Because of a sandwich, French rugby player Gaston Vareilles missed his international debut against Scotland in 1910. The team train stopped at Lyon and Vareilles jumped of quickly to buy himself a sandwich. Unfortunately, by the time he returned to the platform, the train had left without him! He was never picked for his country again.

Well, the only criteria a player must fulfill to receive an invitation from The Barbarians to play are that the player’s rugby is of a good standard and that they behave themselves on and offthe field. Yet a barbarian is a human who is perceived to be uncivilised or primitive! Remember that famous Gareth Edward’s ‘try’, starting in the Ba ... Read More

A ‘try’ in rugby was once worth nothing. However, it gave the player, who achieved one, the opportunity to ‘try’ to score a goal, hence its name. Goals were scored by kicking over the crossbar and between two posts, therefore converting the try into a goal, a goal being worth one point.