From The Vaults

04 November 2019

Historic Rugby Internationals: Australia v Fiji, 1952

The first ever visit of a Fijian touring side to Australia took place in the summer of 1952 and it was the first time that the Fiji national side played one of the leading rugby nations...

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04 November 2019

Historic Rugby Internationals: Australia v Fiji, 1952

The first ever visit of a Fijian touring side to Australia took place in the summer of 1952 and it was the first time that the Fiji national side played one of the leading rugby nations...

28 October 2019

PLAYER PROFILE - Georges Jèrôme

Born in French Guiana in 1883, a young Georges Jèrôme left his homeland for continental France, where he dedicated much of his adult life to rugby.

14 October 2019

'Sunderland Rugger with a Dash of Schoolboy Rugby Beyond'

Keith Gregson reports on one town’s efforts to rebuild rugby after the First World War...

20 September 2019

The 1st South Africa Tour to the UK and France 1906-07

Did you know that the Springboks used to perform a Zulu war dance, similar to the haka? The EMI Archive Trust recently got in touch with us to share this snippet recorded in 1906 when South Africa were on tour to the UK and France...

16 September 2019

Beginner’s Guide to the Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup 2019 begins on Friday so it’s the perfect time to get up to speed with the world’s biggest rugby tournament!

09 September 2019

The Return of the Springbok Girl

One of the World Rugby Museum’s most beloved paintings has returned home after a long term loan period in South Africa and to celebrate we thought that we would share her tale with you...

02 September 2019

England v Ireland 1911, as told by Robert Collis

This particular match was much celebrated in Dublin as Ireland recorded a first win over England since 1907, but the match was a close affair...

26 August 2019

England v Ireland 1988: The Nigel Melville Story

The Five Nations match between England and Ireland in March 1988 was a historic occasion for two reasons...

19 August 2019

Rugby, Resistance and the RAF

After more than four years of Nazi occupation Paris was finally liberated on the 25th August 1944. Central to the French struggle had been their underground resistance movement and the air campaign of the Royal Air Force. In the aftermath representatives of both met at Parc du Princes for a unique game of rugby.

05 August 2019

Who was Lewis Cobden Thomas?

Lewis Cobden Thomas was born on 6 August 1865 in Merthyr Tydfil, the fourth son and fifth of eleven children of Thomas Thomas, an ironmonger, and his wife Gwladys, nee Jones. He was given the name of the radical liberal MP, Richard Cobden, who had fiercely opposed the Corn Laws, campaigned for their abolition and for an improved system of education.

29 July 2019

Hartlepool's Rugby History

Since RWC 2015 and as part of the “Impact Beyond 2015” initiative, the Hartlepool & District RFU has been engaged with the Hartlepool Museums and Library Services in cataloguing a large collection of Rugby ephemera dating between the 1870s and 1924...

22 July 2019

When the Crowd Stops Roaring by Neven MacEwan

Neven MacEwan played 20 times for New Zealand between 1956 and 1962. He helped defeat the British and Irish Lions three times during their 1959 tour of Australia and New Zealand and contributed to a 3-0 series whitewash of France in 1961. His international career came at a time when the All Blacks vied with South Africa for supremacy in the world game...

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