Paul Rouse joined Off The Ball on Tuesday evening to talk about the origin of some of our biggest sports rugby and football.
In the telling of those stories, Rouse debunked the myth of William Webb Ellis picking up the ball during games at the now-famous Rugby boarding school to invent the game of rugby.
"The William Webb Ellis Story is remarkable," began Rouse.
"Like the fact that the Rugby World Cup is played for the William Webb Ellis Trophy - it's laughable.
"The idea that William Webb Ellis invented rugby by catching a ball.
"[The idea that] the first time it was ever caught was in 1823 and ran the length of the field between 300 boys who were obviously trying to take his head off is nonsensical."
Rouse went on to talk about the history of football and how it's rules emanated from schools such as Rugby, Eton and Harrow.
Emulating gaelic footballers
In a link to Gaelic games, Rouse recalls a theory of General Eoin O'Duffy of Irish revolutionary fame.
"He posited the theory in the 1920s and 1930s that William Webb Ellis in doing this (picking up the ball) was emulating the Gaelic footballers of Tipperary because William Webb Ellis' father had been based in Tipperary as an army officer in the 1810s and before that.
"The idea according to General Eoin O'Duffy was that rugby was a mere imitation of Gaelic football because William Webb Ellis had seen this."
Just like the theory about Webb Ellis inventing rugby, there are similar gaping holes in O'Duffy's equally convenient argument.
"Webb Ellis's father was in Ireland before his son turned one year old, so even if he had been over with his father, the chances are he didn't quite pick it up."
To hammer home the point further Rouse reminded listeners: "Anyway Gaelic football didn't even exist in that period."
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