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When and where did rugby originate? How did that weirdly shaped ball ever come into existence? And whoever thought that running around crashing into each other without any protective padding or armor was a good idea?
Like all truly enduring institutions, rugby, too, has its creation myth. The apocryphal tale of William Webb Ellis, “who, with a fine disregard for the rules of football as played in his time, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, thus originating the distinctive features of the rugby game,” is generally accepted as the gospel of the dawn of this great sport. But while running with the ball was permitted within the rules of the kicking game played at that time, it was only to be allowed if moving backward from the point of obtaining possession of the ball, as in retiring after catching the ball to make a kick. In fact, the school whereat the event took place had only one indisputable rule for the sport of football, and that was that a match had to climax no later than five o’clock in the afternoon. The story goes that as the school bells began tolling the fateful hour, Webb Ellis caught the ball and, rather than stepping back for one last free kick to end the game, actually ran forward with it to cross the goal line (much to the consternation of all in attendance).
While the event itself supposedly occurred at Warwickshire’s Rugby School in 1823, the legend began three years after Webb Ellis’s death in 1872, the product of stories related to historian Matthew Bloxam in 1875. That there were no records kept of any of these school matches (as they were all purely for fun) and no eyewitnesses recalled the actual event, coupled with the fact that football rules were quite regularly subject to discussion and amendment, it seems unlikely that this is anything other than something of a Tall Tale.
But the fact remains that rugby exists, and whether it was the product of a single, seminal act of rebellion by a lone youngster at a watershed moment in history, or whether it evolved slowly, law by law and rule by rule, over the course of many decades and centuries, it is here to stay.
During the captaincy of Tom Brown’s Schooldays author Thomas Hughes at Rugby School in 1841-1842, the football laws were amended to include provisions that the ball had to be caught on the fly or “on the bound” (picking it up off the ground was strictly verboten) and that the catcher had to be onside, and that there would be no handing the ball off or passing. If you got it, it was up to you to run it in. During this time, the 1830s and 1840s, the “for fun only” affairs were organized into annual events and fixtures, but there were still no rules regarding such items as number of players or length of matches. Hence, some teams outnumbered their opposition and matches would sometimes drag on for an entire afternoon.
After 1850, the game emigrated from Rugby School, where it had been played exclusively according to that institution’s rules, to other schools and universities, but it was still mainly contested by teams bearing the distinctive stamp of Rugby School (former students, professors, and attendants, for example). By the 1860s the game had become quite popular and it was resolved that a standard set of rules and laws had to be implemented that would apply to all teams playing the game. On January 26, 1871, at the Pall Mall Restaurant in London, representatives from twenty-one clubs hammered out the terms and conditions of what became the Rugby Football Union (RFU).
Originally, until the rules changed in 1886, touching the ball down in the goal area under the posts was not actually worth anything but a “try-at-goal,” meaning for your risking of life and limb in confronting the army of defenders around the scoring area you earned the right to take the ball back into the field of play and try for an uncontested place or drop kick (what we know today as the conversion). Kicking the ball over the crossbar was the only way to score points. By 1893, emphasis had been given to the actual touching down of the ball, making that effort worthy of three points, with the conversion adding two to that. Three points were awarded for a penalty goal and four for a field goal. The scoring system evolved after that several times to what is practiced today: five points for a try, two for a conversion, and three for a penalty goal or field goal.
Although rugby was a brutal sport, with scores, if not hundreds, of deaths in the period between the creation of the RFU and the turn of the century, it became an increasingly popular sport, especially with the working classes. This led to a schism in the rugby hierarchy, with the aristocratic types in southern England concerned that their beloved sport would go the way of football and become a pastime for proletariat hooligans. Indeed, northern Englanders, weary under the yoke of the RFU, split from that code to form the Rugby League, an entity that, while not nearly as popular as Rugby Union, exists to this day in many of the same countries that play the Union style.
But the appearance of brutality persists even to this day, though fatalities are mercifully very few and very far between. Serious injury occurs from time to time, but that is truer of a collision sport such as American-style football than of the more controlled game of rugby. For a long time, protective gear apart from shin or mouth guards was prohibited, though now everything from padded headgear called scrum caps (resembling very closely the leather helmets of America football of the 1920s and 1930s), to padded shoulder accessories are allowed to lessen the shock of impact. Still, though, rugby is only as likely to cause serious injury as soccer or any number of other sports that do not receive half the critical attention rugby does.
Aside from the backward passing and lack of protective gear, perhaps the most identifying aspect of rugby is the ball. It appears as an America-style football, but much larger, more like a small watermelon. Originally there was no standard rule regulating the size or shape of the ball, as they were determined by the size of the pig bladder inserted into a hand-stitched leather covering. In the early days of rugby (and probably other sports, as well), it was necessary to inflate the pig’s bladder by blowing into a clay pipe that was inserted into it. As the bladders used were actually quite fresh and pungent, this was not a task that was particularly sought-after. In today’s game, we can equate the selection of a volunteer for inflating the bladder to the delegation of rookies used to carry out mundane team functions. In 1870, a Rugby-based businessman named Richard Lindon invented an inflatable rubber bladder and a brass hand pump to inflate it. This allowed the size and shape of the ball to be more easily regulated, and thus were the odious pig bladders quickly replaced. Gone were the days of almost round balls with small, laced handles, and here to stay were the days of the rock as we know it now.
There were originally only two positions in rugby: forward and back. At first, rugby spectators found the mass pile of surging bodies to be far more enticing and exciting than even the most electrifying of open field dashes or the most brilliant ball-handling skills. Thus, scrummages, in which there were thirty men or more initially, often took fifteen or twenty minutes apiece. Onlookers would use stopwatches to time the rumble. Finally the rules evolved to shorten the duration of the scrummage and reduce the number of participants. Wheeling and dribbling the ball emerged as scrummage skills, as well as the epiphanic heeling of the ball for release to the backs, who theretofore had been mere bystanders on the field, idling or freezing the game away as the grunting scrummage consumed both the lion’s share of the match as well as the lion’s share of spectator interest.
As the years and decades wore on, the make-up of the scrum and the number of men changed. South Africa is credited with the introduction of the 3-4-1 formation, which provided a more solid platform than the previously tried-and-true 3-2-3 and 2-4-2 formations, and was therefore able to sustain a stronger push for a longer period of time. South Africa’s adoption of the new pack formation forced the rest of the rugby-playing world to change up their scrums, as well, in order to keep pace with South Africa as a world power.
The fullback was the next position to be named, and there were three of them. That was quickly cut to one, with the other two becoming “halfway backs,” or halfbacks, as we know them today: the scrum half and the fly half. The centers and wingers evolved as the number of players in the scrum dwindled to its present roster and the need for more ball handlers in the back line became apparent. Wales and New Zealand are generally credited for much of the evolution of the back line and the passing game as it is today.
But the legacy of this evolution, the players of today, would have no match, no game, were it not for the referees, who, strangely enough, did not appear in their present form until late in the nineteenth century. To that point, the captains of the two competing sides would have more or less the final say when an infraction of the rules of the time had been committed. They would be the ones to bring play to a halt in order to discuss the infraction and determine a resolution. Often times, however, the team that had been wronged by an infraction of the rules would not call their opposition on it if they saw that the result of the infraction actually benefited their own side. They thus allowed play to go on until they determined that any advantage gained by ignoring the infraction had disappeared, and only then spoke up to complain about the original infraction. Thus was born the Advantage Law that is such an important part of the modern game.
The referee himself appeared as a duo, when it was decided that there would be two umpires available for consultation if the two captains could not come to a decision about an infraction. Finally, these umpires retired to the sidelines to make way for the referee, to whom the team captains abdicated decision-making authority. Still, though, the referee often consulted the umpires and it was not until the turn of the century that he assumed complete control of the game, with the umpires becoming what is known today as the touch judges. Interestingly, at first appearance the referee did not have a whistle with which to assert this newfound authority, having instead to shout at the top of his lungs to bring play to a halt in the case of an infraction. It was New Zealand that, amongst many other innovations, introduced the whistle to rugby as part and parcel of the referee’s kit.
Indeed, whilst rugby birthed in England and spent its formative years developing there as an institution of laws and regulations, New Zealander Charles John Monroe, who had completed his education at Christ’s College, Finchley in England, suggested, upon his return to Nelson College in New Zealand, that the football club there try out the rugby rules he had learned while in England. Thus, on May 14, 1870, New Zealand’s first rugby match was played between Nelson College and the Nelson Football Club. The game caught on and quickly spread to neighboring vicinities Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Taranaki, Wellington, Wanganui, and others before finally, in 1892, the New Zealand Rugby Football Union was born to direct the game nationally.
The southern hemisphere trio of Australia, South Africa, and particularly New Zealand dominated the sport for almost a century, even though rugby had been played there for a relatively short time. New Zealand embarked on a tour of Europe in 1905 that saw the emergence of their legendary zeal and ability. Unlike the Home Unions of the time, New Zealand did not kick and chase, but rather ran with the ball in hand, and eschewed kicks at goal in favor of going for the try through crashes or mauling. This sort of ferocious aggression was unheard of in Europe at the time and the result was not only an unbeaten tour, but also the dawn of the fear of the New Zealand jersey, and the beginning of a long line of invincible All Black sides.
For decades rugby remained polarized between the northern and southern hemispheres, with each playing a distinctive style, with the southern squads usually, but not always, proving superior to their northern brethren. The rugby world came together in 1987, when, following soccer’s lead, the national unions of every rugby-playing country voted to hold the inaugural Rugby World Cup. After an exhaustive worldwide qualification tournament, sixteen teams came together in four pools to compete for the William Webb Ellis trophy and the title “World’s Best.”
It was New Zealand that, at the beginning of an unbeaten streak that would last three years, skillfully, efficiently, and powerfully smashed all competition to claim the World Cup. Four years later they would surrender it to Australia and then, in 1995, would contest the World Cup Final in South Africa against a Springbok team that had only that very year emerged from sanctions suppressing international competition due its government’s apartheid policies. In a finale straight out of a kindergarten fairytale, South Africa defeated the All Blacks in overtime play to seize the Webb Ellis trophy. Australia smothered the competition at the 1999 World Cup, allowing only a single try to be touched down against it in six matches against the world’s best. They will defend that title in 2003 as the only team to win two world championships.
But the road back will not be an easy one, for the world of rugby has become a bit smaller in recent years. In 1996, rugby abandoned the amateur, play-it-because-you-love-it, code that had been the game’s proud heritage for more than a hundred years and went pro. Now players didn’t have to juggle job and sport, they were one and the same. It was a logical step, and it has produced some of the best rugby ever played. Purists will argue that it has become a more mechanical, more predictable affair now, and there is some truth in that, but while physical ability remains the most highly-valued asset in the sport, there will always be a moment on the field, or indeed perhaps an entire match, that will live forever in the annals of rugby lore. Jonah Lomu’s performance against England in the 1995 World Cup. The classic 1973 All Blacks-Barbarians clash. John Kirwan’s try against Italy in the 1987 World Cup. The list of moments is a long one, and will only lengthen.
Clearly, the field has been leveled and continues to even out, with once-obscure teams such as Canada and Argentina now regularly providing actual competition to the world powers. In 1999 the venerable Five Nations Championship, a round robin competition between Europe’s elite five, England, France, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, expanded to include up-and-comer Italy. Fiji ran France ragged in the 1999 World Cup, and Western Samoa has made a habit of traveling to Wales to beat the men in red. In the southern hemisphere, Argentina has staked its claim to join the Tri-Nations tournament, the annual clash between rugby superpowers New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. The evidence is compelling, and more is generated all the time, as the world’s best are tirelessly challenged by those wanting to experience those same exalted heights.
Rugby has come a long way, from mass clashes of gangs of
schoolboys in the 1800s to the highly organized, legislated, and marketed sport
of the modern era; from a game played purely for fun to the amateur code that
sustained the game for a century to the professional spectacle it is today,
rugby endures and evolves. And as
with evolution, no one animal remains on top for long, and that is especially
true now in the professional era. With
players abandoning their home soil for money and prospects abroad, the local
talent pools, while not dwindling or evaporating, are not what they once were,
and hence legendary teams such as the New Zealand All Blacks or the South Africa
Springboks do not enjoy the domination they once exhibited.
For now, England is the team to beat, but very soon that will most likely
change. Who will be the next world
power? Who will be the next talk of
the rugby world? Who will be next to claim the mantle of the Best Team in the
World?
Only time will tell.