From The Vaults

03 May 2021

New book documenting the history of rugby in East Germany

In 1948, Erwin Thiesies, a former German national player, moved from Berlin to Hennigsdorf, an industrial city with a steelworks in the north of Berlin. He gathered schoolboys around him and introduced them to rugby.

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03 May 2021

New book documenting the history of rugby in East Germany

In 1948, Erwin Thiesies, a former German national player, moved from Berlin to Hennigsdorf, an industrial city with a steelworks in the north of Berlin. He gathered schoolboys around him and introduced them to rugby.

26 April 2021

The One and Only Whistle

When JD Dallas blew his whistle for a scrum, not a try, in 1905, he ignited a dispute that continues to this day. Here, in his own words, he seeks to set the record straight...

19 April 2021

Selected but never played Part 2 (1920-1996)

In the days before substitutes were introduced into international rugby, many players faced a dilemma following their selection to play for their country for the first time.

12 April 2021

The Cavaliers tour of South Africa 1986

The rivalry between the New Zealand All Blacks and the South African Springboks had been intense ever since their first meeting in 1921. The generation of leading players in the mid-1980s were almost without exception keen for that rivalry to continue despite the growing public awareness of the injustices that were occurring daily in apartheid South Africa.

05 April 2021

Selected but never played Part 1 (1871-1914)

...there were over 90 players who had the misfortune to be selected to play for their country in a test match but who never took the field and so remained uncapped.

27 March 2021

27th March - A Red Letter Day for Rugby

On 27th March 1971, England and Scotland stepped out at Murrayfield for their second international test-match in the space of a week. The previous Saturday, both sides had completed their 5 Nations campaign at Twickenham, where Peter Brown's conversion had secured a 16-15 victory for Scotland.

26 March 2021

Meet the 1871 Captains...

When England and Scotland took the field for the first time on 27th March 1871, they were led by Francis Moncrieff and Frederick Stokes. At 21, Edinburgh born Moncreiff was the senior of the two and, as a former pupil of Edinburgh Academy and captain of Edinburgh Academicals, was in the most familiar of circumstances as the two teams ran out at Raeburn Place.

25 March 2021

Spotlight on Raeburn Place

It all began at Raeburn Place on March 27th, 1871, when an English Twenty arrived to meet the challenge of Scottish footballers. A series of ‘international football’ matches had taken place in 1870 and 1871 but none of them has satisfied the Scottish sporting public, firstly because the players selected to represent them were local to London not Scotland and secondly because they were playing the wrong football.

22 March 2021

RFU150 - The Women's Rugby Football Union

As the Rugby Football Union celebrates its 150th year, we examine six influential governing bodies and their roles in the history and development of Rugby Union since 1871. In our final part we look at the role of the pioneering Women's Rugby Football Union..

15 March 2021

RFU150 - New Zealand Rugby

As the Rugby Football Union celebrates its 150th year, we examine six influential governing bodies and their roles in the history and development of Rugby Union since 1871. This time we look at the contributions of New Zealand Rugby..

08 March 2021

Give it to the Hooker!

Last year's Autumn Nations Cup produced some ground-breaking moments. Introduced to cover the gap caused by the Covid pandemic in 2020 which closed sports stadiums for long periods to all but a very few spectators, these matches in the northern hemisphere aroused both interest and controversy among TV viewers and pundits.

01 March 2021

RFU150 - The Northern Rugby Football Union

As the Rugby Football Union celebrates its 150th year, we examine six influential governing bodies and their roles in the history and development of Rugby Union since 1871. This time we look at the influence of the rival code..

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