Rugby.. England

Rugby began in the 19th Century when William Webb Ellis has been said that he picked up the ball and ran with it down the pitch, Although this is a tale, the Rugby World Cup trophy has been named after him. Rugby football teams the play the game at Rugby Schools, which old pupils took to university. Albert Pell a student at Cambridge has been credited as forming the first football team, during this early period different schools used different rules to play the game. Eton attempted to carry their preferred rules through to different universities.

In the early development of the Ruby football there were a production of set written laws and Rugby School in 1845, the Black heath's Clubs decision to leave the Football Association in 1863, and the formation of the Rugby Football union in 1871, the code of was originally known as ' Rugby Football', it was not until 1895 that the separation code of Rugby league came known as Rugby Union and came to be used for the game itself Supporters of both of the codes will either refer theirs to 'Rugby or 'Rugby Union' unless they are differentiation between the two.

The first Rugby international match was between England and Scotland on the 27th March 1871. By then both Ireland and Wales had representative teams and the first international competition, The Home Nations begun. In 1883 the first rugby sevens had started, which is still held annually. 5 years later two important overseas tours took place, a British Isles team visted Australia and New Zealand, with this it laid the foundation for the Irish and British Lions team.Then in 1888 New Zealand brought over a team to Britain the British spectators.

Eventually in 1905 to 1908 the southern hemisphere rugby countries had begun their first touring to the Northern Hemisphere, all the teams brought new styles, levels of fitness and tactics to the game and the critics were surprised with what they brought.

In 1905 the New Zealand Squad brought in the Haka before each match, Welsh Player Teddy Morgan sang the Wales National Anthem as a response, as Morgan began to sing the Crowd joined in, this was the first time a national anthem was sung at Rugby match.

During the wars (WW1 and WW2) international games were not being played eventually after the wars were over the games begun again.

In 1973 the first sevens match was played in Murray Field as part of the Scottish Rugby Union cenetanry celebrations and then in 1987 the first Rugby World Cup was held in Australia and New Zealand and the regular winners were New Zealand. The first World sevens tournament was held Murray field in 1993.

Rugby union was an amateur sport until the IRB declared the game 'open' in 1995 removing the restrictions of payment to players.