The Pope and his medical team will be on tenterhooks for the last fortnight of this year – that is, if superstition is anything to go by. That's because the Welsh Six Nations victory this year gives Pope Benedict a 45 per cent chance of dying by the end of 2008, tongue-in-cheek research suggests.
'Every time Wales win the rugby grand slam, a Pope dies – except for 1978, when Wales were really good and two died,' said Dr Gareth Payne from the University Hospital of – where else – Wales.
Dr Payne added the Vatican medical team 'cannot fully relax until the new year arrives'.
Since 1883, eight pontiffs have died – five in grand slam years, where the winners beat all other competing nations in a tournament.
There were three deaths when Wales completed the sweep and two more when it won the tournament but not the grand slam.
'The special theory of papal rugby is nothing more than an urban myth,' added Dr Payne, whose study is published in the British Medical Journal.
'This comes as something of a relief, as we're at a loss to see how events could be linked.'
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário