History of the Webb Ellis Cup

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Fredrickson]Sarah Fredrickson
Every rugby player dreams of winning the famous Rugby World Cup trophy one day, but few players, and even fewer fans, know the story of how the trophy got its name, the William Webb Ellis Cup.
Legend has it that in 1823, William Webb Ellis was attending Rugby in England and playing for the school team when he picked up a football and ran with it. With that simple act, William unintentionally created the game of rugby and changed world sports forever. While William certainly did attend Rugby, the truth of the legend about rugby's invention remains unverified. Nevertheless, history credits him with accidentally creating the much-loved game.
Rugby is an elite and expensive private school in Britain's system that is strangely called public. William's widowed mother had very little money with which to educate her son, but Rugby granted scholarships to young men who lived within a ten-mile area surrounding the school. Since William and his mother lived in that area, he was able to attend the privileged school.
William would probably be surprised to know that his name is so famous today and still more surprised at its connection to the game of rugby. He was more serious about playing cricket at the school and continued to be a cricketer while attending Oxford University as well. After graduation from Oxford, he became an evangelical clergyman.
The William Webb Ellis Cup, the Rugby World Cup, was fashioned by Garrard's of London, the crown jeweller famous throughout the world. The jeweller's inspiration for the trophy came from the ornate but classic design of a cup that was crafted in 1740. The gold-plated solid silver trophy features two striking scroll handles. One handle has a satyr head on it, and the other has a nymph head. The renowned jeweller created the trophy for the International Rugby Football Board, which is now the IRB, over 100 years ago, many years before the first RWC competition. However, it sat out of sight in a vault for many years.
While the first Rugby World Cup was in the planning stages in 1987, the exquisite trophy was rescued from its dark vault and revealed to the organisers of the event. They ultimately chose it to be the trophy for the tournament, and Kiwis Dick Littlejohn and Bob Stuart, Aussies Ross Turnbull and Nick Shehadie, Irishman Ronnie Dawson and Welshman Keith Rowlands approved the selection. The glistening trophy is now one of the most coveted prizes in the sports world.
Sarah is a freelance travel writer from New Zealand. With the Rugby World Cup just around the corner and being played in her backyard she'll be covering a lot more rugby related topics in the near future. You can find more info on the [http://www.skysport.co.nz/rugby-webb-ellis-cup/]Webb Ellis Cup at skysport.co.nz
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?History-of-the-Webb-Ellis-Cup&id=6422710] History of the Webb Ellis Cup