From The Vaults

29 June 2020

War Games: The New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the Second World War

At the outbreak of war it had been decided that New Zealand should provide an Expeditionary Force of one division, under the then Major-General, former player and rugby supporter Bernard Freyburg.

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29 June 2020

War Games: The New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the Second World War

At the outbreak of war it had been decided that New Zealand should provide an Expeditionary Force of one division, under the then Major-General, former player and rugby supporter Bernard Freyburg.

22 June 2020

War Games: Rugby on the home front during the Second World War

The UK rugby season, such as it was, closed at the end of April, 1940: whereupon Hitler launched his assault in the west, into Scandinavia, then through Holland and Belgium, once again, into France.

15 June 2020

La Voulte – Small Town Heroes, 1970

La Voulte-sur-Rhone is a small town of 5,000 inhabitants with a proud rugby heritage situated in the Ardeche department in the south east of France. For one magical season in 1969-70, La Voulte was the champion club of France and winners of the much coveted 'Bouclier de Brennus' by defeating Montferrand in the Stade Municipal in Toulouse.

08 June 2020

Dai Gent's All-Star XV

Swansea born Dai Gent twice trialled for Wales before being selected for England. A prototype scrum-half at a time when the English were playing half-backs, he memorably partnered Adrian Stoop in the English midfield in the first test-match to be held at Twickenham, in 1910, where England beat Wales for the first time in 12 years.

01 June 2020

The Incomparable Christophe

Some rugby grounds inspire great performances and Twickenham is no exception. The great deeds of English players tend to dominate in the collective memories of English fans – think Richard Sharp or Andy Hancock in the 1960s – but there have been players from other countries who have reserved some of their finest performances on the rugby field for this part of south-west London.

28 May 2020

The Greatest Game Ever Seen?

Barney Burnham recalls Wasps' memorable run to the final of the 2004 Heineken Cup...

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.

21 May 2020

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and His Passion for Rugby

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle invented one of the best loved literary characters in history – Sherlock Holmes...it is interesting to now revisit the tales and uncover his frequent and unmissable references to sport – and in particular, the game of rugby.

18 May 2020

Portrait of a Team - the Sunderland Football Club XV of 1881

In 1881 Sunderland Football Club was victorious in the first ever Durham County Cup...As luck would have it the final was played on 26 March and the census information for 1881 was gathered eight days after the game, affording us a remarkable opportunity of discovering what kind of people were playing...

14 May 2020

"How Newport Won the Springbok's Head"

When the South Africans came to Britain in 1912, under the captaincy of W. A. Millar, they brought with them a stuffed Springbok’s Head, to be presented to the team who first defeated them. They had the trophy with them at Newport on October 24th: it went no farther, for they were unexpectedly beaten...

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...

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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