From The Vaults

06 December 2021

#FromTheVaults – Varsity Match Programme, 1921

The Varsity Match epitomises the long-standing rivalry between the universities at Oxford and Cambridge and December 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Varsity Match played at Twickenham...

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06 December 2021

#FromTheVaults – Varsity Match Programme, 1921

The Varsity Match epitomises the long-standing rivalry between the universities at Oxford and Cambridge and December 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Varsity Match played at Twickenham...

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01 November 2021

#FromTheVaults - Twickenham Stadium Site Plan

As full crowds return for the Autumn Internationals, this month’s featured object from our collection is an architect’s drawing showing the proposed site of the first North stand built at Twickenham in 1925...

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04 October 2021

#FromTheVaults - Photograph Album, 1891 British Isles tour of South Africa

Following this summer’s Lions’ tour of South Africa, we wanted to highlight this photograph album in our collection which records the events of the first British Isles tour to South Africa 130 years ago...

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06 September 2021

#FromTheVaults - Uruguay Pennant Flag

It's been a while, but we're back with our #FromTheVaults series, taking a look into our archives to explore some of the many thousands of objects that are not on display in the World Rugby Museum galleries.

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21 December 2020

#FromTheVaults - RFU Christmas Card, ‘Fougasse’

This month’s featured object from our collection is a Christmas card designed for the Rugby Football Union by one of Britain’s best loved cartoonists, Cyril Kenneth Bird CBE (1887-1965).

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23 November 2020

#FromTheVaults – British Isles Dinner Menu, 1904

For this month's #FromTheVaults we wanted to share with you this charming little dinner menu from the British Isles tour to Australia and New Zealand in 1904 – the first time a British team played both countries on the same tour...

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19 October 2020

#FromTheVaults - Barbarians Jersey, 1903

At the start of 2020 we revived an old “Object of the Month” feature and now after a brief hiatus, our #FromTheVaults series is back with this Barbarians jersey from 1903.

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25 May 2020

#FromTheVaults - Study for ‘Twickenham by Tram’ by Dame Laura Knight, c. 1921

This month’s featured object from the World Rugby Museum’s collection is a drawing by Dame Laura Knight (1877-1970), one of the most popular British artists of the first half of the twentieth century.

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09 May 2020

The Story of the Siam Cup

On 9th May 1945, the Channel Islands were liberated by British forces following five years of German occupation. During that period, one object – now in the World Rugby Museum – had a particularly lucky escape...

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28 April 2020

#FromTheVaults - Melrose Sevens Medal, 1883

On 28th April 1883, a seven-a-side rugby tournament was played to raise funds for a rugby club experiencing some financial difficulties. The tournament would become an annual event – the oldest rugby sevens competition in the world...

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17 March 2020

#FromTheVaults - ‘Guinness is Good for You’ Advertising Sign, 1960s

As we say farewell to the Guinness Six Nations (for the time being, at least), this month’s featured object from our collection is a Guinness advertising sign from the 1960s.

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04 March 2020

Reunited At Last

England and Wales meet at Twickenham for the 55th time on Saturday. 110 years ago the two sides helped kick off the Twickenham era when Ben Gronow did the honours in the first of his four caps for Wales...

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