Photo: Ian Willoughby, Radio Prague International
A new Czech-language book maps multiple aspects of the sport of rugby, which has greatly gained in popularity in this country in recent years. Prague-resident Welsh writer and ex-player James Stafford is one of people behind the hefty tome, simply entitled Ragby, and I asked him when the sport had first appeared in the Czech lands.
“Apparently somebody at the Czech Yacht Club brought a ball in the 1890s and tried to start it, but it wasn’t very successful.
“But the fascinating way it came here – which a lot of Czechs don’t realise – is through the famous author, illustrator and polymath Ondřej Sekora [creator of the popular cartoon character Ferda the Ant].
“He was a sports journalist and he spent time in France, working as a sports journalist, and fell in love with rugby. He brought a rugby ball back and translated the rules – and picked a few Czech phrases that have caused problems for modern Czech rugby people.
See the rest here.