From The Vaults

16 May 2022

The Tour from Hell

When rugby union embraced professionalism at the end of the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, a sea change took place in the nature and number of contacts and matches for players, clubs and international teams...

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16 May 2022

The Tour from Hell

When rugby union embraced professionalism at the end of the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, a sea change took place in the nature and number of contacts and matches for players, clubs and international teams...

Read More

21 February 2022

Madagascar - The rugby mad country you need to hear about, by Connor Dickins

Madagascar may not be the first country many think of when it comes to rugby. However, the East African island has one of the most vibrant rugby cultures on the planet...

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13 August 2021

‘The Rugby Championship of the World’

From June to September 1921, the rugby world waited expectantly as New Zealand and South Africa, two of the legendary teams in rugby history, met for the first time in a three-test series.

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30 November 2020

‘L’art du drop goal’ – a French phenomenon?

Kicking a drop goal has often proved a decisive factor in the winning of matches at international level since the second match between England and Scotland at The Oval in 1872 when Harold Freeman for England and Charles Cathcart for Scotland each scored a drop goal.

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12 October 2020

Murrayfield in December 1978

Some sporting occasions remain etched in your memory for ever and can be recalled at will...

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20 July 2020

The Original Brave Blossom

A few weeks before the last year's Rugby World Cup, an article was posted on a website of Kyoto Shimbun (newspaper). The story featured Ishi Fukui, a woman who ran a sporting goods business from 1922 in Kyoto.

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13 July 2020

A Scandal in Paris: France v Scotland, 1913

The opening match of the 5 Nations Championship in 1913 was beset with problems from the outset...

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01 June 2020

The Incomparable Christophe

Some rugby grounds inspire great performances and Twickenham is no exception. The great deeds of English players tend to dominate in the collective memories of English fans – think Richard Sharp or Andy Hancock in the 1960s – but there have been players from other countries who have reserved some of their finest performances on the rugby field for this part of south-west London.

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04 May 2020

The International Rugby Championship in the 1890s - Part 2

After Ireland’s unexpected Triple Crown in 1894, the International Championship opened in January 1895 with England facing a very strong Welsh side at St Helen’s, Swansea...

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23 April 2020

The International Rugby Championship in the 1890s

The 1890s was a decade of momentous change in rugby union. History has tended to highlight the adverse effects of broken time payments and the advent of professionalism leading to the formation of the Northern Union, but the growth in public interest in the game as shown in the rise of new clubs and venues and the greatly increased attendances at club and international matches were impressive.

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20 April 2020

An Eyewitness Account of Wales v New Zealand, 1905

The All Blacks' Tour of 1905 had official sanction; the financial arrangements were considered to be such that the amateur status of the players would not be endangered; and the tour opened with two amazing victories—over Devonshire by 55 points to 4, over Cornwall by 41 points to nil...

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16 April 2020

I remember when...

World Rugby Museum Committee Member Richard Steele recalls his first trip to Twickenham back in 1960...

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