From The Vaults

24 April 2017

Rugby’s Greatest Upsets Part 5 – Rugby World Cup, 2015

English merchants and soldiers had brought rugby to Japan even before it had arrived in New Zealand. Yokohama Football Club, founded in 1866, is the oldest known rugby club in Asia.

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24 April 2017

Rugby’s Greatest Upsets Part 5 – Rugby World Cup, 2015

English merchants and soldiers had brought rugby to Japan even before it had arrived in New Zealand. Yokohama Football Club, founded in 1866, is the oldest known rugby club in Asia.

18 April 2017

'The Captain Who Never Came Back' - Bob Seddon

Bob Seddon was the only player to have been described as being 'good at every point of the game' in Lillywhite's 1886 Football Annual. Elsewhere the versatile broad shouldered forward was described as 'one of the best forwards in the north' and a 'typical Lancashire Lad'.

10 April 2017

Rugby Memorabilia - Not just for rugby enthusiasts…

Player interviews in programmes can reveal a rapid changing taste in entertainment, fashion and cars - how we now laugh at the selection of a Ford Granada as a players dream car! Changes in technology are demonstrated in programmes.

02 April 2017

Lest We Forget – Bryn Lewis (Wales) 2 April 1917

Brinley Richard Lewis was a speedy wing three-quarter of great skill who, for a variety of reasons, was never able to demonstrate his talents to the full at international level.

27 March 2017

Rugby’s Greatest Upsets Part 4 - France v New Zealand, 1999

With the advent of the Rugby World Cup in 1987 rugby union had found its greatest stage and greatest potential for upsets. The shift away from test-rugby allowed the relative minnows of the global game their shot at the big fish. But one of the greatest upsets in the tournament's history featured two international heavyweights.

20 March 2017

Santa Clara v Stanford, 1916

The University of California had taken up rugby in 1906, along with Stanford University, California's top athletic and academic rival. It was to be the start of a great rugby rivalry. Both teams were strong.

13 March 2017

Jonah Lomu: The day he announced himself to the World

The 1995 Rugby World Cup semi-final between England and New Zealand will always be remembered for Jonah Lomu's outstanding man of the match performance.

06 March 2017

In 1877 the RFU were sent a letter…

In Calcutta on the 25th of December 1872, a game of rugby was played between a team of ex-pats from England and a mixed team of Scots, Irish and Welsh. The match proved a success and provided the impetus for the Calcutta Football Club to be formed in January 1873.

27 February 2017

Rugby’s Greatest Upsets Part 3 – Paris Olympics, 1924

15 fifteen-a-side rugby had been included as an event at the Olympics since 1900. The founder of the Olympic movement, Pierre de Coubertin, had visited Rugby School in 1883.

20 February 2017

Remembering Seiji Hirao, 1963-2016

On Friday February 10th 2017 in the lavish setting of the Portopia Hotel in Kobe, the Japan Rugby Football Union together with the Kobe Steel Kobelco Steelers Rugby Club staged a remarkable memorial event to celebrate the life of Seiji Hirao...

13 February 2017

On the Blind Side

One of the most remarkable matches in the history of international rugby took place between France and Scotland in Paris on 1st January 1920. This was the fifth time these two countries had met on the rugby field and the first match since their infamous encounter in Paris in 1913.

23 January 2017

Rugby's Greatest Upsets Part 2 - Wales v New Zealand, 1905

New Zealand had set down a marker of quality when defeating a tired and injury ravaged British Lions side at the tail end of their tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1904.

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