Legend has it that the game of rugby football was inspired by the actions of one William Webb Ellis, a pupil at Rugby School, in 1823. According to a stone plaque at the school, it was he who ‘with a fine disregard of the rules of football as played in his time, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it’.
To put this unexpected action in context, catching the ball was allowed in football at this time; running forward with it was not.
The story is firmly entrenched in the folklore of the sport, to the extent that the World Cup trophy is named in honour of Webb Ellis. Yet there is little contemporary evidence to support it, and many consider it a myth.
Webb Ellis certainly existed — he lived from 1806-72 and was a prominent Anglican clergyman — but his favoured game was cricket, which he later played for Oxford University.
Birth of the unions
Whatever the truth about the origins of the game, we do know that the first set of rules was published in 1845, and that 21 rugby-playing clubs broke away from the Football Association to establish the Rugby Football Union in 1871.
Initially the RFU was dominated by London-based clubs, but Scotland, Ireland and Wales also proved fertile ground for the growth of new teams. The Scottish Football Union (now Scottish Rugby Union) was founded in 1873, the Irish Rugby Football Union in 1874 and the Welsh Rugby Union in 1880.
In Wales, rugby would eventually become the national sport. In England, it would diverge into two separate sports after a group of northern clubs split from the Union in 1895 to form what would become the Rugby Football League.
British and Irish stamp issues celebrated the centenaries of the RFU, the IRFU and the WRU in 1971, 1974 and 1980 respectively.
Worldwide expansion
This story is from the November 2019 edition of Stamp Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the November 2019 edition of Stamp Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Ship Of State
Recess-printed, lithographed, typographed and overprinted, the attractive Lakatoi issues of British New Guinea and Papua are a complex series with myriad varieties
The Finest Cuts For This Year's Christmas Fare
Royal Mail’s Christmas stamps, released on November 5, take a religious approach this year, featuring classy biblical scenes created by paper-cut artists Hari & Deepti.
Roaring Success?
The first stamp issue for Kenya, Uganda & Tanganyika in 1935 might have united three postal administrations, but its design and printing were far from uniform
Man Of Peace
Karl bickel not only transformed and rejuvenated Swiss stamp design in the mid-20th century but also built a monument to peace in his spare time
‘Oh Help! Oh No! It's A Gruffalo!'
A Royal Mail stamp issue on October 10 marked the 20th anniversary of the publication of The Gruffalo, the popular children’s picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.
Day Of Reckoning
However painstakingly compiled, your collection is destined to be broken up and recycled. It’s not a question of if, but when, and how?
Beasts Of Burden
Animals harnessed for postal purposes have come in all shapes and sizes. Some of the choices and some of the scenarios might surprise you
King And Kaiser
Johann Kaiser engraved only three stamp designs, but they were the first issues of the Netherlands and Dutch colonies, so his place in philatelic history is secure
Whisper Of Wilberforce
A centenary with particular resonance for Sierra Leone inspired one of the finest colonial issues of the 1930s, even if the key protagonist was barely acknowledged
Try, Try Again
With the rugby World Cup currently underway in Japan, what better time to investigate the growing potential for a rugby union thematic collection?
