The Amateur Era

In 1985 it was voted in the RFU that Rugby would remain an amateur sport for the next 100 years. Although this rule was mainly followed there was still ways in which clubs used to keep their players at their club for example giving them a better paying job or a trip to the seaside. The video above is one of the best tries ever scored. It was scored by Gareth Edwards, a Welsh scrum half playing for the Barbarians, in 1985. The late 1970's and 1980's were one of the strongest times for Rugby Union. Rugby was played very fast and skillfully and so the spectators loved it. The game grew quickly and soon players were living off the sport without it being officially professional.

The Early Days

On 26th of January 1871, twenty-one clubs met together to discuss the rules of the new sport in the Pall Mall Restaurant in London. From this meeting the RFU was formed. Algernon Rutter was elected the first president of the RFU.
The first international match was played between Scotland and England. On the 27th of March 1871, 20 men from Scotland and 20 men from England took to the field in Edinburgh. The game was played with two halves of 50 minutes and Scotland won by a converted try.
In 1884 the IRFB (International Rugby Football Board) was formed between Ireland, Scotland and Wales but England refused to join because they believed they should have had a bigger representation in the union because they had more clubs. The three coountries in the IRFB refused to play England until they joined the IRFB. England finally decided to join in 1890.

The Origin

This is Rugby School in Warwickshire. In 1823 William Webb Ellis was playing a football match here. He got bored so he picked up the ball and started running with it. This is how rugby was created.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Jonathan Lewis and I am doing a blog on the geography of rugby.