225 boys at the exact same time.
SPEAKER_01Wait, wait, 300 kids running around on one single field? That sounds like total chaos.
SPEAKER_00It was total chaos. And you have to understand, football back in the 1820s was not at all like modern soccer. The rules were very different. For one thing, you were actually allowed to catch the ball with your bare hands.
SPEAKER_01You could use your hands in football.
SPEAKER_00That's crazy! It was, but there was one massive, unbreakable rule. If you caught the ball in your hands, you had to stop right where you were. You could place it down and kick it, but you absolutely, positively, could not run forward with the ball in your arms.
SPEAKER_01Ah, so you catch it, freeze like a statue, and then kick it away. I totally get it. So, picture the scene.
SPEAKER_00It's November 1823. A 16-year-old boy named William Webb Ellis is playing on this massive muddy field. Imagine up to 300 boys running around in heavy, clunky boots.
SPEAKER_01That sounds exhausting. And someone kicks the ball high up into the air toward William.
SPEAKER_00Exactly! The ball arches through the crisp air, and William captures it cleanly in his arms. Normally, as per the rules, he would have to stop, plant his feet, and kick it back down the field.
SPEAKER_01But let me guess, he doesn't freeze.
SPEAKER_00Nope. In a sudden flash of teenage rebellion, William tucks the ball tight against his chest, puts his head down, and sprints straight forward toward the opponent's goal.
SPEAKER_01Wait, what did the other 200 boys do? Did they just stand there and watch him run?
SPEAKER_00Oh, definitely not. In their crazy version of football, if someone had the ball, you were allowed to kick them in the shins to stop them. It was a legal move called hacking.
SPEAKER_01Ouch! Getting kicked in the shins with heavy boots sounds incredibly painful.
SPEAKER_00It was brutal. But William dodged the hacking, running with a fine disregard for the rules of football, as the official history books say today.
SPEAKER_01Haha, fine disregard is just a really fancy way of saying he was a massive cheater.
SPEAKER_00It totally is. But here is the craziest part of the whole story. Even though he broke the single biggest rule they had, the other boys eventually realised that running with the ball was actually super fun.
SPEAKER_01So they didn't ban him, they just decided to keep doing it.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Over the next 20 years, the students at rugby school officially wrote down these new rules. They called the game rugby football, and a brand new sport was officially born. But Finn, the ball they played with back then wasn't the sleek, pointy oval we know today. It was heavy, lumpy, and shaped like a giant plum. Shaped like a plum? Why wasn't it perfectly round? Because of what was hidden inside it. Back in the 1800s, they didn't have cheap plastic or synthetic rubber. A local shoemaker named Richard Linden made the balls using inflated pig bladders covered in thick leather panels.
SPEAKER_01Ooh, pig bladders? That is so disgusting. I am so glad I didn't live in the 1800s.
SPEAKER_00It gets even grosser. The size of the rugby ball completely depended on the size of the pig. Some were small and some were massive. So every single ball was completely different.
SPEAKER_01Wait, how did they even blow up a pig bladder? Did they have bicycle pumps back then?
SPEAKER_00No. Richard's wife, Rebecca Linden, would take the broken clay stem of a smoking pipe, stick it into the raw, smelly pig bladder, and blow it up using just the power of her own lungs.
SPEAKER_01No way! That is so unhygienic! Didn't she get sick from doing that?
SPEAKER_00Sadly, yes. It was actually really dangerous. Rebecca blew up so many diseased pig bladders that she caught a terrible lung infection and passed away. It was a true tragedy for the Linden family.
SPEAKER_01Oh no, that's incredibly sad. Poor Rebecca.
SPEAKER_00It really was. Because of this awful loss, around the year 1862, Richard decided to invent a brand new, completely safe bladder made out of India rubber.
SPEAKER_01Did he blow the rubber up with a pipe too?
SPEAKER_00Rubber was way too tough for lung power. So Richard grabbed a brass medical syringe, the exact kind doctors use to clean out ears, and used it as the very first air pump.
SPEAKER_01An ear syringe! That is absolutely brilliant!
SPEAKER_00It worked perfectly, and because of the way the rubber expanded inside the leather, it created a beautiful uniform oval shape. The modern rugby ball was officially born. With this perfect new oval ball, carrying, passing and drop-kicking became much easier. Soon, rugby exploded out of England and spread across the globe to places like Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, South Africa and New Zealand.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I know about New Zealand. They have a legendary rugby team. They are called the All Blacks, right?
SPEAKER_00That's exactly right! The All Blacks are famous worldwide and they have an amazing, spine-tingling pre-match tradition. Before every single game, they perform the hacker.
SPEAKER_01I've seen videos of that. They stomp their feet, slap their arms and chests, and chant really loudly. It looks so fierce.
SPEAKER_00It is incredibly powerful to watch. The hacker is a traditional Maori war cry and challenge. The specific one the team usually performs is called Ka Mate, which was composed way back around 1820 by a Maori chief named Te Raoha.
SPEAKER_01Wow, 1820! How long have the All Blacks been doing it before their games?
SPEAKER_00They first performed it on an international tour in 1905. The hacker unifies the team and totally intimidates their opponents. And it clearly works because they are one of the most successful sports teams in human history. They sound unstoppable. Did they win the World Cup? They did! When the very first Rugby World Cup finally kicked off in 1987, the All Blacks crushed France in the final championship match, winning 29 to 9. Wow! What kind of trophy did they get for winning? They won the ultimate prize, the Webb Ellis Cup, named right after our mischievous teenage rule breaker. It's a gorgeous gold-plated silver trophy that stands 38 centimetres tall and weighs 4.5 kilograms.
SPEAKER_014.5 kilograms? That's as heavy as a bowling ball.
SPEAKER_00Exactly! It features two fancy scroll handles, one shaped like a mythical satyr and one like a nymph. And it is so incredibly precious that only past winners and heads of state are allowed to touch it without wearing gloves. Alright Finn, quiz time. Are you ready?
SPEAKER_01Okay, I've got my game face on. I'm ready. First question.
SPEAKER_00In what year did William Webb Ellis break the rules and supposedly invent rugby? Next one. What gross animal part was originally used to make the inside of the first rugby balls? Question three. Who was the shoemaker that invented the rubber bladder for the rugby ball around 1862? Here's number four. What is the name of the fierce Māori war cry performed by the New Zealand All Blacks? Last question. In what year was the very first Rugby World Cup played? Great job! Let's see how you did. The first answer is it happened in November 1823. For question two, they used raw pig bladders. Number three, the answer is the clever shoemaker Richard Linden. Question four, it's called the hacker. And the final answer is the first World Cup was in 1987.
SPEAKER_01I still can't believe a massive global sport started just because one 16-year-old kid decided to grab a ball and run with it.
SPEAKER_00I know, right? History is full of wild surprises. Though I think I'll definitely skip the whole pig bladder part of the story from now on.
SPEAKER_01Oh gross, me too. I am so incredibly glad they invented rubber air pumps.
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SPEAKER_00And don't forget to check out our site, kidopoly.com. We have tons of awesome learning games and fun activities waiting for you there.
SPEAKER_01It's like a giant digital playground. Head over to kidopoly.com to explore. Or like Seamus and Struan? Or just want to say hi? Send us an email at hello at kidopoly.com. We love hearing from you.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for time travelling with us today. See you next time on History's Not Boring. Bye everyone.