| To the uninitiated, rugby is a game in which a bunch of powerfully built men throw themselves at one another in pursuit of an oval ball. 在外行的眼中，橄榄球赛只不过是一大群身材健壮的男人相互冲撞推挤，为了一颗椭圆形的球你争我夺。 In fact, this ancestor of modern American and Canadian football can seem more like an organized brawl than a highly technical sport with a complex set of rules. 事实上， 这个现代美加地区“美式足球”的始祖，看起来更像是一场有组织的争吵，而不像是遵循复杂规则、讲究高度技巧的运动。 Apart from its sometimes chaotic demeanor, rugby is also unusual among modern sports in that its origins can be traced back to a single, seminal event. 与其他现代运动相比较，橄榄球的不寻常之处，除了屡见不鲜的混乱场面，也在于它的起源，它可已追溯到某一重要的事件。 In 1823, during a soccer game at the prestigious Rugby School in central England, one of the players impulsively picked up the ball and ran with it. 1823年，一场英格兰中部享有盛名的拉格公学(Rugby School)举行的足球赛中，一名球员一时冲动，把球拿起来带着跑。 The way soccer was played in those days, William Webb Ellis' rash action was practically suicidal. 以当时的足球玩法，威廉·韦伯·艾利斯的鲁莽行动无疑是“自寻死路”。 But his novel approach was taken up by other students, who went on to develop a new style of football. 但他的这种新打法竟被其他学生接过来，继而发展成一种新式的足球-- Known as Rugby football, it mainly involved throwing and running with the ball rather than kicking it. 被称为橄榄球(Rugby football)，它以传球和带球跑为主，而不去踢球。 The game grew in popularity, and in 1871, the Rugby Union was formed in London. It drew up the modern rules for a 15-a-side game using an oval ball. 这项运动日见普及，到1871年，“橄榄球联盟”在伦敦成立，拟定了现代的规则：每一队15人，使用椭圆形球比赛。 Nowadays, rugby is played in more than 80 countries around the world. 现今，世界上有80多个国家举行橄榄球赛。 |
