From The Vaults

07 October 2024

Legal Giants of Rugby

Richard Steele looks at two rugby-playing legal giants of the 1920s, Rowe Harding and Carl Aarvold...

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07 October 2024

Legal Giants of Rugby

Richard Steele looks at two rugby-playing legal giants of the 1920s, Rowe Harding and Carl Aarvold...

23 September 2024

The Autograph Hunter

The World Rugby Museum has recently acquired an unusual and unique item, a scarf embroidered with the signatures of famous international rugby players...

13 September 2024

All Hail the Invincibles

In any discussion of the greatest men’s international rugby teams of all time, there are a number of sides that get a mention but those in the know namecheck a side whose credentials in many ways surpass all others - the Invincibles...

29 August 2024

#FromTheVaults - Memorial Cards, 1905

In 1905, Cardiff witnessed some fantastic rugby from a Wales side on the cusp of global pre-eminence and Welsh printers found a humorous way to commemorate the historic victories. This month, we are highlighting some “mourning cards” from our collection...

05 August 2024

British Rugby Players Gain Olympic Cricket Medals by Keith Gregson

The Olympic Games in Paris are with us which allows for the study of a little known sporting gem. Keith Gregson tells the strange but true tale of the British rugby players who gained Olympic cricket medals...

26 July 2024

Rugby and the Olympics

A source of inspiration for the modern Olympic movement, rugby featured four times in the early 20th Century before triumphantly returning in the sevens format at Rio in 2016. Here's what happened in 1900, 1908, 1920, 1924, 2016 and 2020...

15 July 2024

Lest We Forget – Albert Chatau (France) 15/07/1924

Between 2014 and 2018, the World Rugby Museum paid individual tribute to each of the 129 Test international rugby players to lose their lives during the Great War. The last name on that list, Frenchman Albert Chatau, died from his wounds in July 1924. Here we conclude our period of commemoration with a tribute to Albert by Frédéric Humbert on the centenary of his death. Lest We Forget.

24 June 2024

Argentina’s 'disappeared' rugbiers

Andrés H. Reggiani of Universidad Torcuato Di Tella – Buenos Aires shares an adapted extract from his book 'El rugby. Historia, rituales y controversias desde sus orígenes hasta hoy.'

18 June 2024

The Original Brave Blossoms Tour by Hideki Shoji

In 1930 the first representative Japan rugby team embarked on a tour of Canada. Setting sail from Yokohama on August 17th, the touring party came on the Canadian shore on the evening of the 29th, three days before their first match...

10 June 2024

The Unsung Heroes of 1974

It's been 50 years since the British & Irish Lions undertook their politically controversial tour of South Africa, in the summer of 1974. The unbeaten tourists are largely remembered for their Test match success but this article shines the spotlight on the unsung heroes of the tour...

05 June 2024

The Tour That Never Was

Andrés H. Reggiani of the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella – Buenos Aires takes a look at the 1973 England XV tour to Argentina that never was...

20 May 2024

The Evolution of the Rugby Ball

The rugby ball has changed considerably since the 1820s. This article explores how the leather ball William Webb Ellis would have played with at Rugby School evolved into the rugby ball we recognise today...

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