Early History

The history of rugby union follows on from various football games played long before the
19th century but it was not until the middle of that century that rules were formulated and
codified.

To score a try would not gain points but would allow a team
to ‘try’ to take a ‘drop at goal’ to score a point. With
sometimes 75 players on each side, this was hard to do and
sometimes games would last up to five days.

Three boys, at Rugby School, published the first set of

written rugby rules in 1845.

Did You Know…?

In 1820, the game of rugby was played rather like football but players were allowed to
catch the ball and kick it out of their hands.

There were also no limits to the number of players on each side!

 William Webb Ellis
Rev. William Webb Ellis (24th November 1806 - 24th February 1872) was an Anglican
clergyman and the alleged inventor of rugby football while he was a pupil at Rugby
School.

In 1823, William Webb Ellis first ran with the ball but
this did not become a rule immediately.

By 1830, running with the ball became more common

although the first written rules were not produced until
1845.

Ellis was born near Manchester but he moved to Rugby

later in life. He attended Brasenose College, Oxford. He
died in France in 1872 and his grave is tended by the
French RFU.

The William Webb Ellis Cup is presented to the winners of the Rugby World Cup.
 The Ball and Key Words
The first rugby balls were round and oval-shaped balls were not needed until much later.

Many of the words and phrases to do with the

game came from Rugby School. For example,
teams did not score points for a try. Instead,
they were allowed an attempt to kick at goal.
‘Offside’, ‘knock on’, ‘touch’ and ‘goal line’ all
appear in the original Rugby School football
rules.

Did You Know…?

There is a statue of William Webb Ellis running with the ball in Rugby, Warwickshire.
 Rugby Union
On 4th December 1870, Edwin Ash of Richmond and Benjamin Burns of Blackheath
published a letter in The Times. The letter suggested that ‘those who play the rugby-
type game should meet to form a code of practice as various clubs play to rules which
differ from others, which makes the game difficult
to play’.

On 26th January 1871, representatives from 21

clubs met at the Pall Mall restaurant in London.

As a result of this meeting, the Rugby Football

Union (RFU) was founded.
Rugby Union and Rugby League
Following the establishment of formal rugby clubs in the 19th century, conflict arose
over the issue of whether players should receive compensation for taking time off work
to play.

At that time, clubs in the north of England had many players who had to miss
matches due to working commitments or to go without pay to
play rugby.

Rugby players were not professional;

therefore, they did not receive a salary. The
RFU became concerned that these
compensation payments were a pathway to
professionalism.
Rugby Union and Rugby League

On 29th August 1895, during a meeting at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, 21 clubs
from Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire decided to resign from the RFU and form
the Northern Rugby Football Union. From 1922, it was known as the Rugby Football
League.
 The Rugby World Cup
The first Rugby World Cup was held in 1987. It was hosted by Australia and New
Zealand. New Zealand won the first tournament.

Since the first tournament, six others

have been held at four-year intervals.
The Six Nations Championship is held
every year between the six major
European rugby union nations.

The 2019 Rugby World Cup will be held in Japan from 20th September to
2nd November.
 England at the Rugby World Cup
England won the Rugby World Cup in 2003. Jonny Wilkinson scored a drop goal in the
final against Australia. England Women won the Rugby World Cup in 2014.

At the 2019 Rugby World Cup, England will be playing in pool C, along with
Argentina, France, Tonga and the USA.

England’s first match will be against Tonga

on 22nd September at the Sapporo Dome,
Sapporo. Sapporo is in the north of Japan
and is on an island called Hokkaido.

The top two teams in the each pool will go

through to the quarter-finals.
England at the Rugby World Cup

England have been preparing in Italy because the weather there is similar to
conditions in Japan in October.
 Fascinating Facts
The All Blacks, New Zealand's Rugby team, are probably the most famous and
successful rugby team in the world. Before every match, they perform a Haka which
is a Māori war dance, usually only performed by tribes and cultural groups across
their country.

The first-ever rugby game took place

between Scotland and England –
Scotland won. 
 
New Zealand has won the Rugby World
Cup the most often. The team won the
trophy in 1987, 2011 and 2015.
 Fascinating Facts
The trademark oval ball only took over from the spherical ball, which was originally
used, in 1892.

James Naismith, the man who first developed

basketball, took inspiration from rugby. He
wanted to create an indoor game which people
could play during the winter.