o why do England Rugby use a rose?
In order to uncover the answer, we must delve into the past to 1871. This was the year when the first international game between Scotland and England was played, and it also marked the debut of the now-famous red rose.
Some people are curious as to why England Rugby didn’t choose the three lions, like other national sports teams.
Although it has undergone several design changes over the years, its distinctiveness has always remained intact. From 1920, the design was standardized, and this remained the case until 1998, when it was updated to its current form.
While there’s no definite explanation for the RFU using the flower, one possibility is that the rose was perceived as being more closely associated with the English monarchy, as opposed to the three lions.
The rose was first adopted as an English emblem during the War of the Roses in the 15th century.
The war was between the royal house of Lancaster (whose emblem was a red rose) and the royal house of York (whose emblem was a white rose).
The war ended in 1485 when Elizabeth of York (The white rose) married Henry VII (the red rose), and the two combined to create the Tudor Rose.
Another possible reason behind the rugby teams decision to use a red rose rises from the fact that the official colour for Rugby School is red.
This is where the game of rugby is said to have originated, and the school are very proud of this fact. Elizabeth I, who as above used a red rose as her emblem, presented the school’s founder, Lawrence Shefford, with a coat of arms in which the red rose featured prominently.
DID YOU KNOW? According to English superstition, if the petals fall from a fresh-cut red rose, bad luck will soon follow
The Telegraph ranked England’s five worst players this summer, shock name features
The form of Maro Itoje, Marcus Smith, and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso stood out, but below we look at the most disappointing players according to The Telegraph, highlighting some sub-par performances.
Theo Dan 5/10
Saracens hooker Theo Dan is capped at England U18 and U20 level. He graduated into the north London club’s senior academy in 2019 and made his Premiership debut against Gloucester in 2022.
Since then, he has been a regular feature in Saracens teams throughout their domestic and European campaigns and was a member of the team that won the Gallagher Premiership title at the end of the 2022/23 season.
Dan was called up to Steve Borthwick’s squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France and featured heavily in the squad that went on to reach the semi-finals of the tournament.
They wrote: “Needs to learn a better tackle technique after suffering a head injury in the second Test.”