A pint with the poshos at Twickenham

In 1823 during a football game at Rugby School, a young man – William Webb Ellis – picked up the ball and ran. Rugby was invented, creating a much-maligned public school culture that the sport is still trying to break away from 192 years later.

Sadly, as England kick off their 2015 World Cup campaign, the relationship between rugger and social class appears to be still very strong: a whopping 61% of professional egg-chasers admit to being privately educated, compared to just 6% of footballers.

Donning my very smartest Matalan shirt and armed with a £5 pint, I negotiated my way through a plethora of Peroni-sipping, gillet-wearing gents at Twickenham’s classiest drinking establishments and Marlborough-smoking, iPhone-wielding ladies at Richmond’s World Cup Fan Park to hear what they had to say.

Nick, 24, Surgeon & Helen, Banker

“Rugby is a quintessentially English sport, you can’t beat it, can you? Of course it’s posh and rightly so, that’s what makes the game so brilliant.”

“I played rugger at boarding school, but to be honest, so long as the best players represent England, I don’t care about their background that much. It’s different with the fans, however. Football attracts yobs whereas rugby attracts a different class of person.”

Ben, 21, Student

“I’ve always played rugby and yes it is posh, although tonight’s public Fan Park is a good way of introducing new supporters. At the end of the day though, being posh is just the way rugby is.”

Sue, School Administration Worker

“It is lovely to see such inclusive events being hosted during the World Cup so that anyone can get involved with rugby, however, the game is still synonymous with privilege and social class.”

“Rugby fans are upstanding, welcoming and communal. Football fans are fundamentally tribal people who could never truly fit into a rugby crowd.”

Alex, 23, Doctor & Pheobe, his girlfriend