Unlike association football (soccer), which embraced player payments and league play in the 1880s, the RFU staunchly resisted professionalism, cup competitions, and leagues, though international rugby between England and Scotland began immediately.
(That's why most professional sports leagues embrace players' unions).
With so few champions to root for, Philly fans embrace players and teams that fall short of the title but leave a lot of carnage in their wake.
The captain of Saracens, speaking on behalf of the PRA's existing Guinness Premiership membership of 500, backed the newly titled Rugby Players Association RPAPA), launched yesterday, which will also embrace players from different tiers of the game.
And so it should be if Team GB finally embraces players from Scotland.
In many cases, players initially embrace a players' coach -- willing to give up cartilage for the man's cause -- just before taking advantage of him.
It is easy to pick out the ones that are most likely to be embraced by players.
Yet Sexton was embraced by players and supporters for advocating a mixture of neat passing and attacking flair backed up with steely ball-winners.
But the message of never accepting defeat and fighting until the last was embraced by players and supporters alike, and never better demonstrated than in the unforgettable Europa League quarter-final comeback against Dortmund.
Similarly, families wishing to catalog memories and events have readily embraced MP3 players, digital cameras, and digital camcorders.
