From The Vaults

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.

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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.

16 January 2017

How to research and write a club history by Keith Gregson

Writer and historian Keith Gregson uses his experiences in researching Sunderland Rugby Club's past to open a debate on writing rugby club histories.

09 January 2017

Jack Dallas – A life devoted to rugby

There are many personalities in the history of rugby union who have played a pivotal part in the development of the sport. Few though have played a significant part as both player and referee in matches...

07 January 2017

Death of a Forward

The Tragic First World War tale of Sunderland Rugby Football Club's James Harry Edwards (1894 -1917) puts the First World War into sharp focus.

03 January 2017

Tolkien’s Battle of the Eastern Field

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is best known for his epic Lord of the Rings novels. A lesser known aspect of his personal history was his involvement in rugby union from a young age.

19 December 2016

Rugby's Greatest Upsets Part One - Scotland v England, 1871

In 1870 football enthusiast and administrator Charles W Alcock arranged an international football match between Scotland and England in London. It ended in a tie so another game was arranged which England won. Scotland was incensed.

12 December 2016

THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL MATCH AT KINGSHOLM - England 3 Wales 13, 6th January 1900

With a fixture list already bristling with Welsh opponents by the end of the 19th century, and flush with the success of their new ground at Kingsholm, opened in 1891, it is perhaps unsurprising that the Gloucester club aspired to stage an international, and in the autumn of 1899 an application was made to the Rugby Union.

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