From The Vaults

02 February 2016

Flower of Scotland

I was recently looking through a collection of miscellaneous photographs in the World Rugby Museum when I came across on from the 1950s showing the rugby team of Gordonstoun School. Glancing at the back of the photograph, my attention was drawn to a young lad in the front row of the picture, by the name of R N (Roy) Williamson.

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02 February 2016

Flower of Scotland

I was recently looking through a collection of miscellaneous photographs in the World Rugby Museum when I came across on from the 1950s showing the rugby team of Gordonstoun School. Glancing at the back of the photograph, my attention was drawn to a young lad in the front row of the picture, by the name of R N (Roy) Williamson.

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25 January 2016

Lest We Forget Special Exhibition

We are pleased to announce that our special exhibition 'Lest We Forget: Rugby and the First World War' will be extended into 2016.

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18 December 2015

BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year

The BBC Sports Personality of the year award has been running since the mid-1950s. Originally devised by the British television executive Sir Paul Fox, the awards have evolved to honour not just individual talent from the UK but also team achievements, overseas personalities, coaches, junior sporting personalities and more.

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30 October 2015

Wallabies Waltz On

In reaching the 2015 World Cup final, Australia will have competed in four of the first eight Rugby World Cup Finals. We have been looking back over some of the objects we have in our collection that help to tell a little of their history in the game. Rugby was introduced to Australia in 1864 at Sydney University.

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09 March 2015

World's oldest international rugby caps re-united

When I was a young rugby player, fresh from school and with a whiff of cut grass in my nostrils and dreams of playing for my country in my mind, there was an old, beaten up rugby cap in our club cabinet. Glasgow Academicals was the name of my club and we were based in the leafy west end of Glasgow.

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05 February 2015

The 'Real' Triple Crown

In 2006 a silver shield was produced as the physical embodiment of an idea that had existed since 1894. The Triple Crown was first made reference to by the Irish Times in 1894 after Ireland had defeated England, Wales and Scotland in a single season for the first time.

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20 January 2015

Stoddart sells the Natives short

In February of 1889, during a test-match against the touring New Zealand Natives, England's AE Stoddart, whilst on the attack, lost a 'portion' of his shorts. As was the custom, Stoddart's team-mates formed a circle around him to protect his modesty whilst he collected himself.

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27 November 2014

Wallabies Feeling Blue

The museum has recently acquired a New South Wales (NSW) jersey that was collected by Tom Smith of Leicester during the 1908 Anglo-Welsh (British Lions) tour to Australia and New Zealand.

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08 July 2014

Origins of Rugby

This round ball has been on display at the World Rugby Museum for many years. It was formerly a part of the private collection of sports journalist Harry Langton, who believed it to date from the 1820s.

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