A Chronology of Rugby's Development
The Following Are Excerpts From RugbyFootballHistory.com
1823 - William Webb Ellis runs with the ball in his hands. By this time he is a 'praeposter' (monitor) at the school.
1841-2 - Running with the ball officially allowed in Rugby school rules provided that a) the ball was caught on the bound (from a bouncing ball), b) the catcher was not"off his side", c) that the catcher did not pass the ball but ran on himself.
1845 - The first rules of Rugby football.
1851 - A "Rugby School Football" - an oval shaped ball - inflated by a pig's bladder - made by William Gilbert was on display at the International Exhibition in London.
1853 - 25 yard line established.
1869 - "In the fall of 1869 William Leggett, the captain of Rutgers' soccer team, took advantage of the proximity of the two schools and issued a challenge to William S. Gummere, his opposite number at Princeton. The contest is usually called the first intercollegiate football game. American fans celebrated football's centennial in 1969. They were mistaken. The game played was not American football, nor even its more direct ancestor rugby. Rutgers' historic victory was in soccer."
1870 - November - an anonymous surgeon writes to 'The Times' complaining that Rugby football is dangerous. The need is felt to form a body to regulate the laws.
In December 1870 Edwin Ash the Secretary of Richmond Club published a letter in the papers which said, "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". This lead to a meeting in January and the formation of the RFU.
1871 - 26th January, The Rugby Football Union founded in the Pall Mall Restaurant in Regent Street, London to standardize the rules that also removed some of the more violent aspects of the Rugby School game.
22nd June, Along with the founding of the Rugby Football Union a committee was formed, and three ex-Rugby School pupils (Rutter, Holmes and L.J. Maton), all lawyers, were invited to help formulate a set of rules, being lawyers they formulated 'laws' not 'rules'. Most of the work was done by Maton as he broke his leg playing rugby and was laid up so he attempted the first draft. He did this in Holmes' law chambers. This task was completed and the laws were accepted by the full committee on 22 June 1871, and brought into force by a Special General Meeting 2 days later. The laws outlawed the practice of hacking and tripping.
The laws have changed a great deal since then and spawned other games, notably American Football and Australian Rules Football.
1874 - On May 14, Harvard University hosted Montreal’s McGill University at Cambridge, Mass., in the first recorded rugby game on American soil. In fact it was a series of three games. The first game was played to Harvard's rules using a round ball and Harvard won 3 goals to nil. The next day they played again to McGill's rules and used an oval ball, the game ended a scoreless draw. After this Harvard adopted largely the rugby rules and the third game of the series was played at McGill Uni. in the fall where Harvard won.
The game played the next day, May 15, was the first rugby game on U.S. soil. Harvard acquitted itself very well and struggled to a scoreless tie. More importantly, they fell head over heels in love with rugby and all thoughts of the once-cherished Boston Game disappeared. Harvard couldn't wait until the next fall. When it came, they raced up to Montreal to play some more rugby. In addition to kicked goals, the Canadian version of the game allowed touchdowns to count in the scoring. Harvard scored three of them to win.
Flushed with success, the Crimson came home and, the next year, challenged Yale to a rugby match. The sons of Eli thought it over and decided it might be fun. The two schools scheduled a game for November 13, at Hamilton Park in New Haven, to be played under what were called the "Concessionary Rules". These had nothing to do with selling beer, hot dogs, or crackerjacks, but were instead a special set of rules agreed to in which each side gave up a little.
Harvard sacrificed counting touchdowns in the scoring. The only thing a TD gained was the right to try for a goal. Yale agreed to play with 15 men instead of the eleven they preferred. They had been won over to the smaller group two years earlier when they played soccer against a traveling team of eleven Englishmen from Eton. Yale found it made for a more open, exciting game. From then on they kept pushing for eleven on a side until everybody was sick to death from hearing about it. For Yale to agree to put four extra men on the field was a major concession and showed real sportsmanship.
In their first rugby game, Yale's nice guys finished last. Harvard ran all over them, and the poor sons of Eli, knowing nothing about tackling, let them. The final stood 4-0 Harvard, with one of the goals coming after a touchdown. Despite the one-sided defeat, Yale was completely captivated by rugby. Forthwith, they decided, they would play it themselves. "
1880 - In the USA the Scrum was replaced by the line of scrimmage, drawing emphasis from the free-running characteristic of the game.
1883 - 28th April, 1883 the first sevens tournament held at Melrose Football Club, Scotland. The club was casting around for ideas to help the Club's finances when the suggestion of a football tournament was put forward by NED HAIG. The thought a football tournament might prove attractive but as it was not possible to hold several games in one afternoon with fifteen players on each side, the teams were reduced to seven men. The competition was played under rugby rules, fifteen minutes play being allowed to each heat, and seven members of each club competing.
1885-86 Referees were allowed to use a whistle! Umpires were given sticks.
1886 - The foundation of the International Rugby Board by Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England declines to join since they believe they should have greater representation on the board for having a greater number of clubs. They also refuse to accept that the IRFB should be the recognised law maker of the game. The IRFB agrees that the member countries will not play England until the RFU agrees to join.
Points for scoring adopted by IRFB.
1890 - England becomes a member of the IRFB.
1893 - The referee was given the whole responsibility for running a game.
1893 - Professionalism of Rugby begins, as clubs of Northern England began to make 'broken time' payments to 'working class' men as compensation for the loss of income due to missing work to play Rugby on Saturdays.
1895 - At a general meeting of the RFU, further by-law changes were made to guard against professionalism which had been growing fast in the leagues of North England. It was a very bitter severance of rugby into two rival camps and acrimony continued for something like a hundred years.
At first, and until 1995 in fact, a major distinguishing feature of the two codes was that rugby league was a professional sport, and rugby union strictly amateur. This though has tended to obscure the fact that, despite their common origins, the two games have evolved into two quite different sports. Since the split in 1895, both codes have made their own distinct rules, and a game of rugby league is almost immediately distinguishable from a game of union.
1900 - Rugby played in the Olympic Games in Paris - France win the title. Germany & Moseley Wanderers, GBR share the silver after a round robin.
1905 - In the USA newspapers showed a running count of injuries and fatalities in Football throughout 1905, and the final totals listed 18 deaths and 149 serious injuries across the country. Those figures wouldn't have amounted to much for some factories or many mines, but they were shocking for a sport. Football was branded as brutal and many perfectly nice people wanted it outlawed. The result was a review and changes to the rules governing the game to reduce the level of brutality. John Heisman, the successful and innovative coach of Georgia Tech, proposed legalizing the forward pass. Heisman correctly deduced that the pass could "open up" the game, but Walter Camp, college football's leading guru, opposed throwing the ball. Sir Walter usually got his way, but in this case the rulemakers were willing to clutch just about any straw. Henceforth, the tossing forward of the pigskin was to be allowed.
1906 - In the USA the forward pass was introduced to the 'American game''. The laws of rugby died and the game of American football evolved further.
Despite this, rugby union enjoyed a growth in popularity in the US, particularly in California, where major universities, including the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford, had withdrawn from football - the "American game" - with concerns about brutality and professionalism.
1920 - United States (8) beat France (0) in Olympic Games to take gold (only two teams compete).
1921 - The International Rugby Board introduced numbering on jerseys.
1924 - USA successfully defend the Olympic title (USA 17 - France 3), this is a great story! Romania take the bronze. Rugby has since been discontinued in the Olympic programme.
1930 - IRB took responsibility for all law changes.
1961 - USA Army Rugby Club Founded. The Army Rugby Football Club is one of the most highly respected teams at the United States Military Academy and its members are drawn from the United States Corps of Cadets.
1961 - President George W. Bush plays for Yale Rugby team.
The Replacement of injured players was added to the 1968-69 Laws (law 12: up to two players per team).
1974 - Australian Michael O'Brien became the first streaker at a major sporting event at the England vs. France game at Twickenham in January 1974. The word streaking was added to the English language the same year.
1975 - Rugby in the USA enjoyed a renaissance, beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1970s. This created the need for a national governing body to represent the USA in the International rugby community. Four territorial organizations gathered in Chicago, Ill., in 1975 and formed the United States of America Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rugby). Today, USA Rugby is made up of seven Territorial Unions (TUs) and 37 Local Area Unions (LAUs),and supports more than 40,000 members.
1976 - USA Rugby fields several national teams, nicknamed the Eagles. The National Men’s Team, first took the field in 1976, and is becoming a prominent part of the International scene.
1986 - The USA National Women’s Team was founded in 1987.
The first Rugby World Cup - Australia and New Zealand.
1991 - The second Rugby World Cup - UK, Ireland, and France
The first ever Women’s Rugby World Cup (unofficial) was held in Cardiff, Great Britain in 1991. Twelve countries participated in the Tournament, held over a week. France, New Zealand, USA and England emerged as the semi-finalists, with USA Eagles beating England 19 - 6 in the final at Cardiff Arms Park (April 14th).
1995 - The third Rugby World Cup - South Africa.
The IRB finally capitulated to the inevitable with the existence of an ever-increasing degree of sham-amateurism. While straight payments may not have been openly accepted, it was obvious that top players in some countries received various benefits and perks from playing the game e.g. through player trust funds, through direct under-the-table cash payments or other roundabout methods. Rugby Union became fully professional.
1997 - The last surviving member of the USA 1924 gold medal winning team Norman Cleaveland passes away aged 96.
1998 - 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 , Italia , Kazakhstan , Netherlands , New Zealand , Russian Federation , Scotland , Spain , Sweden , USA , Wales.
The International Rugby Football Board drops the ‘F’ to become the IRB.
1999 -The form of rugby officially designated as Rugby Union is now played in more than 100 countries around the world including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Italy, Fiji, and South Africa. The sport's international governing body is the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB). In the United States there are more than 1400 rugby clubs and more than 100,000 players, governed by USA Rugby.
2002 - Second Women's rugby world cup
The fourth World Cup (men) took place in Barcelona in May 2002. 16 Nations took part in the event and through the global development of rugby, included such countries as Japan and Samoa.
August 14th, 2009 - Rugby to the Summer Olympics in 2016.
The IOC revealed that it will consider adding Rugby to the Summer Olympics in 2016. “All seven sports made a strong case for inclusion, and the EB carefully evaluated them in a transparent and fair process. In the end, the decision came down to which two would add the most value,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge, who elected not to take part in the vote. “Golf and rugby will be a great addition to the Games.”
The key factors in determining a sport’s suitability for the Olympic programme include youth appeal, universality, popularity, good governance, respect for athletes and respect for the Olympic values.
“Golf and rugby scored high on all the criteria,” Rogge said. “They have global appeal, a geographically diverse line-up of top iconic athletes and an ethic that stresses fair play.”
March 2009 - First Womens Rugby World Cup 7s competition
2010 -USA Rugby approved as an Olympic Sport member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
USA Rugby had been an Affiliated Sport member of the USOC since 1998. The USOC Board’s actionconfirms USA Rugby as the official National Governing Body (NGB) of rugby in the United States. CEO Nigel Melville - “This is great news for USA Rugby. Since the announcement that rugby would return to the Olympic Games, we have developed a strong partnership with the USOC and look forward to making a positive contribution to the Olympic family in the future, the game of rugby is growing at an incredible rate as thousands of young Americans are picking up the ball and running with it for the first time and dreaming of Olympic glory in 2016 and 2020.”
The United States men’s sevens rugby team will participate in the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico in October of next year. Both the men’s and women’s teams will compete to qualify for the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.
1st Girls Varsity Rugby team in the US
Sebastian River High School becomes the first girls varsity team in the USA.
2011 - The 2011 Rugby World cup will be held in New Zealand. The interest in this event will be huge - 60,000 visitors are expected to visit New Zealand for this tournament.
1823 - William Webb Ellis runs with the ball in his hands. By this time he is a 'praeposter' (monitor) at the school.
1841-2 - Running with the ball officially allowed in Rugby school rules provided that a) the ball was caught on the bound (from a bouncing ball), b) the catcher was not"off his side", c) that the catcher did not pass the ball but ran on himself.
1845 - The first rules of Rugby football.
1851 - A "Rugby School Football" - an oval shaped ball - inflated by a pig's bladder - made by William Gilbert was on display at the International Exhibition in London.
1853 - 25 yard line established.
1869 - "In the fall of 1869 William Leggett, the captain of Rutgers' soccer team, took advantage of the proximity of the two schools and issued a challenge to William S. Gummere, his opposite number at Princeton. The contest is usually called the first intercollegiate football game. American fans celebrated football's centennial in 1969. They were mistaken. The game played was not American football, nor even its more direct ancestor rugby. Rutgers' historic victory was in soccer."
1870 - November - an anonymous surgeon writes to 'The Times' complaining that Rugby football is dangerous. The need is felt to form a body to regulate the laws.
In December 1870 Edwin Ash the Secretary of Richmond Club published a letter in the papers which said, "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". This lead to a meeting in January and the formation of the RFU.
1871 - 26th January, The Rugby Football Union founded in the Pall Mall Restaurant in Regent Street, London to standardize the rules that also removed some of the more violent aspects of the Rugby School game.
22nd June, Along with the founding of the Rugby Football Union a committee was formed, and three ex-Rugby School pupils (Rutter, Holmes and L.J. Maton), all lawyers, were invited to help formulate a set of rules, being lawyers they formulated 'laws' not 'rules'. Most of the work was done by Maton as he broke his leg playing rugby and was laid up so he attempted the first draft. He did this in Holmes' law chambers. This task was completed and the laws were accepted by the full committee on 22 June 1871, and brought into force by a Special General Meeting 2 days later. The laws outlawed the practice of hacking and tripping.
The laws have changed a great deal since then and spawned other games, notably American Football and Australian Rules Football.
1874 - On May 14, Harvard University hosted Montreal’s McGill University at Cambridge, Mass., in the first recorded rugby game on American soil. In fact it was a series of three games. The first game was played to Harvard's rules using a round ball and Harvard won 3 goals to nil. The next day they played again to McGill's rules and used an oval ball, the game ended a scoreless draw. After this Harvard adopted largely the rugby rules and the third game of the series was played at McGill Uni. in the fall where Harvard won.
The game played the next day, May 15, was the first rugby game on U.S. soil. Harvard acquitted itself very well and struggled to a scoreless tie. More importantly, they fell head over heels in love with rugby and all thoughts of the once-cherished Boston Game disappeared. Harvard couldn't wait until the next fall. When it came, they raced up to Montreal to play some more rugby. In addition to kicked goals, the Canadian version of the game allowed touchdowns to count in the scoring. Harvard scored three of them to win.
Flushed with success, the Crimson came home and, the next year, challenged Yale to a rugby match. The sons of Eli thought it over and decided it might be fun. The two schools scheduled a game for November 13, at Hamilton Park in New Haven, to be played under what were called the "Concessionary Rules". These had nothing to do with selling beer, hot dogs, or crackerjacks, but were instead a special set of rules agreed to in which each side gave up a little.
Harvard sacrificed counting touchdowns in the scoring. The only thing a TD gained was the right to try for a goal. Yale agreed to play with 15 men instead of the eleven they preferred. They had been won over to the smaller group two years earlier when they played soccer against a traveling team of eleven Englishmen from Eton. Yale found it made for a more open, exciting game. From then on they kept pushing for eleven on a side until everybody was sick to death from hearing about it. For Yale to agree to put four extra men on the field was a major concession and showed real sportsmanship.
In their first rugby game, Yale's nice guys finished last. Harvard ran all over them, and the poor sons of Eli, knowing nothing about tackling, let them. The final stood 4-0 Harvard, with one of the goals coming after a touchdown. Despite the one-sided defeat, Yale was completely captivated by rugby. Forthwith, they decided, they would play it themselves. "
1880 - In the USA the Scrum was replaced by the line of scrimmage, drawing emphasis from the free-running characteristic of the game.
1883 - 28th April, 1883 the first sevens tournament held at Melrose Football Club, Scotland. The club was casting around for ideas to help the Club's finances when the suggestion of a football tournament was put forward by NED HAIG. The thought a football tournament might prove attractive but as it was not possible to hold several games in one afternoon with fifteen players on each side, the teams were reduced to seven men. The competition was played under rugby rules, fifteen minutes play being allowed to each heat, and seven members of each club competing.
1885-86 Referees were allowed to use a whistle! Umpires were given sticks.
1886 - The foundation of the International Rugby Board by Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England declines to join since they believe they should have greater representation on the board for having a greater number of clubs. They also refuse to accept that the IRFB should be the recognised law maker of the game. The IRFB agrees that the member countries will not play England until the RFU agrees to join.
Points for scoring adopted by IRFB.
1890 - England becomes a member of the IRFB.
1893 - The referee was given the whole responsibility for running a game.
1893 - Professionalism of Rugby begins, as clubs of Northern England began to make 'broken time' payments to 'working class' men as compensation for the loss of income due to missing work to play Rugby on Saturdays.
1895 - At a general meeting of the RFU, further by-law changes were made to guard against professionalism which had been growing fast in the leagues of North England. It was a very bitter severance of rugby into two rival camps and acrimony continued for something like a hundred years.
At first, and until 1995 in fact, a major distinguishing feature of the two codes was that rugby league was a professional sport, and rugby union strictly amateur. This though has tended to obscure the fact that, despite their common origins, the two games have evolved into two quite different sports. Since the split in 1895, both codes have made their own distinct rules, and a game of rugby league is almost immediately distinguishable from a game of union.
1900 - Rugby played in the Olympic Games in Paris - France win the title. Germany & Moseley Wanderers, GBR share the silver after a round robin.
1905 - In the USA newspapers showed a running count of injuries and fatalities in Football throughout 1905, and the final totals listed 18 deaths and 149 serious injuries across the country. Those figures wouldn't have amounted to much for some factories or many mines, but they were shocking for a sport. Football was branded as brutal and many perfectly nice people wanted it outlawed. The result was a review and changes to the rules governing the game to reduce the level of brutality. John Heisman, the successful and innovative coach of Georgia Tech, proposed legalizing the forward pass. Heisman correctly deduced that the pass could "open up" the game, but Walter Camp, college football's leading guru, opposed throwing the ball. Sir Walter usually got his way, but in this case the rulemakers were willing to clutch just about any straw. Henceforth, the tossing forward of the pigskin was to be allowed.
1906 - In the USA the forward pass was introduced to the 'American game''. The laws of rugby died and the game of American football evolved further.
Despite this, rugby union enjoyed a growth in popularity in the US, particularly in California, where major universities, including the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford, had withdrawn from football - the "American game" - with concerns about brutality and professionalism.
1920 - United States (8) beat France (0) in Olympic Games to take gold (only two teams compete).
1921 - The International Rugby Board introduced numbering on jerseys.
1924 - USA successfully defend the Olympic title (USA 17 - France 3), this is a great story! Romania take the bronze. Rugby has since been discontinued in the Olympic programme.
1930 - IRB took responsibility for all law changes.
1961 - USA Army Rugby Club Founded. The Army Rugby Football Club is one of the most highly respected teams at the United States Military Academy and its members are drawn from the United States Corps of Cadets.
1961 - President George W. Bush plays for Yale Rugby team.
The Replacement of injured players was added to the 1968-69 Laws (law 12: up to two players per team).
1974 - Australian Michael O'Brien became the first streaker at a major sporting event at the England vs. France game at Twickenham in January 1974. The word streaking was added to the English language the same year.
1975 - Rugby in the USA enjoyed a renaissance, beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1970s. This created the need for a national governing body to represent the USA in the International rugby community. Four territorial organizations gathered in Chicago, Ill., in 1975 and formed the United States of America Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rugby). Today, USA Rugby is made up of seven Territorial Unions (TUs) and 37 Local Area Unions (LAUs),and supports more than 40,000 members.
1976 - USA Rugby fields several national teams, nicknamed the Eagles. The National Men’s Team, first took the field in 1976, and is becoming a prominent part of the International scene.
1986 - The USA National Women’s Team was founded in 1987.
The first Rugby World Cup - Australia and New Zealand.
1991 - The second Rugby World Cup - UK, Ireland, and France
The first ever Women’s Rugby World Cup (unofficial) was held in Cardiff, Great Britain in 1991. Twelve countries participated in the Tournament, held over a week. France, New Zealand, USA and England emerged as the semi-finalists, with USA Eagles beating England 19 - 6 in the final at Cardiff Arms Park (April 14th).
1995 - The third Rugby World Cup - South Africa.
The IRB finally capitulated to the inevitable with the existence of an ever-increasing degree of sham-amateurism. While straight payments may not have been openly accepted, it was obvious that top players in some countries received various benefits and perks from playing the game e.g. through player trust funds, through direct under-the-table cash payments or other roundabout methods. Rugby Union became fully professional.
1997 - The last surviving member of the USA 1924 gold medal winning team Norman Cleaveland passes away aged 96.
1998 - 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 , Italia , Kazakhstan , Netherlands , New Zealand , Russian Federation , Scotland , Spain , Sweden , USA , Wales.
The International Rugby Football Board drops the ‘F’ to become the IRB.
1999 -The form of rugby officially designated as Rugby Union is now played in more than 100 countries around the world including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Italy, Fiji, and South Africa. The sport's international governing body is the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB). In the United States there are more than 1400 rugby clubs and more than 100,000 players, governed by USA Rugby.
2002 - Second Women's rugby world cup
The fourth World Cup (men) took place in Barcelona in May 2002. 16 Nations took part in the event and through the global development of rugby, included such countries as Japan and Samoa.
August 14th, 2009 - Rugby to the Summer Olympics in 2016.
The IOC revealed that it will consider adding Rugby to the Summer Olympics in 2016. “All seven sports made a strong case for inclusion, and the EB carefully evaluated them in a transparent and fair process. In the end, the decision came down to which two would add the most value,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge, who elected not to take part in the vote. “Golf and rugby will be a great addition to the Games.”
The key factors in determining a sport’s suitability for the Olympic programme include youth appeal, universality, popularity, good governance, respect for athletes and respect for the Olympic values.
“Golf and rugby scored high on all the criteria,” Rogge said. “They have global appeal, a geographically diverse line-up of top iconic athletes and an ethic that stresses fair play.”
March 2009 - First Womens Rugby World Cup 7s competition
2010 -USA Rugby approved as an Olympic Sport member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
USA Rugby had been an Affiliated Sport member of the USOC since 1998. The USOC Board’s actionconfirms USA Rugby as the official National Governing Body (NGB) of rugby in the United States. CEO Nigel Melville - “This is great news for USA Rugby. Since the announcement that rugby would return to the Olympic Games, we have developed a strong partnership with the USOC and look forward to making a positive contribution to the Olympic family in the future, the game of rugby is growing at an incredible rate as thousands of young Americans are picking up the ball and running with it for the first time and dreaming of Olympic glory in 2016 and 2020.”
The United States men’s sevens rugby team will participate in the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico in October of next year. Both the men’s and women’s teams will compete to qualify for the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.
1st Girls Varsity Rugby team in the US
Sebastian River High School becomes the first girls varsity team in the USA.
2011 - The 2011 Rugby World cup will be held in New Zealand. The interest in this event will be huge - 60,000 visitors are expected to visit New Zealand for this tournament.