Friday’s European Challenge Cup final in Bilbao is a revival of a fixture that changed the game in the 1880s and quickened fans’ pulses in the 1970s
Retro is in for football’s World Cup this summer. A number of kits pay homage to the past and, if rugby union is not getting nostalgic for a time when the game tended to be played on dilapidated mudflats, this Friday night will see the resumption of one of the game’s most historic fixtures.
Cardiff Blues play Gloucester in the final of the European Challenge Cup in Bilbao, 134 years after the teams (the Blues were Cardiff then) first met, at the Arms Park. In an era when there were no points and a goal beat any number of unconverted tries, the visitors romped home with a goal, seven tries and nine touches down while not conceding.
Written by Paul Rees
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/may/10/cardiff-gloucester-european-challenge-cup-final under the title “Cardiff v Gloucester final throws up memories of mud and punches | The Breakdown”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
