From The Vaults

29 August 2023

Juan Arzuaga: an Iberian sporting legend

Sporting and Social historian Keith Gregson delves into the story of Juan Arzuaga, the Spanish football star who cut his teeth on the rugby fields of North-East England...

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29 August 2023

Juan Arzuaga: an Iberian sporting legend

Sporting and Social historian Keith Gregson delves into the story of Juan Arzuaga, the Spanish football star who cut his teeth on the rugby fields of North-East England...

21 August 2023

#FromTheVaults - All Blacks and Springboks

With New Zealand and South Africa preparing for a Rugby World Cup warm-up match at Twickenham on Friday, we’re highlighting two items which have recently been loaned to the World Rugby Museum.

07 August 2023

Joe Brunton – a great rugby stalwart of the north

English Rugby throughout the amateur era always relied on charismatic loyal figures who gave great service to their clubs and rugby in their counties and regions long after their playing careers had ended...

31 July 2023

A Street Through Time

Charles Street, the former Groundsman of Blackheath Football Club, witnessed many of the finest rugby players of the late 19th and first half of the 20th Century. Here we share an audio interview by the BBC that we hold in our collection...

24 July 2023

The Varsity Match: A Story of Twists and Turns by Paul Chéhère

Since the beginning of rugby’s history, students have often been at the cutting edge of English rugby, contributing greatly to the development of the game in the UK...

18 July 2023

Uncapped half backs in Lions tests 1891-1939

England has supplied some distinguished half backs to the ranks of British and Irish Lions in recent test series, but surprisingly there were relatively few capped English players selected for Lions test matches prior to 1939...

10 July 2023

Allez Les Bleus: A Brief History of France at the Women’s Rugby World Cups

As one of the driving forces behind the development of the women’s game, it is not surprising that France has consistently entered one of the strongest teams in the women’s Rugby World Cup.

03 July 2023

Allez les Bleus illustrations

The illustrations and cartoons reproduced in our current exhibition, Allez Les Bleus, chart the growing popularity of rugby in France during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. This week’s blog explores the stories behind some of these illustrations. The images were kindly supplied by Frederic Humbert.

26 June 2023

The Ghost Player by Andrew Rishworth

‘The Roses Match’ by William Barnes Wollen hangs on the wall of the President’s Suite in the West Stand of Twickenham Stadium. In this article, Andrew Rishworth shares an extract of his research on the subject...

19 June 2023

Setting Fire to the Mud

In 2003 the Rugby Football Union (RFU) utilised the stage and screen actor Peter O’Toole to front a campaign called ‘Rugby Making an Impact’...

13 June 2023

The First Women's International

It’s been 41 years since women’s rugby took another huge leap forward with the very first international match on 13 June 1982. Holland v France would go down in history as a significant moment in the development of the sport, driven forward by passionate individuals and contested by committed players...

05 June 2023

The 'Garryowen' - Ireland’s secret weapon

Garryowen Football Club is one many great Irish rugby clubs, but its unique feature is that it has a particular facet of the rugby union game named after it...

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