From The Vaults

18 September 2015

Match-Day Morning at Twickenham (1969)

Staff at Twickenham go through their morning routines in preparation for the 1969 Calcutta Cup contest between England and Scotland. Both sides were out of contention for the overall championship by this stage but the world's oldest international football contest was a sought after prize in its own right.

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18 September 2015

Match-Day Morning at Twickenham (1969)

Staff at Twickenham go through their morning routines in preparation for the 1969 Calcutta Cup contest between England and Scotland. Both sides were out of contention for the overall championship by this stage but the world's oldest international football contest was a sought after prize in its own right.

15 September 2015

A brief history of the Rugby World Cup

Proposals for a regular rugby world cup tournament first began to circulate in the 1950s. They were rejected by the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) who, in 1958, advocated a "go slow" policy in regard to 'foreign fixtures', fearing that club rugby might otherwise be adversely affected.

05 September 2015

Lest We Forget - David Revell Bedell-Sivright (Scotland) 05/09/1915

Triple-Triple Crown winner, hardest man ever to play for Scotland, horse-wrestling captain of the British Lions, heavyweight boxing champion, pioneer of the wing-forward role, jackaroo and surgeon in the Royal Navy.

26 August 2015

Twenty years of professional rugby union

On the 27th August 1895 22 clubs from the north of England ceded from the Rugby Football Union so that they might form a rival professional organisation. Rugby League was born and soon prospered.

22 August 2015

The Greater Game of War

A mixture of rain and snow accompanied the team on their journey north for their penultimate game of the 1914 5 Nations Championship. Their destination, Edinburgh, had experienced three weeks of solid rain but, against the odds, blue skies and a dry wind welcomed England on their arrival.

14 August 2015

MATCH REPORT - France v England, 1906

France and England contest their 100th international test rugby match in August 2015. John Griffiths here describes the first.

09 August 2015

Durham rugby friends die at Gallipoli in August 1915

Two teammates and close friends from the rugby fields of Durham School, Rosslyn Park and Oxford died at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli, just days and a few hundred yards apart in August 1915. This is their story...

08 August 2015

Lest We Forget - Albert 'Doolan' Downing (New Zealand) 08/08/1915

Sergeant Albert Downing was born in Napier on July 12, 1886. He was educated at the Marist Brothers' School there, which he left in 1904, and was employed as a clerk successively by the Excelsior Dairy Co., Ltd., Barry Bros., Ltd., and Ellison and Duncan, Ltd., merchants...

06 August 2015

From Middle Park to Gallipoli

On Saturday 8 August, 1914, only four days after Australia had entered the war, East Melbourne played South Melbourne on the Middle Park ground in the final game of the season...

31 July 2015

Lest We Forget - Billy Geen (Wales) 31/07/1915

At his best, Billy Geen was a dazzlingly entertaining three-quarter, with a bewildering side-step. At times, he reminded supporters of some of the greatest exponents of Welsh back play, like Arthur Gould and Rhys Gabe.

23 July 2015

The 1956 Arctic Rugby Football Championship

The World Rugby Museum was recently contacted by a man who, in the 1950s, helped to implement the DEW Line system in northern Canada.

17 July 2015

Lest We Forget - Frank Tarr (England) 18/07/1915

Francis Nathaniel Tarr, known as Frank, was born at Ironville near Belper, Derbyshire, the only son of Frederick Tarr and his wife Emma. Francis had an older sister, Mabel.

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