Rugby is said to have originated at Rugby School in Warwickshire, England, in 1823 when during a game of football a student named William Webb Ellis decided to pick up a ball and go with it. Although there is very little evidence to support this theory, the Rugby World Cup Trophy is now named after him, it is called the "Web Ellis Cup." In 1863 a collection of British boarding schools and clubs met and decided upon a set of rules and in 1871 Rugby Football Union was officially formed. That same year, the first ever international rugby union match was played between Scotland and England. Held in Raeburn Place on the 27th of March in front of a crowd of 4000 spectators. Scotland won the match with two tries and a drop goal to Englands single try . Rugby grew and became popular throughout the B riti sh Empire. For example in Australia the first formal team was Sydney University Football Club, in 1869 the first match was played between the University of Sydney a...
Welcome to Rugby News a blog about current rugby, the history of rugby and and other interesting rugby topics. Mainly focused on rugby union.