132-693: Zebre Parma ( Italian pronunciation: [ˈdzɛbre] , meaning " Zebras ") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma ( Emilia-Romagna ), Italy. They are operated by the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) and replaced Aironi in the Pro12 . Zebre Parma, often referred to as "the XV of
264-733: A Blue Table and the various paintings of Mary Fedden and Sidney Nolan . Victor Vasarely depicted zebras as black and white lines and connected in a jigsaw puzzle fashion. Carel Weight 's Escape of the Zebra from the Zoo during an Air Raid was based on a real life incident of a zebra escaping during the bombing of London Zoo and consists of four comic book-like panels. Zebras have lent themselves to products and advertisements, notably for 'Zebra Grate Polish' cleaning supplies by British manufacturer Reckitt and Sons and Japanese pen manufacturer Zebra Co., Ltd. Zebras have been kept in captivity since at least
396-464: A bonus-point victory against the Newport Gwent Dragons . Zebre avoided finishing in last place for the first time. Pink background indicates teams that are in play-off places and earn a place in the 2025–26 European Challenge Cup Yellow background indicates the team that won the 2024–25 European Challenge Cup and thus qualify for the 2025–26 European Champions Cup, but are not in
528-642: A converted try soon after, putting them in the lead. But a late drop goal from full-back Mike Rayer won it for the Arms Park side capping one of the most successful periods in the club's history, with five Schweppes Cup victories in seven years. In 1987, the first Rugby World Cup was held in New Zealand. Cardiff props Dai Young , Jeff Whitefoot and Steve Blackmore , wing Adrian Hadley , centre Mark Ring and hooker Alan Phillips all were selected in Wales's squad (Young
660-405: A curled lip and bared teeth ( flehmen response ) and the female will solicit mating by backing in. Gestation is typically around a year. A few days to a month later, mares can return to oestrus. In harem-holding species, oestrus in a female becomes less noticeable to outside males as she gets older, hence competition for older females is virtually nonexistent. Usually, a single foal is born, which
792-485: A distinct species. Later genetic studies have placed it as the same species as the plains zebra, either a subspecies or just the southernmost population. Molecular evidence supports zebras as a monophyletic lineage . Equus originated in North America and direct paleogenomic sequencing of a 700,000-year-old middle Pleistocene horse metapodial bone from Canada implies a date of 4.07 million years ago (mya) for
924-452: A fantastic game against Pontypool where despite only touching the ball four times due to the dominance of the Pooler pack, he scored four tries, with those being Cardiff's only points in a 16–11 victory. Cardiff's cup run continued to the semi-finals, where they were beaten by Swansea 18–13. Flanker Stuart Lane , fly-half Gareth Davies , hooker Alan Phillips and scrum-half Terry Holmes from
1056-477: A fantastic record against Newport during these years, going 15 games unbeaten against them between 1946 and 1950. Cardiff players helped Wales win their first Grand Slam in nearly forty years in 1950, and later that year supplied five players to the Lions for the first time later that year. The five were fly-half Billy Cleaver , prop Cliff Davies , centre Jack Matthews , scrum-half Rex Willis and Bleddyn Williams ,
1188-522: A great achievement considering the national side had been beaten 11–0 by the Boks only a month earlier, and France were thrashed by them 55–6 two days later. The only other team to beat South Africa during their 29-match tour were Scotland. After this performance, and Wales winning the Five Nations Grand Slam for the first time in 1908, four Cardiff players were selected for the Lions in 1908. Harding
1320-473: A harem nibble and rake along the neck, shoulder, and back with their teeth and lips. Grooming usually occurs between mothers and foals and between stallions and mares. Grooming establishes social rank and eases aggressive behaviour, although Grévy's zebras generally do not perform social grooming. Among plains and mountain zebras, the adult females mate only with their harem stallion, while in Grévy's zebras, mating
1452-503: A harem stallion is healthy, he is not usually challenged. Only unhealthy stallions have their harems taken over, and even then, the new stallion slowly takes over, peacefully displacing the old one. Agonistic behaviour between male Grévy's zebras occurs at the border of their territories. Zebras produce a number of vocalisations and noises. The plains zebra has a distinctive, barking contact call heard as "a- ha , a- ha , a- ha " or "kwa-ha, kaw-ha, ha, ha". The mountain zebra may produce
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#17331071192651584-588: A long initial vowel, but over the course of the 20th century the pronunciation with the short initial vowel became the norm in British English . The pronunciation with a long initial vowel remains standard in American English . Zebras are classified in the genus Equus (known as equines) along with horses and asses . These three groups are the only living members of the family Equidae . The plains zebra and mountain zebra were traditionally placed in
1716-504: A penalty try and a score from Adrian Hadley . The same Australian side went on to complete a "Grand Slam" (beating England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland). Australia haven't played Cardiff RFC since, leaving the club with a perfect record of six wins from six games against the Wallabies (although Cardiff Blues did lose to Australia 31–3 in 2009). 1985 was very nearly another successful year for the club, beating Neath and Pontypool on their way to
1848-494: A play-off place Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2025–26 European Challenge Cup. Q : qualified for play-offs. H : home field advantage secured for quarter-and semi-final. h ; home field advantage secured for quarter-final X : cannot reach play-offs. E : qualified for Champions Cup. Founded in 1973 by the former Italian national captain Marco Bollesan , Zebre (English: Zebras)
1980-578: A season in which they had five league victories, with their away win in Cardiff followed by home victories against the Ospreys , Edinburgh , Cardiff Blues and Italian Rivals Treviso , who finished the season a single point ahead of Zebre. They fared somewhat worse in 2014–15, managing only 3 victories and finishing bottom of the table for the third season running. In the 2015–16 seasons they again earned five victories including back to back victories against Treviso and
2112-595: A similar sound while the call of Grévy's zebra has been described as "something like a hippo 's grunt combined with a donkey's wheeze". Loud snorting and rough "gasping" in zebras signals alarm. Squealing is usually made when in pain, but can also be heard in friendly interactions. Zebras also communicate with visual displays, and the flexibility of their lips allows them to make complex facial expressions. Visual displays also consist of head, ear, and tail postures. A zebra may signal an intention to kick by dropping back its ears and whipping its tail. Flattened ears, bared teeth and
2244-525: A small number of clubs to have beaten the three major Southern Hemisphere international sides. South Africa , New Zealand , and Australia . The latter have been defeated by Cardiff on six occasions. They won European Challenge Cup titles in 2010 and 2018, beating Toulon and Gloucester respectively. Cardiff most recently made the knockout stages of the European Rugby Champions Cup in 2012. Between 2005 and 2018, they also competed in
2376-447: A spade-shaped toe covered in a hard hoof . Their dentition is adapted for grazing ; they have large incisors that clip grass blades and rough molars and premolars well suited for grinding. Males have spade-shaped canines, which can be used as weapons in fighting. The eyes of zebras are at the sides and far up the head, which allows them to look over the tall grass while feeding. Their moderately long, erect ears are movable and can locate
2508-542: A team named Glamorgan FC had been formed and in 1876 they merged with Cardiff Wanderers to form the Cardiff Football Club. At the time, association football was little known in South Wales and it was not until the 20th century that the team became known as Cardiff Rugby Football Club. Cardiff FC played their first fixture on 2 December 1876, versus Newport at Wentloog Marshes. In 1881, Cardiff beat Llanelli to win
2640-435: A territory offers a female protection from harassment by outside males, as well as access to resources. In all species, excess males gather in bachelor groups . These are typically young males that are not yet ready to establish a harem or territory. With the plains zebra, the oldest males are the most dominant and group membership is stable. Bachelor groups tend to be at the boundaries of herds and during group movements,
2772-507: A try in the entire Cup. However, on 1 November 1975, Cardiff met Australia for the fifth time in their history and, for the fifth time defeated them, 14–9, despite the absence of Edwards due to influenza. Both Edwards and Davies represented Wales in the 1976 Five Nations Grand Slam. During 1976–77, Cardiff defeated Pontypool and Aberavon on their way to the Challenge Cup final, where they were beaten 16–15 by Newport. Edwards decided not to go on
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#17331071192652904-464: A turnaround in the club's fortunes, winning their first seven matches of the season and 20 of their first 22 to top the league in the new year. This run came to an end on 23 January; they were knocked out of the Schweppes Cup by St Peter's, who were fourth from bottom of Division Four. The Blue and Blacks only lost four league games all season though, but were unlucky to be competing against Llanelli in
3036-701: A variety of habitats such as savannahs , grasslands , woodlands, shrublands , and mountainous areas. Zebras are primarily grazers and can subsist on lower-quality vegetation. They are preyed on mainly by lions , and typically flee when threatened but also bite and kick. Zebra species differ in social behaviour , with plains and mountain zebra living in stable harems consisting of an adult male or stallion , several adult females or mares , and their young or foals ; while Grévy's zebra live alone or in loosely associated herds. In harem-holding species, adult females mate only with their harem stallion, while male Grévy's zebras establish territories which attract females and
3168-502: A waving head may be used as threatening gestures by stallions. Individuals may greet each other by rubbing and sniffing and then mutually rub their cheeks, and move along their bodies towards each other's genitals to sniff. They then may caress their shoulders against each other and lay their heads on one another. This greeting usually occurs between harem or territorial males or among bachelor males playing. Plains and mountain zebras strengthen their social bonds with grooming . Members of
3300-405: A week without water but will drink it every day when given the chance, and their bodies maintain water better than cattle. Mountain zebras can be found at elevations of up to 2,000 m (6,600 ft). Zebras sleep for seven hours a day, standing up during the day and lying down during the night. They regularly use various objects as rubbing posts and will roll on the ground . A zebra's diet
3432-591: A zebra from Ethiopia in 1620 and Ustad Mansur made a painting of it. In the 1670s, Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes I exported two zebras to the Dutch governor of Jakarta . These animals would eventually be given by the Dutch to the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan. When Queen Charlotte received a zebra as a wedding gift in 1762, the animal became a source of fascination for the people of Britain. Many flocked to see it at its paddock at Buckingham Palace . It soon became
3564-610: Is capable of running within an hour of birth. A newborn zebra will follow anything that moves, so new mothers prevent other mares from approaching their foals as they become more familiar with the mother's striping pattern, smell and voice. At a few weeks old, foals begin to graze, but may continue to nurse for eight to thirteen months. Living in an arid environment, Grévy's zebras have longer nursing intervals and young only begin to drink water three months after birth. In plains and mountain zebras, foals are cared for mostly by their mothers, but if threatened by pack-hunting hyenas and dogs,
3696-416: Is more promiscuous and the males have larger testes for sperm competition . Female zebras have five to ten day long oestrous cycles; physical signs include a swollen, everted (inside out) labia and copious flows of urine and mucus. Upon reaching peak oestrous, mares spread-out their legs, lift their tails and open their mouths when in the presence of a male. Males assess the female's reproductive state with
3828-402: Is mostly grasses and sedges , but they will opportunistically consume bark , leaves, buds, fruits, and roots. Compared to ruminants , zebras have a simpler and less efficient digestive system. Nevertheless, they can subsist on lower-quality vegetation. Zebras may spend 60–80% of their time feeding, depending on the availability of vegetation. The plains zebra is a pioneer grazer, mowing down
3960-401: Is possible that having evolved under pressure from the many large predators of Africa, including early humans, they became more aggressive, thus making domestication more difficult. However, zebras have been trained throughout history. In Rome, zebras are recorded to have pulled chariots during amphitheatre games starting in the reign of Caracalla (198 to 217 AD). In the late 19th century,
4092-521: Is thought to be responsible for the differences in the striping patterns of the different species. Various abnormalities of the patterns have been documented in plains zebras. In " melanistic " zebras, dark stripes are highly concentrated on the torso but the legs are whiter. "Spotted" individuals have broken up black stripes around the dorsal area. There have even been morphs with white spots on dark backgrounds. Striping abnormalities have been linked to inbreeding . Albino zebras have been recorded in
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4224-454: The 2018–19 Pro14 season at Stadio Luigi Zaffanella of Viadana , Lombardy , against Leinster – In the 2019–20 European Rugby Challenge Cup season at Stadio San Michele of Calvisano , Lombardy , against Brive – In the 2019–20 Pro14 season at Stadio Giovanni Mari of Legnano , Lombardy , against Munster ; The staff for the 2024–25 season is: Zebre is mostly based on Italian players, rather than foreigners. In 2012, of
4356-524: The African diaspora , the zebra represented the politics of race and identity, being both black and white. In cultures outside of its range, the zebra has been thought of as a more exotic alternative to the horse; the comic book character Sheena, Queen of the Jungle , is depicted riding a zebra and explorer Osa Johnson was photographed riding one. The film Racing Stripes features a captive zebra ostracised from
4488-694: The Anglo-Welsh Cup and won the 2009 title, beating Gloucester at Twickenham . Today they compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. The club also runs one of the five Welsh rugby academies, age group teams and the semi professional Cardiff RFC side, affectionately nicknamed "The Rags", which competes in Super Rygbi Cymru . The first reliably recorded Rugby club in Cardiff were Tredegarville, who began playing around 1870. By 1874
4620-525: The Cardiff Athletic Club , and then purchased Cardiff Arms Park . In the 1930s, Scrum-half Howard Poole , although never capped for Wales, was selected to play for the Lions in 1930, as was Ivor Williams in 1938. The club also won their first unofficial Welsh championship for 28 years in 1937, and managed to retain the title in 1938 and 1939, before the start of the Second World War. After
4752-567: The Celtic League had been proposed for many years. After several failed attempts, there was hope that a deal for Italian entry would be done in time for the 2010–11 season, with the Scots delaying support for entry until changes were made to the Celtic League management structure. In February 2010, it was announced that the planned expansion of the Celtic League was to be put on hold. The reasons were
4884-563: The Franchise has also had a women's team, which plays official tests with Spanish team. Zebra † E. capensis E. grevyi † E. koobiforensis † E. mauritanicus † E. oldowayensis E. quagga E. zebra Zebras ( US : / ˈ z iː b r ə z / , UK : / ˈ z ɛ b r ə z , ˈ z iː -/ ) (subgenus Hippotigris ) are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats . There are three living species: Grévy's zebra ( Equus grevyi ),
5016-802: The IUCN Red List of mammals lists Grévy's zebra as endangered , the mountain zebra as vulnerable and the plains zebra as near-threatened . Grévy's zebra populations are estimated at less than 2,000 mature individuals, but they are stable. Mountain zebras number near 35,000 individuals and their population appears to be increasing. Plains zebra are estimated to number 150,000–250,000 with a decreasing population trend. Human intervention has fragmented zebra ranges and populations. Zebras are threatened by hunting for their hide and meat, and habitat destruction . They also compete with livestock and have their travelling routes obstruct by fences. Civil wars in some countries have also caused declines in zebra populations. By
5148-568: The Roman Empire . In later times, captive zebras have been shipped around the world, often for diplomatic reasons. In 1261, Sultan Baibars of Egypt established an embassy with Alfonso X of Castile and sent a zebra and other exotic animals as gifts. In 1417, a zebra was gifted to the Chinese people by Somalia and displayed before the Yongle Emperor . The fourth Mughal emperor Jahangir received
5280-480: The Veneto region and lost out in the first round of bidding despite the region being the traditional home of Italian rugby. However, Pretorians Roma failed to satisfy the evaluators of their financial muscle and Benetton Treviso were nominated in their place. Aironi struggled in their first season; a surprise European Cup win over Biarritz was the only highlight of a campaign in which they managed only one Pro12 victory. At
5412-413: The metaconid and metastylid of the tooth by a V-shaped canal and rounded enamel wall . Zebras are easily recognised by their bold black-and-white striping patterns. The coat appears to be white with black stripes, as indicated by the belly and legs when unstriped, but the skin is black. Young or foals are born with brown and white coats, and the brown darkens with age. A dorsal line acts as
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5544-481: The plains zebra ( E. quagga ), and the mountain zebra ( E. zebra ). Zebras share the genus Equus with horses and asses , the three groups being the only living members of the family Equidae . Zebra stripes come in different patterns, unique to each individual. Several theories have been proposed for the function of these patterns, with most evidence supporting them as a deterrent for biting flies . Zebras inhabit eastern and southern Africa and can be found in
5676-466: The subgenus Hippotigris (C. H. Smith, 1841) in contrast to the Grévy's zebra which was considered the sole species of subgenus Dolichohippus (Heller, 1912). Groves and Bell (2004) placed all three species in the subgenus Hippotigris . A 2013 phylogenetic study found that the plains zebra is more closely related to Grévy's zebras than mountain zebras. The extinct quagga was originally classified as
5808-414: The "Prince of Centres". Williams captained the Lions in the third and fourth Tests against New Zealand. Wales won another Grand Slam in 1952, with much the same side. In 1952–53, Cardiff won the unofficial Welsh championship again, helped by the rise of prodigiously talented fly-half Cliff Morgan, but the best was still to come. On 21 November 1953, Cardiff faced New Zealand in front of a crowd of 56,000 at
5940-1431: The 1950s. Protections from South African National Parks allowed the population to rise to 2,600 by the 2010s. Zebras can be found in numerous protected areas. Important areas for Grévy's zebra include Yabelo Wildlife Sanctuary and Chelbi Sanctuary in Ethiopia and Buffalo Springs , Samburu and Shaba National Reserves in Kenya . The plains zebra inhabits the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, Tsavo and Masai Mara in Kenya, Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, Etosha National Park in Namibia , and Kruger National Park in South Africa . Mountain zebras are protected in Mountain Zebra National Park , Karoo National Park and Goegap Nature Reserve in South Africa as well as Etosha and Namib-Naukluft Park in Namibia. Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( Welsh : Rygbi Caerdydd ) are one of
6072-466: The 1955 touring side, notable for not including any of the five that toured in 1950. The three this time were fly-half Morgan, centre Gareth Griffiths and wing Haydn Morris . Morgan, in front of a then-world record crowd of 100,000, helped defeat the South Africans 23–22 with a brilliant try despite an injury to Reg Higgins reducing the Lions to 14 men (no replacements were allowed at this time). After
6204-444: The 1977 Lions tour, to show loyalty to his company who had let him go on three Lions tours previously. However, another Cardiff scrum-half, uncapped Brynmor Williams was picked, and played in the first three Tests before being injured in the third. Both Davies and Edwards started for Wales in the 20–16 victory away to Ireland in the 1978 Five Nations that sealed a record three Triple Crowns in as many years, with Edwards also starting
6336-572: The 2010–11 season. The clubs will also be guaranteed places in the annual Heineken Cup , which had previously been awarded to the two top teams in the National Championship of Excellence . Italy have failed to make an impact in the Six Nations Championship since joining in 2000. This has largely been blamed on the fact their best players do not have a competitive enough domestic tournament or are forced to play abroad. The fact that
6468-492: The Arms Park and, after a brilliant defensive effort following a 5–0 lead at half-time, hung on to win 8–3. Five Cardiff backs were selected in the Wales team captained by Bleddyn Williams that beat the All Blacks again less than a month later. These two results remain the last time either Cardiff or Wales have beaten New Zealand. Cardiff repeated their unofficial championship victory two years later in 1955, and had three Lions in
6600-796: The Australian team of Randwick Sydney , who won 21–50. Zebre had a memorable 48–38 victory against the Barbarians in Brescia in June 1997. Two other former select teams are Dogi (The Doges) based in Triveneto and I Lupi (The Wolves) based in Central and Southern Italy . The team play in Parma at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi , the former home ground of Crociati Parma and the F.I.R. Academy . Initially,
6732-564: The English clubs over the negotiation of commercial rights (which would lead to the English clubs not participating in the 1998–99 Heineken Cup). Instead, the WRU demanded all top-flight clubs sign 10-year loyalty agreements, where they were guaranteed top-flight status and committed themselves to staying within the Welsh league structure. Cardiff and Swansea refused to sign these agreements and were expelled from
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#17331071192656864-945: The Eurasian Equus ovodovi and the subgenus Sussemionus lineage as closer to zebras than to asses. However, other studies disputed this placement, finding the Sussemionus lineage basal to the zebra+asses group, but suggested that the Sussemionus lineage may have received gene flow from zebras. The cladogram of Equus below is based on Vilstrup and colleagues (2013) and Jónsson and colleagues (2014): Mountain zebra ( E. zebra ) [REDACTED] Plains zebra ( E. quagga ) [REDACTED] Grévy's zebra ( E. grevyi ) [REDACTED] Kiang ( E. kiang ) [REDACTED] Onager ( E. hemionus ) [REDACTED] African wild ass ( E. africanus ) [REDACTED] Horse ( E. ferus caballus ) [REDACTED] Przewalski's horse ( E. ferus przewalski ) [REDACTED] In addition to
6996-610: The Five Nations title and Triple Crown in 1969, only denied the Grand Slam by a draw in France, only to be whitewashed in three games against New Zealand and Australia in the summer. 1971 however, was the year in which John, Edwards and Davies would write themselves into history. Davies by this time had left for London Welsh, although he would later return. In the spring, they were all ever-presents in Wales's first Grand Slam in 18 years, and in
7128-461: The Five Nations title with Scotland, after which Wales won the Triple Crown and the title in 1965, followed by another championship in 1966, although the Grand Slam still eluded them. However, these successes helped Cardiff players centre Ken Jones and prop Howard Norris win places on the Lions tour to New Zealand. Later that year Cardiff beat Australia 14–8, although Wales were not able to repeat
7260-686: The Hall of Fame. In 1898, Cardiff were unofficial club champions of Wales for the first time. One year later, centre Gwyn Nicholls became the first Cardiff player to play for the British and Irish Lions (then only representing the British Isles), and scored a try in both the first and second Tests against Australia. Nicholls would also go on to captain Wales between 1902 and 1906. In 1904, Cardiff players fly-half Percy Bush , centre Rhys Gabe (who later captained Wales in 1907) and Arthur 'Boxer' Harding all went on
7392-493: The Lions losing three of the Tests again South Africa and only drawing the other one. On the domestic front, they were denied silverware, as despite being top of the unofficial table for almost the whole season, the loss of their six Lions at the end of the season allowed Llanelli to overtake them. Cardiff again finished second behind Newport the next year, with Richards the only Lion to make more than 20 appearances. However, Wales won
7524-403: The Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand (Nicholls was not selected). Bush scored in the first and second test against Australia, as Nicholls had, and thanks to his tries and goal-kicking during the first three Tests, finished as the top Test points scorer. Gabe scored a try in the third test against Australia, while Harding converted a try in the first Test and was the only Lions player to get on
7656-523: The Lions went unbeaten through all 22 matches and would probably have won all their games, but in the final Test the South African referee blew the final whist four minutes early with the scores level and the Lions camped on the South African line. In 1974–75 Cardiff failed to reach the WRU Challenge Cup semi-finals for the first time, losing 13–12 to Bridgend in the third round, despite not conceding
7788-521: The North-West" ( Italian : il XV del Nord-Ovest ), represents the four committees of Emilia-Romagna , Liguria , Lombardy and Piedmont , which includes tens of thousands of members and several clubs. Since 2018, it represents also teams from others committees like Abruzzo , Lazio , Marche , Tuscany and Sicily . The team was officially named Zebre Parma at the start of the 2021–22 United Rugby Championship season. The entry of Italian teams into
7920-549: The Schweppes Cup final where, despite tries from wing Gerald Cordle and captain Alan Phillips alongside two penalties from Gareth Davies, they fell to an agonising 15–14 defeat to Llanelli. After this, Terry Holmes left the club to play rugby league. The club bounced back immediately however, beating Newport in the final of 1985–86 cup final 28–21, with Adrian Hadley scoring a hat-trick, Holmes's replacement, scrum-half Neil O'Brien, bagging another try and 12 points coming from
8052-453: The Six Nations decider in 2009 between Wales and Ireland featured 42 Celtic League players out of 44 in their squads supported this notion. After initial applications in 2010, it was proposed that Aironi would join along with a new team, Praetorians Roma , but Benetton Treviso were nominated instead. Benetton Treviso and Duchi Nord-Ovest could not agree to form one club to represent
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#17331071192658184-456: The South Africans squared the series in the second Test, Morgan was made captain for the third Test and inspired the team with a combination a stirring team talk and a great kicking game to a 9–6 victory, ensuring the series could not be lost, after which he was dubbed "Morgan the Magnificent" by the South African press. After his Lions heroics Morgan was made captain of Wales, and helped them win
8316-490: The South Wales Challenge Cup, though the tournament was scrapped soon after due to persistent crowd trouble. In 1885 under Frank Hancock , Cardiff began playing with seven backs and eight forwards and perfected what was known at the time as "the passing game". Up until this time, rugby had been played with 9 forwards and 6 backs, with play focused on forward exchanges. Hancock's methods for the first time utilised
8448-904: The Welsh Premier Division they fell to third, behind champions Pontypridd and Llanelli. However, after Alex Evans returned to head up the coaching team, that season did lead to some silverware, as Cardiff beat Llanelli 36–26 in the semi-final and Swansea 33–26 in the final of the SWALEC Cup. Grzegorz Kacala and Tony Rees, both forwards part of the Brive team that knocked Cardiff out of the Heineken Cup and went on to win it, were signed for 1997/98 along with Wales internationals Steve Williams and Spencer John (Gareth Thomas also arrived in December from Bridgend). Despite Cardiff's difficulties, compounded by those of
8580-474: The Welsh Premier Division. The Allied Dunbar Premiership (the English league) teams announced that two teams would have a rest weekend every week allowing them to play friendlies against Cardiff and Swansea. Cardiff's first home match of the season was against Saracens, who'd finished second in the Allied Dunbar Premiership the season before. Cardiff won 40–19 in front of a crowd of 10,021, larger than
8712-544: The age of 27, not liking the celebrity status shoved on him and his family after the Lions tour. The next season was also disappointing for Cardiff, although fullback John Davies scored a club record of 209 points (in his first season for the club). They were soundly beaten by New Zealand 20–4, only a week after Llanelli had beaten them 9–3. In the Cup, they defeated South Wales Police, Mountain Ash, Ebbw Vale, Blaina and Swansea on their way to
8844-468: The animals are often used to represent the letter 'Z'. Zebra stripe patterns are popularly used for body paintings, dress, furniture and architecture. Zebras have been featured in African art and culture for millennia. They are depicted in rock art in Southern Africa dating from 28,000 to 20,000 years ago, though less often than antelope species like eland . How the zebra got its stripes has been
8976-778: The bachelors follow behind or along the sides. Mountain zebra bachelor groups may also include young females that have left their natal group early, as well as old, former harem males. A territorial Grévy's zebra stallion may allow non-territorial bachelors in their territory, however when a mare in oestrous is present the territorial stallion keeps other stallions at bay. Bachelors prepare for their future harem roles with play fights and greeting/challenge rituals, which make up most of their activities. Fights between males usually occur over mates and involve biting and kicking. In plains zebra, stallions fight each other over recently matured mares to bring into their group and her family stallion will fight off other males trying to abduct her. As long as
9108-409: The backbone for vertical stripes along the sides, from the head to the rump. On the snout they curve toward the nostrils, while the stripes above the front legs split into two branches. On the rump, they develop into species-specific patterns. The stripes on the legs, ears and tail are separate and horizontal. Striping patterns are unique to an individual and heritable. During embryonic development ,
9240-780: The big cats. In one study, the maximum speed of a zebra was found to be 50 km/h (31 mph) while a lion was measured at 74 km/h (46 mph). Zebras do not escape lions by speed alone but by sideways turning, especially when the cat is close behind. With smaller predators like hyenas and dogs, zebras may act more aggressively, especially in defense of their young. Zebra species have two basic social structures. Plains and mountain zebras live in stable, closed family groups or harems consisting of one stallion , several mares , and their offspring. These groups have their own home ranges , which overlap, and they tend to be nomadic. Stallions form and expand their harems by recruiting young mares from their natal (birth) harems. The stability of
9372-498: The boot of Adrian Davies, Cardiff were beaten 21–18 by Toulouse after extra time. Cardiff, despite not losing a league game under Holmes, were runners-up on the domestic front as well, finishing level with Neath on points but coming second on try count. After the end of the 95–96 season Peter Thomas invested money into the club allowing them to sign Rob Howley, Dai Young back from rugby league, Leigh Davies, Gwyn Jones and Justin Thomas for
9504-408: The boot of fly-half Gareth Davies in his last game for the club against Welsh opposition before retiring. One year later, Cardiff were part of the first Challenge Cup final to go to extra time, with the scores 9–9 after 80 minutes, all Cardiff's points coming from the boot of Davies's replacement, Geraint John. Gerald Cordle scored to break the deadlock but the conversion was missed and Swansea scored
9636-458: The club a huge well of talent on which to draw from. These innovations eventually spread throughout the rugby world and in 2011 earned the club a place in the World Rugby Hall of Fame , one of only three clubs to have this honour. Several former Cardiff players including Gwyn Nicholls , Bleddyn Williams , Cliff Morgan , Gareth Edwards , Barry John and Gerald Davies are also members of
9768-435: The club were chosen to tour with the Lions to South Africa in 1980, however Davies was the only one to start a Test match. The four went on to help Cardiff finally break their duck and win the WRU Challenge Cup (known as the Schweppes Cup for sponsorship reasons) with a 14–6 victory over Bridgend the following season, with Davies scoring two penalties and tries from centre Neil Hutchings and back-rower Robert Lakin. They repeated
9900-426: The cost of around £2million. Internationals Mark Ring, Steven Blackmore and the half-backs that had started the Heineken Cup final, Andy Moore and Adrian Davies all departed. Despite all the new signings, Cardiff lost their first three games of the season, and the 1996/97 season was in many respects worse than the year before – Cardiff were knocked out in the Heineken Cup semi-finals by eventual champions Brive, and in
10032-520: The early 20th century, zebra skins were being used to make rugs and chairs. In the 21st century, zebras may be taken by trophy hunters as zebra skin rugs sell for $ 1,000 to $ 2,000. Trophy hunting was rare among African peoples though the San were known to hunt zebra for meat. The quagga ( E. quagga quagga ) population was hunted by early Dutch settlers and later by Afrikaners to provide meat or for their skins. The skins were traded or used locally. The quagga
10164-536: The end of a second season of struggle on the pitch, Aironi succumbed to financial difficulties off it. Their licence to play both in the European Cup and Pro12 was revoked by the Italian Rugby Federation. The Federation decided against another domestic Italian club taking over the running of the licence, instead opting to maintain complete control of a planned new franchise. In June 2012, it was announced that
10296-586: The entire group works together to protect all the young. The group forms a protective front with the foals in the centre, and the stallion will rush at predators that come too close. In Grévy's zebras, young stay in " kindergartens " when their mothers leave for water. These groups are tended to by the territorial male. A stallion may look after a foal in his territory to ensure that the mother stays, though it may not be his. By contrast, plains zebra stallions are generally intolerant of foals that are not theirs and may practice infanticide and feticide via violence to
10428-552: The feat a month later, losing 14–11. The 1968 Lions tour was a historic one, containing a record six Cardiff players, wings Keri Jones and Maurice Richards , prop John O'Shea , (then) centre Gerald Davies , fly-half Barry John and scrum-half Gareth Edwards . While Jones and Richards would soon switch codes to play rugby league and O'Shea's tour would be marred somewhat by being the first Lion ever to be sent off for foul play, Davies, John and Edwards would go on to become legends, although their careers got off to inauspicious starts,
10560-535: The feat in 1982, winning on try count thanks to a score from prop Ian Eidman after a 12–12 draw again against Bridgend, with the other points coming from fly-half David Barry, and also ended a 24-year wait by winning the Unofficial Welsh Championship, thereby completing the club's first (and so far only) league and cup double. In 1983, Terry Holmes was again picked for the Lions, this time alongside second row Bob Norster . Both players were picked for
10692-468: The females that enter them. Grazing and drinking areas tend to be separated in these environments and the most dominant males establish territories near watering holes, which attract females with dependent foals and those who simply want a drink, while less dominant males control territories away from water with more vegetation, and only attract mares without foals. Mares may travel through several territories but remain in one when they have young. Staying in
10824-517: The final league title of the amateur era in Wales, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Cup before going down 16–9 to Swansea. With professionalism dawned a new era at Cardiff RFC. It allowed them to sign legendary outside-half Jonathan Davies back from rugby league, and another major change was that there would be a European Cup , sponsored by Heineken, containing teams from France, Ireland, Wales, Italy and Romania (England and Scotland did not join for another year). Cardiff progressed to
10956-556: The final, but were again outclassed and lost 30–7 to Llanelli. In 1973–74 Cardiff reached the Cup semi-finals for the third year running, but were defeated 9–4 by Aberavon. Gareth Edwards however, led his country to a 24–0 win over Australia in November 1973. In 1974, Gerald Davies decided to return to Cardiff from London Welsh. Edwards and Davies were picked for the 1974 Lions tour to South Africa (although Davies refused to go in protest against apartheid) and Edwards started all four Tests, where
11088-496: The first team but Holmes was injured in the first Test and Norster in the second, ending their tours. Cardiff had been knocked in the quarter-finals of the 1982–83 cup by eventual winners Pontypool, but made it up for it with a third triumph in four years, beating Neath 24–19 in the final with tries from flanker Owen Golding and wing Gerald Cordle and 16 points from Gareth Davies. Then, on 12 October 1984, they beat Australia 16–12, thanks to eight points from Gareth Davies along with
11220-502: The forests of Mount Kenya , with the dark stripes being blonde. The quagga had brown and white stripes on the head and neck, brown upper parts and a white belly, tail and legs. The function of stripes in zebras has been discussed among biologists since at least the 19th century. Popular hypotheses include the following: Zebras may travel or migrate to wetter areas during the dry season. Plains zebras have been recorded travelling 500 km (310 mi) between Namibia and Botswana,
11352-578: The four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff , the team play at Cardiff Arms Park . Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back to Cardiff Rugby prior to the start of the 2021–22 season. Cardiff have provided more players to the Welsh national side and British and Irish Lions than any other Welsh club. They are one of
11484-426: The full width of the pitch and clever timing of passes to make use of overlaps. He banned his players from kicking penalties and drop goals. For the whole of the 1885-86 season, Cardiff would only score through tries and conversions. They won all but one game all season. Crowds flocked to the Arms Park and the Cardiff style of play helped make rugby football hugely popular throughout the city and surrounding areas. Giving
11616-575: The glory years were largely over for Cardiff and Wales, although Wales did manage to win the Grand Slam in 1911, and Cardiff came within one point of beating South Africa in a 7–6 defeat in 1912. The First World War certainly had some effect on the club – Johnnie Williams died in the first weeks of the Battle of the Somme, and many other players returned wounded or simply too old to play rugby. Cardiff were forced to turn to younger talent for their team. Jim Sullivan
11748-419: The ground is being refurbished and expanded. Zebre usually hold their summer training camp at Parma University. In its history, Zebre played also official matches in others different homegrounds: – In the 2012–13 Pro12 season at Reggio Emilia 's Stadio Città del Tricolore , against Leinster ; – In the 2017–18 Pro14 season at Stadio Tommaso Fattori of L'Aquila , Abruzzo , against Dragons ; – In
11880-412: The group remains even when the family stallion is displaced. Plains zebras groups gather into large herds and may create temporarily stable subgroups within a herd, allowing individuals to interact with those outside their group. Females in harems can spend more time feeding, and gain protection both for them and their young. The females have a linear dominance hierarchy with the high-ranking females being
12012-475: The horses and ends up being ridden by a rebellious girl. Zebras have been featured as characters in animated films like Khumba , The Lion King and the Madagascar films and television series such as Zou . Zebras have been popular subjects for abstract , modernist and surrealist artists. Such art includes Christopher Wood 's Zebra and Parachute , Lucian Freud 's The Painter's Room and Quince on
12144-720: The initial list of 36 contracted players, only three were ineligible to play for Italy. Nineteen former Aironi players were included in the original squad. An emphasis on youth development was also visible, with a significant portion of the squad being made up of members of F.I.R. Academy Ivan Francescato . Props Hookers Locks Back row Scrum-halves Fly-halves Centres Wings Fullbacks Props Hookers Locks Back row Scrum-halves Fly-halves Centres Wings Fullbacks Former players who have played for Zebre and have caps for their respective country (correct as of 03 Oct 2024) Bold indicates active player Since November 2023,
12276-516: The insistence by existing members that the Italian teams could be ejected after three years. Also, the financial demands that the league placed on the Italians could not be met. The existing teams said this was to cover the need to have larger squads to cover the extra fixtures and additional travel expenses. Agreement was reached in early March 2010 to allow Italian teams entry to the Celtic League in time for
12408-523: The knock-out stages in November by drawing with Bordeaux-Begles and beating Ulster. December saw the end of the Alex Evans era, as he departed to return home to Australia. Terry Holmes took charge of the club, and in his first full match the Blue and Blacks beat Leinster away to progress to the first Heineken Cup final. The game was played at Cardiff Arms Park in front of a crowd of 21,800, where despite 18 points from
12540-520: The league, who won the double and were considered the best club team in the UK after beating Australia 13–9. In 1993–94 they slid back to fourth in the league but won the SWALEC Cup (renamed from Schweppes Cup for sponsorship reasons) by beating Llanelli, who'd won the tournament for the last three years running. The score in the final was 15–8, with tries from Mike Rayer and club captain centre Mike Hall and kicks from fly-half Adrian Davies. In 1994–95 Cardiff won
12672-468: The longest land migration of mammals in Africa. When migrating, they appear to rely on some memory of the locations where foraging conditions were best and may predict conditions months after their arrival. Plains zebras are more water-dependent and live in moister environments than other species. They usually can be found 10–12 km (6.2–7.5 mi) from a water source. Grévy's zebras can survive almost
12804-411: The most recent common ancestor of the equines within a range of 4.0 to 4.5 mya. Horses split from asses and zebras around this time and equines colonised Eurasia and Africa around 2.1–3.4 mya. Zebras and asses diverged from each other close to 2 mya. The mountain zebra diverged from the other species around 1.6 mya and the plains and Grévy's zebra split 1.4 mya. A 2017 mitochondrial DNA study placed
12936-524: The mountain zebra as vulnerable and the plains zebra as near-threatened . The quagga ( E. quagga quagga ), a type of plains zebra, was driven to extinction in the 19th century. Nevertheless, zebras can be found in numerous protected areas. The English name "zebra" derives from Italian , Spanish or Portuguese . Its origins may lie in the Latin equiferus , meaning "wild horse". Equiferus appears to have entered into Portuguese as ezebro or zebro , which
13068-412: The national team, Howley and Young were both chosen to go on 1997 Lions tour to South Africa. Howley had to return home early due to injury and neither of the two Cardiff players started a Test match. In the 1997/98 season, Cardiff were Wales's sole representative in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup, and were beaten away in rematch of the previous year's quarter-final, by Bath, who would go on to win
13200-571: The new franchise would be known as Zebre and based in Parma. Zebre did not enjoy much success in their first season, 2012–13, finishing bottom after winless campaigns in both the Pro12 and the Heineken Cup . Although they finished the subsequent 2013–14 season bottom once again, their performance was much improved, seeing their first victory against Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park into Round 3 of Pro12, in
13332-477: The next week and also dropping a goal in the 16–7 victory against France that sealed Wales their third Grand Slam in eight years. This was Gareth Edwards' final match for Wales – he had won 53 consecutive caps, never being dropped or injured, and scored 20 tries. Gerald Davies also retired from Wales after a 19–17 defeat in Sydney – tied with Edwards on 20 tries, scored in 46 caps. In the 1977–78 club season, Davies had
13464-497: The ones that have lived in the group longest. While traveling, the most dominant females and their offspring lead the group, followed by the next most dominant. The family stallion trails behind. Young of both sexes leave their natal groups as they mature; females are usually herded by outside males to become part of their harems. In the more arid-living Grévy's zebras, adults have more fluid associations and adult males establish large territories , marked by dung piles, and mate with
13596-404: The only Lions team to come from 1–0 down to win the series. Young followed Hadley and Cordle to rugby league shortly after this, while Whitefoot and Norster both retired in 1990. In 1990, the unofficial Welsh championship was replaced by a league structure involving promotion and relegation. Cardiff competed in top flight but could only manage a fourth-place finish in 1990–91, and exited the Cup at
13728-591: The plains and mountain zebra, though it is possible that these are infertile due to the difference in chromosome numbers between the two species. Captive zebras have been bred with horses and donkeys ; these are known as zebroids . A zorse is a cross between a zebra and a horse; a zonkey, between a zebra and a donkey; and a zoni, between a zebra and a pony . Zebroids are often born sterile with dwarfism . As with all wild equines, zebras have barrel-chested bodies with tufted tails, elongated faces and long necks with long, erect manes . Their thin legs are each supported by
13860-573: The plains zebra. E. capensis , known as the Cape zebra, appeared around 2 mya and lived throughout southern and eastern Africa. Non-African equines that may have been basal to zebras include E. sansaniensis of Eurasia (circa 2.5 mya) and E. namadicus (circa 2.5 mya) and E. sivalensis (circa 2.0 mya) of the Indian subcontinent. Fertile hybrids have been reported in the wild between plains and Grévy's zebra. Hybridisation has also been recorded between
13992-521: The pregnant mare. With their distinctive black-and-white stripes, zebras are among the most recognizable mammals. They have been associated with beauty and grace, with naturalist Thomas Pennant describing them in 1781 as "the most elegant of quadrupeds". Zebras have been popular in photography, with some wildlife photographers describing them as the most photogenic animal. They have become staples in children's stories and wildlife-themed art, such as depictions of Noah's Ark . In children's alphabet books ,
14124-548: The quarter-final stage and lost at home to Maesteg and Newbridge in the league. Their final league finish was ninth, which would have led to their relegation but the WRU decided mid-season to switch to a 12-team Premiership, therefore saving Cardiff and Maesteg from relegation. Both Scott and Phillips resigned following the season. Australian Alex Evans took over at Cardiff as coach for the 1992–93 season, bringing in former Arms Park legend Terry Holmes and famous ex-Pontypool front-row member Charlie Faulkner as assistants, and helped
14256-402: The quarter-final stage. The season did involve some highlights however, such as beating league runners-up and Cup champions Llanelli 43–0 at the Arms Park and beating league champions Neath 18–4 away in the last game of the season. 1991–92 was possibly the club's worst-ever season, beset with disagreements between coach Alan Phillips and manager John Scott. Cardiff crashed out of the Cup before
14388-403: The resumption of regular rugby, Cardiff beat Australia 11–3 on 21 November 1947, captained by scrum-half Haydn Tanner and were also unofficial Welsh champions in 1947/48, when Bleddyn Williams set a club record of 41 tries in one season, and 1948/49, when the Blue and Blacks went completely unbeaten against Welsh opposition, only Swansea and Newport succeeding in salvaging draws. The club had
14520-555: The score sheet against New Zealand, after scoring a penalty goal in the game against them at the end of the tour. In 1905, there were four Cardiff players in the Wales team that famously beat New Zealand: Harding, Nicholls, Bush, Gabe and Bert Winfield , who would go on to captain Wales three years later. After an eight-year wait, Cardiff also managed to win the unofficial Welsh club championship in 1906 (going unbeaten in every game they played apart from against New Zealand) and 1907. On New Year's Day 1907, Cardiff beat South Africa 17–0,
14652-401: The source of a sound. Unlike horses, zebras and asses have chestnut callosities present only on their front legs. In contrast to other living equines, zebras have longer front legs than back legs. Diagnostic traits of the zebra skull include: its relatively small size with a straight dorsal outline, protruding eye sockets, narrower rostrum, less conspicuous postorbital bar , separation of
14784-581: The species is promiscuous . Zebras communicate with various vocalisations, body postures and facial expressions. Social grooming strengthens social bonds in plains and mountain zebras. Zebras' dazzling stripes make them among the most recognizable mammals. They have been featured in art and stories in Africa and beyond. Historically, they have been highly sought by exotic animal collectors, but unlike horses and donkeys , zebras have never been completely domesticated . The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists Grévy's zebra as endangered ,
14916-416: The stripes appear at eight months, but the patterns may be determined at three to five weeks. For each species there is a point in embryonic development where the stripes are perpendicular to the dorsal line and spaced 0.4 mm (0.016 in) apart. However, this happens at three weeks of development for the plains zebra, four weeks for the mountain zebra, and five for Grévy's zebra. The difference in timing
15048-521: The subject of folk tales , some of which involve it being scorched by fire. The Maasai proverb "a man without culture is like a zebra without stripes" has become popular in Africa. The San people connected zebra stripes with water, rain and lightning, and water spirits were conceived of having these markings. For the Shona people , the zebra is a totem animal and is glorified in a poem as an "iridescent and glittering creature". Its stripes have symbolised
15180-411: The subject of humour and satire, being referred to as "The Queen's Ass", and was the subject of an oil painting by George Stubbs in 1763. The zebra also gained a reputation for being ill-tempered and kicked at visitors. In 1882, Ethiopia sent a zebra to French president Jules Grévy , and the species it belonged to was named in his honour. Attempts to domesticate zebras were largely unsuccessful. It
15312-450: The summer, they were selected for the Lions tour to New Zealand, along with Cardiff teammate John Bevan . The tour remains the only occasion where the Lions have returned victorious from New Zealand. All four Cardiff players started the first Test, and all except Bevan played in the other three Tests. Despite only playing in the first Test, John Bevan became the Lions' record try scorer (including matches against club teams) with 17. Barry John
15444-617: The three living species, some fossil zebras and relatives have also been identified. Equus koobiforensis is an early equine basal to zebras found in the Shungura Formation , Ethiopia and the Olduvai Gorge , Tanzania , and dated to around 2.3 mya. E. oldowayensis is identified from remains in Olduvai Gorge dating to 1.8 mya. Fossil skulls of E. mauritanicus from Algeria which date to around 1 mya appears to show affinities with
15576-518: The title (although not the Grand Slam) in 1956. Australia played against and were defeated by Cardiff for the third time in 1957, 14–11 thanks to two great tries from Gordon Wells , after which a reporter from the Sydney Daily Telegraph wrote "we fell to the world's best rugby union club", and another unofficial championship title was secured in 1957–58, but only second row Bill "Roddy" Evans
15708-455: The tournament. However, their domestic cup campaign ended before the quarter-final stage, losing 24–9 to Ebbw Vale, and they finished runners up to Swansea in the League. Following this season, Alex Evans left Cardiff for Australia for the second time and Terry Holmes was put back in charge. Cardiff and Swansea had proposed the formation of a British league, containing the top division English clubs,
15840-484: The two Scottish regional sides (Edinburgh and Glasgow) and four Welsh clubs (seeing as Cardiff had got further than any other Welsh club in every Heineken Cup so far, Swansea were the league champions and they represented the two largest urban areas in Wales, it was assumed two of these clubs would be Cardiff and Swansea). Both the RFU and the English clubs had agreed to this, but the WRU refused due to an ongoing legal battle with
15972-500: The union of male and female and at the ruined city of Great Zimbabwe , zebra stripes decorate what is believed to be a domba , a school meant to prepare girls for adulthood. In the Shona language , the name madhuve means "woman/women of the zebra totem" and is a name for girls in Zimbabwe . The plains zebra is the national animal of Botswana and zebras have been depicted on stamps during colonial and post-colonial Africa. For people of
16104-463: The upper, less nutritious grass canopy and preparing the way for more specialised grazers like wildebeest , which depend on shorter and more nutritious grasses below. Zebras are preyed on mainly by lions. Leopards , cheetahs , spotted hyenas , brown hyenas and wild dogs pose less of a threat to adults. Biting and kicking are a zebra's defense tactics. When threatened by lions, zebras flee, and when caught they are rarely effective in fighting off
16236-503: The zoologist Walter Rothschild trained some zebras to draw a carriage in England, which he drove to Buckingham Palace to demonstrate that it can be done. However, he did not ride on them knowing that they were too small and aggressive. In the early 20th century, German colonial officers in East Africa tried to use zebras for both driving and riding, with limited success. As of 2016–2019,
16368-606: Was a prime example of this, making his first appearance for Cardiff at the age of 16 in October 1920, and went on to make 38 appearances over the rest of the season. In December 1920, just after his 17th birthday, he became the youngest player to ever appear for the Barbarians. However, in June 1921 he signed for professional rugby league club Wigan, beginning a new trend of Welsh union players "going north" to play rugby league. In 1922, Cardiff Rugby Club and Cardiff Cricket Club would form
16500-428: Was called up as an injury replacement) which finished third. Cardiff's success began to tail off towards the end of the 1980s, with Adrian Hadley leaving for rugby league in 1988 and Gerald Cordle following in 89, and they could only manage two Cup quarter-finals and one semi-final appearance in the last three years of the decade. However, both Dai Young and Bob Norster were selected for the Lions tour to Australia in 1989,
16632-530: Was chosen, in 2012, by the Italian Rugby Federation as the new franchise's name. The name had been used by an invitational select rugby union team based in Northwest Italy that played regular fixtures between 1973 and 1997. In those 23 years, 25 matches were held against international clubs; and resulted in a high number of victories for Zebre. The opening match was an unofficial test played in Milan in 1973 against
16764-589: Was given the title "King Barry" by the New Zealanders after scoring 30 of the Lions' 48 points, and in him and Edwards, Cardiff could justifiably be said to have the best two half-backs in the world. 1971–72 was the first season where the WRU Challenge Cup was introduced. Cardiff reached the semi-final, before being beaten 16–9 at the Brewery Field by Neath, who went on to beat Llanelli in the final. Unfortunately in 1972 Barry John announced his decision to retire at
16896-450: Was not a success, with the Lions managing to draw the second Test but losing the first and third by over twenty-five points each. However, Gibbs did manage to score in the first Test. The disappointed players made up for their failure the next year by winning the Grand Slam with Wales for the second time in a row and winning the unofficial championship with Cardiff. Cardiff also beat Australia 24–8 on 28 December 1908. However, following this,
17028-619: Was originally used for a legendary equine in the wilds of the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. In 1591, Italian explorer Filippo Pigafetta recorded "zebra" being used to refer to the African animals by Portuguese visitors to the continent. In ancient times, the zebra was called hippotigris ("horse tiger") by the Greeks and Romans . The word zebra was traditionally pronounced with
17160-519: Was probably vulnerable to extinction due to its restricted range, and because they were easy to find in large groups. The last known wild quagga died in 1878. The last captive quagga, a female in Amsterdam's Natura Artis Magistra zoo, lived there from 9 May 1867 until it died on 12 August 1883. The Cape mountain zebra , a subspecies of mountain zebra, nearly went extinct due to hunting and habitat destruction, with less than 50 individuals left by
17292-469: Was selected as the first Cardiff player to captain the tour and was the only one of the four to have played for the Lions before, the other three being uncapped half-back Willie Morgan , and three-quarters Johnny Williams and Reggie Gibbs . Gibbs remains the only player to have been capped for Wales at least 10 times and averaged more than a try a game, with 17 tries in 16 caps, and Williams came very close to his record with 17 tries in 17 Tests. The tour
17424-445: Was selected for the Lions in 1959, although he started four of the six Tests. A downturn in Welsh and Cardiff fortunes occurred around this time, although prop Kingsley Jones and second row Keith Rowlands from the club were still selected for the 1962 Lions tour, and Cardiff managed to come within a point of beating the All Blacks again in 1963, scoring the only try of the game. However, the slump began to end in 1964, when Wales shared
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