Rugby union in England
| Rugby union in England | |
|---|---|
Celebrations in Trafalgar Square after England won the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
|
|
| Country | England |
| Governing body | Rugby Football Union |
| National team | England |
| First played | 1823, Rugby |
| Registered players | 1,990,988 |
| Clubs | 2,099 |
|
National competitions
|
|
|
Club competitions
|
|
Rugby union in England is one of the leading professional and recreational team sports. In 1871 the RFU was formed by 21 rugby clubs, and the first international match, which involved England, was played in Scotland. The English national team compete annually in the Six Nations Championship, and are former world champions after winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The top domestic club competition is the Aviva Premiership, and English clubs also compete in international competitions such as the European Rugby Champions Cup.
Rugby in England is generally attributed to when William Webb Ellis "who with a fine disregard for the rules as played in his time, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it" in 1823 at the Rugby School, although modern scholars consider this story to be a myth. One of the earliest football clubs formed, some claim it to actually be the first, is the Guy's Hospital Football Club which was founded in 1843 in Guy's Hospital, Southwark, London. The club played an early version of rugby football and was formed by old boys of the Rugby School. Subsequent clubs established in this period include Dublin University Football Club in 1854 and the Blackheath Rugby Club in 1858.
The Football Association was formed at the Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen Street, on Lincoln's Inn Fields, London on 26 October 1863, with the intention to include the most acceptable points of play under the one heading of football. However, disagreements over what was being excluded led the Blackheath Club to withdraw from the association which was followed by a number of other clubs. In 1870, Richmond F.C. published an invitation in the newspapers which read "Those who play the rugby-type game should meet to form a code of practice as various clubs play to rules which differ from others, which makes the game difficult to play". In January of the following year, 21 clubs meet at the Pall Mall Restaurant and the Rugby Football Union (RFU) was founded.
...
Wikipedia