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Period: to
History of Rugby
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Industrial Revolution
The United Kingdom went under a vast transformation both economically and agriculturally with people making more money and working less hours so they had more time for sport. -
First Epsom Derby
During the Industrial Revolution many new sports became popular like horse riding and in 1780 the first derby was ran won by Diomed which was ridden by Sam Arnull -
Creation of Rugby
William Webb Ellis picks up the ball during a game of football and starts running towards the opposition goal. -
Railways
The 1830s and 1840s were very good for the workers as railways were introduced to Britain to help factory workers from the country get into town quicker for work. -
Start of Victorian Era
This led to less injuries and a more rule based approach to sports where many sports wouldn't have had any rules a set of rules were now issued out due to the new era. More emphasis on fair play from before when it was all about hurting your opponent. -
rules
The first set of rules are made at Rugby School. Rugby School developed Rugby football from soccer and played this game according to their rules. The question as to why the game of Rugby became so popular in preference to the games of other schools, such as Eton, Winchester or Harrow was probably largely due to the reputation and success of Rugby School under Dr. Arnold, and this also led most probably to its adoption by other schools. In 1860 many schools besides Rugby played rugby football. -
10 hour working day
The workers hours were changed to a shorter 10 hour day so that they had more free time and more time to play sport especially on weekends -
Cambridge Rules
First official set of rules are created for all teams to obide to at Cambridge University. The first notable event was a former pupil, Arthur Pell who founded a club at Cambridge University in 1839. The Old Rugbeians challenged the Old Etonians to a game of football and controversy at the Rugbeians use of hands led to representatives of the major public schools meeting to draw up the Cambridge Rules in 1848. -
RFU Formed
The Rugby Football Union was formed and immediately made hacking and tripping illegal. -
Calcutta Cup
England play Scotland in Calcutta for the first time ending in 1-1 draw. Previously England had played a team of Irish, Welsh and Scottish combined but as the Irish had not improved and Wales didn't have a national team just club teams it was inevitable that England and Scotland were only able to play each other competively. -
First Rugby 7s Match
The first rugby sevens was played. with two teams coming together for a game of rugby but only had 7 players each so they decided to have a 7-a-side game for charity. -
First Lions Tour
The first ever Lions tour headed out to New Zealand and Australia, to play many clubs and schools teams because the countries didn’t agree with the concept. The team was called the ‘English Footballers’ and lead by captain Robert Seddon who was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame in 2007. -
Original dimensions of ahape of the ball
Length 11 to 11 1/4 inches
Circumference (end on) 30 to 31 inches
Circumference (in width) 25 1/2 to 26 inches
Weight: 12 to 13 ounces
Hand sewn with not less than 8 stitches to the inch
The weight was reduced to 13 from 14 1/2 ounces in 1893.
The width of the ball was reduced to 24 from 25 1/2 inches and the weight was increased to 13 1/2 to 15 ounces in 1931. -
Paris Olympics
Rugby Union is added to the 1900 Paris Olympics with France beating Germany in the final. -
First Scrum
In 1903 the scrum started off as a 2-3-2 formation where one of the players at the front had to strike the ball to his teammate waiting at the end. If neither team could get a strike on the ball they would have to drive over their opponent in order to gain the ball. New Zealand and Australia played out the first scrum in Sydney, Australia the game ended 22-3 to New Zealand. It was the first ever game between New Zealand and a combined Australian team from New South Wales and Queensland. -
Rugby Schoolboys
Many school teams were even travelling to play each other and a British Schoolboys tournament was started in 1904. The first England Schoolboys international was played on March 12th, against Wales at Cardiff Arms Park. It was a 14-group school boys game. The English schools Rugby Union was formed that same year. Wales won the game 23 - 5. -
New Zealand made their first tour of the British Isles.
This tour established the dominance of New Zealand this group of players were also known as the originals. The 1905 All Blacks tour of Britain went on to achieve legendary status within the rugby world and New Zealand in particular. They scored 976 points and conceded only 59, and thus set the standard for all subsequent All Black sides. The tour also saw the first use of the All Blacks name and established New Zealand's reputation as a world class rugby nation. -
Scrum Cap
The first scrum cap was worn during the Lions tour of South Africa. The rugby scrum cap was first invented as a product to protect the ears of a rugby player. It consisted of padded ear muffs and a chinstrap, leaving the top of the head exposed. -
Name Change
Rugby is officially called Rugby Union as members of the RFU break away and create Rugby League which was a 13 a side game with different rules and a different scoring system. -
Australia travel to the British Isles
The 1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of the British Isles was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the Australia national rugby union team against invitational and national teams from England and Wales, as well as several games against sides from North America. This was the first Australian tour of the Northern Hemisphere and the side is sometimes referred to as the "First Wallabies". -
Numbers on Jerseys
The International Rugby Board introduced numbers onto the back of jerseys this would help a fan to see who was on the ball and see what position they were playing. -
Centenary Game
The RFU came up with an idea where all four British Isles teams would play a match to celebrate the centenary of the sport. The game was played at Rugby School to show the appreciation to William Webb Ellis. It was England and Wales vs Ireland and Scotland it ended up finishing England and Wales 21-16 Ireland and Scotland. -
First International Red Card
Cyril Brownlie from New Zealand was the first player to be officially sent off in an international game where he kicked an English player during a scrum. -
Bledisloe Cup
The Bledisloe Cup was first played for in 1931, when New Zealand beat Australia 20-13 in Auckland. In cup was named after Lord Bledisloe after he donated the trophy to the New Zealand RFU. -
Ability to swap codes
Before this period players were not allowed to play different codes of rugby e.g. union players couldn’t play league and vise - versa without receiving a lifetime ban from the game they played before, but due to the war many teams lost players and then the RFU and RLFU allowed players to switch codes. -
England win 5 nations Grand Slam
In 1957 England win the first ever grand slam in the 5 nations they have to wait another 23 years for their next victory. -
Sin Bin
The sin bin was introduced into club and rugby by the IRB. This was brought in to stop constant foul play by a team or certain player. A player knew he was in the sin bin because the referee would show him a yellow card. He/She would have to stay in the bin for 10 mins. -
Kicking Tee
Kicking tee is created into the game so players don’t have to kick off the floor. This allowed players to kick from longer distances and allowed them to get more power into their kick. Previously players would get a team mate mainly the scrum half because he was the smallest player to hold the ball upright. -
Australia win all year Grand Slam
Australia become the first ever team to win a grand slam in a year where they didn’t lose a game. This was remarkable because they travelled all over Europe and North America. Many journalists predicted they would lose but they were undoubtedly shocked when they went the whole year undefeated. -
IRB meet to discuss World Cup possibility
The Australian Rugby Union, with the support of New Zealand, France and South Africa, had pressed for a World Cup. The ARU felt threatened by the proposed professional rugby union circuit of Australian entrepreneur David Lord. The British and Irish unions were opposed to the idea of a World Cup, so South Africa held the deciding vote. South Africa, aware it would be unable to play because of the international sports boycott, voted in favour of the World Cup at a meeting of the International Rugb -
First RWC
Australia and New Zealand hosted the first ever World Cup despite all the controversy around the idea the event turned out to be a great success even though the gulf between and northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere was obvious to see with New Zealand winning the Webb Ellis trophy for the first time. -
Changes to scoring system
The new scoring regime was introduced where a try was worth 5 points and a conversation was worth 2. New Zealand winger or centre Va'aiga Tuigamala scored the first 5 point try. -
First Rugby 7s World Cup
the first ever Rugby World Cup sevens competition was held in Edinburgh, Scotland. Every four years a new country has been given the opportunity to hold this prestigious event. The tournament was won by England who beat Australia 21-17 in the final. With Ireland defeating Fiji in the 3rd place play-off. -
Womens RFU formed
1994 the Rugby Football Union for Women (RFUW) was formed in England with each of the Home Nations governing their own countries. -
New changes in game
Dramatic changes was made to the IRB after many southern hemisphere men tried to have a bigger role in the board instead of English men who had been on it for years. Players began to play professionally and were paid wages for the first time. The IRB finally capitulated to the inevitable and in August 1995 rugby union became fully professional. England struck a deal with Sky TV for broadcasting rights of their home games and was promptly thrown out of the Five Nations before being reinstated. -
New TV Rights
The IRB finally capitulated to the inevitable and in August 1995 rugby union became fully professional. England struck a deal with Sky TV for broadcasting rights of their home games and was promptly thrown out of the Five Nations before being reinstated. -
Changes to IRB
Dramatic changes was made to the IRB after many southern hemisphere men tried to have a bigger role in the board instead of English men who had been on it for years. Players began to play professionally and were paid wages for the first time. -
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is first played after years of planning and organising the IRB finally announce the new European club competition. Toulouse from France played Farul Constanta from Romania in the first game with Toulouse winning 54-10. Only teams from Ireland, Wales, Italy, France and Romania were permitted to play as the SRU (Scotland) and RFU (England) did not allow teams from their countries play. There were 4 pools of 3 teams where the winners from each pool played in semi-finals the games w -
First Womens RWC
The first official Women's Rugby World Cup, in Amsterdam, Netherlands was won by New Zealand who beat USA 46 - 12. Teams taking part were: Australia , Canada , England , France , Germany , Ireland , Italy , Kazakhstan , Netherlands , New Zealand , Russia , Scotland , Spain , Sweden , USA , Wales. New Zealand's Annaleah Rush was top points scorer with 73. -
6 Nations is created
Italy open their Six Nations account with decisive victory over Scotland in Rome 34 - 20. England are deprived the Grand Slam by Scotland in surprise result at Murrayfield on the final weekend of the season. -
New IRB rules on the balls
The ball must be oval and made of four panels.
Length in line 280 - 300 millimetres
Circumference (end to end) 740 - 770 millimetres
Circumference (in width) 580 - 620 millimetres
Material: Leather or suitable synthetic material. It may be treated to make it water resistant and easier to grip.
Weight: 410 - 460 grams
Air pressure at start of play: 65.71-68.75 kilopascals, or 0.67-0.70 kilograms per square centimetre, or 9.5-10.0 lbs per square inch. -
IRB aid match
The IRB Rugby Aid Match was a rugby union football match played on 5 March 2005 under the auspices of the International Rugby Board to raise money for the United Nations World Food Programme to support its work aiding victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Representative sides of the Northern and Southern hemispheres played at Twickenham, London, UK. The final score was Northern Hemisphere 19 - Southern Hemisphere 54. -
IRB Hall Of Fame
In the IRB ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland Rugby School and William Webb Ellis are the first inductees into the hall of fame. -
61 year wait over
Ireland ended a 61-year wait for Grand Slam glory and landed their first RBS 6 Nations title after dethroning Wales 17-15 at the Millennium Stadium in dramatic fashion. The Irish also added a Triple Crown for good measure. -
Pro12 Begins
Aironi and Benneton Treviso join the Celtic League to create the RaboPro12 League. -
Irishman create new records
Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll becomes the all-time leading try scorer in the history of the Four/Five/Six Nations Championship.
Fellow countryman Ronan O'Gara surpasses Jonny Wilkinsons record of 549 career points in 6 Nations games by scoring 577. -
Record Club Attendance
The Aviva Premiership Rugby clash between Saracens and Harlequins at Wembley set a new world record attendance for a club rugby match of 83,671. -
BT buys right for Aviva Premiership and Top 14
BT Sport is the newcomer when it comes to showing Rugby games where it focused on football first it now shows the Aviva Premiership and Top 14 in France.
BT Sport pay £152 million to show Aviva Premiership games from round 1 to grand final. -
Change to Heineken Cup
The English, French, Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Italian governing bodies agreed to change the structure of European club rugby. The Heineken Cup would be no more and a new 20 team competition will now take its place many meetings were held and finally in Dublin they came up with an agreement to change the system. -
Record Investment
Welsh Rugby Union invest a record £22.5 million into the game for all school teams and clubs to progress young talent into the sport and help them achieve their goals. This is the highest in the British Isles ever.
