From The Vaults

01 October 2022

ONLINE EXHIBITION: The Jimmy Peters Story

James ‘Jimmy’ Peters was the first black man to play rugby union for England. He had a difficult start in life but, showing great strength of character, he overcame hardships, setbacks and intolerance to represent his country with distinction.

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01 October 2022

ONLINE EXHIBITION: The Jimmy Peters Story

James ‘Jimmy’ Peters was the first black man to play rugby union for England. He had a difficult start in life but, showing great strength of character, he overcame hardships, setbacks and intolerance to represent his country with distinction.

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05 September 2022

The Story of Jimmy Peters

Jimmy Peters was a fast, elusive English half-back who rose to prominence firstly with Bristol and then Plymouth and Devon in the opening decade of the 20th Century. Abandoned as a child Peters was raised firstly at Fegan's Orphanage, Southwalk Street London and then the 'Little Wanderers' Orphanage in Greenwich.

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13 June 2022

Phil Bennett - the complete fly half

In memory of the great Phil Bennett, shown here introducing the Prince Of Wales to his 1977 Lions team, here is an interview he gave to the World Rugby Museum about his fond memories of playing at Twickenham…

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30 May 2022

The unluckiest All Black?

A biography of Alexander 'Nugget' Pringle has recently been published, written by his nephew Robert Greig Pringle. The following is an adapted extract...

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18 April 2022

PLAYER PROFILE: Lewis Moody

Ahead of our next Legends Tours of Twickenham Stadium with Lewis Moody on Saturday 23rd April 2022, we're taking a look back at his rugby career...

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28 February 2022

Springbok kickers through the ages

The Springboks have been renowned for hard and athletic ruggedness since joining the international fold against the British Isles in 1891...

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13 December 2021

The Flying Prince

Sports journalist Hugh Godwin tells us about his new book, ‘The Flying Prince: Alexander Obolensky’…

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15 November 2021

Power and Pace – a Dynasty of All Black Wingers

On 30th October 2021, the latest in a seemingly endless line of great All Black wingers, Will Jordan, caught the ball in his own half, accelerated and then kicked over his opponents’ heads at the Principality Stadium, going on unchallenged by a bemused Welsh defence to touch down a thrilling try...

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25 October 2021

Vernon and the World Rugby Museum

The mention of the word ‘Vernon’ in the World Rugby Museum office conjures up happy hours grappling with the intricacies of the Vernon Collection Management System, which heritage institutions around the world use to manage information about their collections. So when discussing ideas for future articles for this blog, our thoughts turned to Vernons in rugby…

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18 October 2021

PLAYER PROFILE: Brian Moore

Ahead of our next Legends Tours of Twickenham Stadium with Brian Moore on Saturday 23rd October 2021, we're taking a look back at his rugby career...

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27 September 2021

PLAYER PROFILE: Francis Luscombe (1849-1926)

Francis “Frank” Luscombe was the fourth man to captain England at rugby. He gained the first of his six England caps against Scotland at the Oval on 5 February 1872...

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20 September 2021

DD and RA Howie – Scottish brothers from Kirkcaldy

On January 20th 1912, the first player to be capped from the Kirkcaldy rugby club in Fife took the field at Inverleith for the first of Scotland's four matches in the 1912 International championship...

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