From The Vaults

17 August 2020

Los Pumas Rampant

The years following England's triumph in Sydney at the 2003 Rugby World Cup were lean ones. Sir Clive Woodward had resigned as coach after a disappointing southern hemisphere summer tour in 2004 and was succeeded by Andy Robinson, his assistant coach.

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17 August 2020

Los Pumas Rampant

The years following England's triumph in Sydney at the 2003 Rugby World Cup were lean ones. Sir Clive Woodward had resigned as coach after a disappointing southern hemisphere summer tour in 2004 and was succeeded by Andy Robinson, his assistant coach.

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27 July 2020

The All-Conquering 1984 Wallabies by Craig Muncey

In rugby, I had started to go with family members to watch Cardiff RFC and was soon pretending to be Mark Ring, Gareth Davies or Terry Holmes in my back garden. At this point in rugby, I had not yet been influenced heavily by overseas teams, this was all about to change, Australia was soon to turn my young head, and new heroes were on the horizon.

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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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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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06 April 2020

Famous English International Tries in the Amateur Era - Part 2

Last week we posted Part 1 of our Famous English Tries in the Amateur Era, looking at 1910-1969. Now onto Part 2…

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30 March 2020

Famous English International Tries in the Amateur Era

Almost 800 tries have been scored by England at Twickenham in more than 320 full international matches over the last one hundred and ten years. Most of these tries have passed into the rugby history books but a special few are still recalled as defining moments in their eras...

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10 February 2020

England v Ireland 1925, as told by Robert Collis

Bob Collis’ memories of watching Ireland against England at Lansdowne Road in 1911 were recorded in his book ‘The Silver Fleece’, first published in 1936. In this extract from the same book, he describes the emotional journey that came before, during and after representing Ireland at Twickenham in a memorable encounter on 14th February 1925...

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13 January 2020

Historic Rugby Internationals: New Zealand v Australia, 1991

The semi-finals of the second Rugby World Cup held in Britain and France in the autumn of 1991 featured two clashes between historic rivals...

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04 November 2019

Historic Rugby Internationals: Australia v Fiji, 1952

The first ever visit of a Fijian touring side to Australia took place in the summer of 1952 and it was the first time that the Fiji national side played one of the leading rugby nations...

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20 September 2019

The 1st South Africa Tour to the UK and France 1906-07

Did you know that the Springboks used to perform a Zulu war dance, similar to the haka? The EMI Archive Trust recently got in touch with us to share this snippet recorded in 1906 when South Africa were on tour to the UK and France...

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