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英國人除了足球,最愛的躰育運動就是橄欖球了。橄欖球和足球有什麽淵源？比爾。尅林頓和橄欖球又有什麽關系？

　　The most popular sport in the UK is football, but a lot of British people like to play rugby, too, especially in Wales and Northern Ireland.

　　Rugby was invented in a funny way. It was invented in the 19th century at Rugby Public School （拉格比公學[位於英格蘭中部城市拉格比市內]） in England. One of the pupils, William Webb Ellis, picked up the ball during a game of football in 1823, and instead of kicking it, he ran with it！

　　Early history

　　The ball-carrying play by Ellis spread to several other English public schools, and in 1839 students at Cambridge University gave it a try and they called it “Rugby's game” as the game was first played in Rugby Public School.

　　In 1848 the first rules of the game were made and rugby soon became famous.

　　By the 1860's two different types of football had developed — using hands and not using hands. In 1863 supporters of the game using no hands formed the Football Association （協會）。 And in 1871, 21 clubs, which supported the game using hands, formed a rugby association.

　　In 1895 groups of rugby clubs had a big fight with each other. As a result, they split （分裂） and two forms of rugby have existed ever since: the professional （職業的） game （now called Rugby League [聯盟制橄欖球]） with 13 players each team； and the amateur （業餘的） Rugby Union （業餘英式橄欖球）, with 15 players. The rules are a little bit different, but the basic idea for both is the same.

　　Introduced in the US in 1875, rugby was the precursor （前身） of American football. However, it has never become as popular as it is in Britain.

　　Where is rugby played？

　　Rugby is played in well over 100 different countries, and several million people take an active part in the sport.

　　In 1987, the rugby World Cup matches were first played.

　　Outside Britain, the sport has been popular in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, and Romania. Most European countries now have national rugby teams. The game is also growing in Africa and South America, and it continues to be popular in many other places.

　　Bill Clinton and rugby

　　Is it true that former American President Bill Clinton plays rugby？

　　Yes！ Clinton is not very athletic （健壯的）, in fact a bit lumpy （笨重的）, but he made an excellent second row forward （中排前鋒）。 The Little Rock Rugby club in his home state of Arkansas （阿肯色州） is trying to make lots of money out of his association （聯系） with them. They're selling T-shirts with the words “We've had Bill on our backs, now you can have him on yours！”