From The Vaults

28 September 2020

The 1910 British & Irish Lions tour of Argentina

In 1910 the British and Irish Lions toured Argentina for the first time. Under the captaincy of John Raphael, they contested Los Pumas first international test-match.

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28 September 2020

The 1910 British & Irish Lions tour of Argentina

In 1910 the British and Irish Lions toured Argentina for the first time. Under the captaincy of John Raphael, they contested Los Pumas first international test-match.

21 September 2020

Internationals at Welford Road

The ground known as Welford Road, home of Leicester Tigers rugby club, hosted seven major rugby internationals in the 20th century. Physically located south of the city centre between Aylestone Road and Welford Road, the home of Leicester rugby since 1892 has played a huge part in the development and history of English rugby at club and international level.

14 September 2020

The Stellenbosch Three-quarter line

If asked to name the most illustrious three-quarter line from one club or country, northern hemisphere rugby historians are most likely to name the Oxford University and Scotland three-quarter line of the 1920s...

07 September 2020

It's time to research your club histories!

With the Rugby Football Union now in its 150th year, Keith Gregson advises on how you can find out the history of your own rugby clubs...

01 September 2020

1971 and the Centenary of the Rugby Football Union

As the Rugby Football Union enters its 150th season, Barney Burnham looks back fifty years to his own involvement in the celebrations that marked a Century of international rugby.

24 August 2020

The Day Trelawny's Army took Twickenham

Twickenham Stadium Tour Guide Mike tells us of the "best" rugby match he has ever seen at Twickenham...

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.

10 August 2020

Alan Rotherham - the Original Half-Back

When international rugby began in 1871 it was a twenty-a-side game dominated by forward play and protracted scrummaging. In 1877 the number of players was reduced to fifteen. Over the following decade and a half the number of forwards slowly decreased as the number of backs slowly increased and teams discovered the benefits of a more attacking, open game, utilising running and passing backs.

03 August 2020

Finchley's own Clint McGregor

For a tight head prop Clint was quick, in the club there were only two wingers that could beat him in a sprint. With his powerful physique and good hands he was hard to stop.

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.

20 July 2020

The Original Brave Blossom

A few weeks before the last year's Rugby World Cup, an article was posted on a website of Kyoto Shimbun (newspaper). The story featured Ishi Fukui, a woman who ran a sporting goods business from 1922 in Kyoto.

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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