Schoolboys Wrote the First Rules
Rugby union takes its name from Rugby School in England. Football was already well established there by 1803. By the 1830s, players could run with the ball in hand, though they risked being grabbed or kicked in the shins, a move known as hacking. In 1845, pupils at the school wrote down the first set of rules.
At the time, each major private school played its own kind of football. Former pupils of Rugby and Eton tried to carry their favorite rules into their universities. Albert Pell, a former Rugby School student, is credited with forming the first “football” team at Cambridge University. The Cambridge Rules followed in 1848.
Ball games were much older than any of this. The Romans played harpastum, fighting over a large ball. Medieval Irishmen played caid, carrying an inflated bladder and using arched trees as goals. The Welsh had cnapan, played with a wooden ball, the French played la soule, and Georgians played lelo burti.
Two Splits That Shaped the Game
In 1863, the new Football Association began writing universal rules. They banned running with the ball and banned hacking, both normal under Rugby School rules. In protest, the Blackheath Club walked out, and several other clubs followed. The split was permanent. The FA's game became association football, while the rebels formed the Rugby Football Union in 1871.
A second break came in 1895. Many clubs in Northern England quit the union over paying players for the time they lost from work. The row exposed class divisions in English sport. The breakaway clubs later changed some rules and created a separate code, rugby league. The original game then took the name rugby union.
Rugby union stayed officially amateur for another century, though critics kept accusing it of “shamateurism.” Finally, in August 1995, just after that year's World Cup, the governing body declared the game “open” and removed limits on paying players. For the first time, top players could be professionals.
How a Match Works
Two teams of 15 players meet on a rectangular field called a pitch, with H-shaped goalposts at each end. Each side has eight forwards and seven backs. The ball is oval and made of four panels. It used to be leather, but most games now use a synthetic ball. A match lasts two 40-minute halves.
The rule that surprises newcomers most is that you cannot pass the ball forward. Passes must go sideways or backwards. To gain ground, a team must run with the ball, kick it, or push ahead in a scrum or maul. If a player knocks the ball forward by mistake, it is a knock-on, and play restarts with a scrum.
The main way to score is a try, worth 5 points. A player earns it by grounding the ball in the area behind the other team's goal line. The team then gets a conversion kick worth 2 more points. A penalty kick or a drop goal is worth 3 points each. The side with more points wins.
Scrums and Flying Forwards
When play stops for a minor mistake, such as a forward pass, the game often restarts with a scrum. The eight forwards from each side crouch down, bind together in three rows and lock against the other team. The two props in the front row are usually among the strongest players on the team.
The scrum-half rolls the ball into the gap between the two front rows, known as the tunnel. The two hookers then try to hook the ball backwards with their feet. At the same time, each pack pushes to drive the other one back. The winners can keep driving forward or move the ball out to the back of the scrum.
When the ball goes off the side of the field, play restarts with a lineout. Forwards from both teams stand in two lines a meter apart. A player, usually the hooker, throws the ball down the middle. Both sides compete for it, and players are allowed to lift their teammates into the air.
From One Match to a World Game
The first international match was played on 27 March 1871 in Edinburgh, between Scotland and England. Scotland won. In the days before air travel, tours were huge undertakings. The New Zealand team that began touring in June 1888 did not finish until August 1889, after playing 107 matches.
One tour gave sport a famous first. In 1905, the New Zealand team performed a haka before each match. In reply, a Welsh official suggested that Wales player Teddy Morgan lead the crowd in singing the Welsh national anthem. The crowd joined in. It was the first time a national anthem was sung at the start of a sporting event.
The first Rugby World Cup was held in 1987 in Australia and New Zealand, and New Zealand won it. The Women's Rugby World Cup followed in 1991. In 2023, more than 10 million people played the game worldwide. Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga and Wales have adopted it as their national sport in practice.
