HOME OF RUGBY

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33093, 7 December 1972, Page 18

HOME OF RUGBY

AU Blacks visit (Special Crspdt. N.Z.P.A.) BIRMINGHAM. The All Blacks yesterdaypaid homage to the unwitting founder of the game which has enabled them to travel 12,000 miles to Britain in the name of the sport. After training on the famous close at Rugby School, the All Blacks clustered around a tablet which commemorates William Webb Ellis, the 16-year-old pupil of the school who, in 1823, took a ball in his arms and ran with it, “thus originating the distinctive feature of the Rugby game.’’ To throw some of the All Blacks into confusion about the legend, one local wit suggested that William, Webb and Ellis were really three different boys, and that William caught the ball and handed it to Webb, who passed it to Ellis, who dropped it—thus originating an extremely distinctive feature of the game. There were more links with the game’s founder when the All Blacks went to the Rugby club for lunch. The ground is called the Webb Ellis Field and is situated in Webb Ellis Road. The manager, Mr E. L. Todd, looking relaxed and cheerful despite the Murdoch affair in the previous two days, expressed the team’s thanks to the club and made a light-hearted reference to the game’s founder. “Did Ellis realise what a hell of a schomozzle he started when he picked up the ball and ran with it?” he asked.