With the bicentenary celebrations of the game of rugby kicking off over the weekend, Rugby MP Mark Pawsey secured a Parliamentary debate to highlight the historic occasion and the celebrations taking place in the birthplace of the game.
The adjournment debate, held on Friday 3rd February 2023, saw Mark recite the famous history of the game in which William Webb Ellis, a student at Rugby School, showed a fine disregard for the rules of football by picking up the ball and running with it – creating a game which, 200 years later, still bears the name of the town it was created in.
This year will see a host of events taking place in Rugby town to mark the 200th anniversary, with local businesses, Rugby School and Rugby Borough Council all coming together to put on a calendar of activities to celebrate the bicentenary, which began on 5th February with a Global Pass on the hallowed turf of The Close Rugby School. This will see 200 passes of a Gilbert match ball around the globe, with each pass representing a year since William Webb Ellis took the ball in his arms and ran with it on The Close. Mark joined Sports Minister Stuart Andrew, Mike Tindall MBE and Nigel Gillingham, President of the Rugby Football Union; England Women’s Rugby international Emily Scarratt MBE and Peter Green, Executive Head Master of Rugby School Group for this event which officially marked the beginning of the celebrations.
During his speech in Parliament Mark also spoke about the impact that the sport of rugby has had through the voluntary and charitable work done by those involved with the sport. This includes the charities Wooden Spoon and the Atlas Foundation, and Premiership Rugby’s HITZ programme which uses the core values of the game of rugby to inspire and motivate young people and has helped more than 20,000 people since its foundation in 2008.
Speaking after the debate, Mark said:
“At the beginning of the bicentenary celebrations of the game of rugby, I was honoured to be able to secure a debate in Parliament to highlight the unique connection of my constituency – and my home town – to this game played around the world. Over 200 years, rugby football has developed into one of the most popular sports in the world with over 6.6 million registered players and it all started in our town. The bicentenary is a great opportunity, ahead of the men’s Rugby Union World Cup later this year, to really show off the town’s history and heritage and there are a great many events coming up for people to engage with.”
Mark continued:
“There will be a public festival of arts and education in the town throughout the year, special matches on The Close at Rugby School and then on St George’s Day, we are going to attempt to break the record for the world’s largest scrum – currently set at 2,586 people and we are aiming to have over 3,000 people take part. Alongside these events, there will be a wider celebration of the great contribution that the sport, its players and fans have had. Rugby truly is a team game, bringing people from different backgrounds and abilities together and helping to transform lives across the world. It is right that we recognise that this year and I look forward to joining many people from both Rugby the town, and rugby the game, throughout the bicentenary.”