A long time ago in the late 1800s the shoe makers killed the pigs to get the bladders from the pigs. They used it to make a rugby ball. Do you know what a pigs bladder is? If you don’t know it is the part of a pig that holds the pig’s pee.After taking the bladder out they would clean it before blowing it up. They blew it up with a part of a pipe.
They used to use these balls to play a game called Bigside. Bigside was a combination of rugby and soccer. You could only get the ball if it was airborne. Also when you grabbed the ball you could not run with it you could only kick it everywhere or kick it under the the cross bar.
William Webb Ellis change the game of Bigside to Rugby. William Webb Ellis started it because he sprinted to the goal line to get a try.
Hi TJ, This is a really interesting post. I had never thought about how rugby balls were made.
ReplyDeleteThe game Big Side that you described sounds fascinating.
Do you think it would have been exciting to play?
Keep up the excellent research.
Miss Walker