T e year is 1883, Krakatoa has erupted into one of the most de- structive forces known to man, Karl Marx has died in London, and the inaugural six nations tournament has just taken place. Of course at the time it was just the home nations, En- gland, Ireland, Scotland and Wales that fought for the title, with England coming out on top. France joined in 1910 with Italy not joining until the mod- ern era in 2000, making it the six nations. Today’s professional rugby teams are a far cry from their ancestral fathers who took to the fi eld back in the late 19th century.
Each team compris-
es of a group of dedicated rugby players at the peak of their game, with a professional coach and staff reviewing, and reviewing again, every set play to draw up a strategy to defeat their opponent. T e ultimate prize is the grand slam, where a team is victorious over each
of the other 5 teams, but with- in the contest there are other
“England defend their grand slam with a mouth watering opener”
rivalries for silverware such as ‘the Calcutta Cup’ for the victor between England and Scotland, or the Triple Crown, the winner of matches between England, Scotland Wales and Ireland. T e annual list of fi xtures is much anticipated by all rugby union fans right across Europe, even the world. T e TV rights
have been sold to 189 countries with average viewing fi gures of around 24million viewers. For 2017 England defend their grand slam with a mouth wa- tering opener at Twickenham against France.
the fl air and speed of
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