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It's Ayoba!


Yes, the rugby world cup is here again. Can it really be four years since the last Rugby World Cup and that fantastic 15 - 6 win by the Springboks over England on October 20th, 2007?


The International Rugby World Cup is one of the largest sporting competitions in the world, comparable to the Football World Cup. It has been held every four years since Australia and New Zealand jointly hosted the inaugural tournament in 1987.

Rugby is a free-flowing game, played between two teams, each made up of 15 players. Five points are awarded for a try, grounding the ball in the area between the goal and dead ball lines, and a further two points for a successful conversion kick. Penalty kicks or drop goals are each worth three points.
 

This year the 20 participating nations are competing over a month in New Zealand, with the initial stages being group play. The nations are divided into four groups of five each and each team plays the other teams within their group once.

The winners and runners up of each group then advance to the second stage, the quarter finals, which is a knockout competition. Each winning group team plays a runner up team from a different group, with the winner from each game progressing to the semi-finals. In the event of a tie after normal time during the knockout stages, extra time is played and should the game remain tied after that, the game enters "sudden death" mode, in which the first team to score any points is declared the winner. As a final resort, a goal kicking competition is used to determine the winner.

The winning team of the Rugby World Cup is awarded the Web Ellis Cup trophy. The Springboks won the tournament in 1995, when it was hosted in South Africa, and again in 2007, when it took place in France.

South Africa's team, the Springboks, sport green and gold jerseys and have both the Protea and the Springbok as their emblem. The team is currently ranked second in the world, after New Zealand who grabbed the top spot from the Springboks in July 2008.

To learn more about South Africa's involvement in the Rugby World Cup, the triumphs, the heartaches and even the shame, why not get yourself a copy of Sunday Times journalist Dan Retief's epic book, The Springboks and the Holy Grail ? Or read through the amazing stories collected from some of the country's most famous rugby fans, such as Tony Leon, John Robbie and the like, in Rugby in our Blood, edited by Angus Powers.

And for those unfamiliar with South African expressions, "Ayoba" is a uniquely South African slang word that expresses amazement, delight, excitement, approval and agreement. Hopefully, South Africans will get to use it even more after the 2011 Rugby World Cup final at Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand, on October 23rd, 2011.

 
Check out the Bob Shop Rugby category. With a massive range of Rugby apparel and official Springbok jerseys, you are sure to find what you are looking for.  

 

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