Notable dates
1823 - A commemorative stone at Rugby school claims that 16-year-old student William Webb Ellis, "with a fine disregard for the rules of football...first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, thus originating the distinctive feature of the rugby game."
1871 - The Rugby Football Union is founded in a London hostelry.
1871 - Scotland beat England in the first ever international by one try and one goal to one goal.
1872 - Oxford and Cambridge play their inaugural Varsity Match.
1882 - England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland form the International Championship.
1888 - Bob Sneddon leads the first British tour side to Australia and New Zealand, a precursor to what later becomes the British Lions.
1890 - W P Carpmael decides to put together a cosmopolitan, invitation-only touring team of gents. He calls them the Barbarians.
1895 - The 'Great Schism' leads to the formation of a 22 club-strong Northern Union, which in 1922 becomes professional Rugby League.
1910 - France join the International Championship to form the Five Nations.
1931 - France are banned for paying players. France are readmitted in 1947 when the competition resumes after a seven-year war-enforced hiatus.
1973 - Welsh wizard Gareth Edwards scores arguably the greatest ever try while playing for the Barbarians against New Zealand, starting and finishing a pitch-length move that involved nearly his entire side.
1987 - Australia and New Zealand host the first World Cup. France defeat favourites Australia in the semi-final only to lose to the All Blacks in the final.
1987 - Club league rugby starts and is dominated by Bath and Leicester.
1991 - The UK, Ireland and France co-host the second World Cup. England beat Scotland in their semi while Australia overcome New Zealand to set up a clash of the hemispheres in the final which the Wallabies easily win.
1992 - Tries are increased from four to five points to promote running rugby and reduce boring kicking - the mainstay of England's game at the time.
1995 - The third World Cup heralds the return of hosts South Africa following years of apartheid-enforced exile. Springbok fly-half Joel Stransky kicks the winning drop goal in extra time for a 15-12 final victory over a Jonah-Lomu inspired New Zealand.
1995 - The International Rugby Board suits bow to pressure and the era of professionalism begins.
1997 - England appoint Clive Woodward as coach. His record sees England topping the world rankings going into the 2003 World Cup: 33 wins out of the last 37 and 10 consecutive victories against southern hemisphere opposition.
1999 - Lawrence Dallaglio resigns as England captain.
1999 - Fourth World Cup: England, Scotland and hosts Wales all crash out at the quarter-final stage, leaving France as the only northern hemisphere representatives in the final four with the Tri Nations sides. They beat New Zealand in the semis, but lose to Australia in the final 35-12.
2000 - The Five Nations becomes Six with the introduction of Italy.
2003 - England's Jason Leonard passes 100 international caps, joining a select rank of centurions comprising Australian wing David Campese and French centre Philippe Sella.
The Facts
Rugby is one of the most popular sports within the UK, and as a nation, we're proud of its heritage. In 2015, England and Wales hosted the Rugby World Cup, a momentous occasion in the sporting calendar and a great opportunity to show case the world's best players in the sport.
This is a history of Rugby and why it has continued to grow in popularity throughout the past century to become what it is today - one of the greatest games in the world.
William Webb Ellis
The game of Rugby has been evolving ever since 16 year old William Webb Ellis reputedly picked up a ball and began to run with it during a school football match in 1823, thus creating the rugby-style of play. Despite the story lacking firm evidence, it has become firmly entrenched in the sport's folklore and there is a statue erected in his honour within the grounds of Rugby School in Warwickshire.
The ball
In order for the game of rugby to develop, the presence of a ball was essential, and thankfully, a local shoemaker named Gilbert who lived in Rugby, had been making balls long before William Webb Ellis came along and supplying them to local schools in Rugby. The first balls were much larger and rounder than today's rugby ball and the insides were made out of a pig's bladder which was then covered in leather. Gilbert established his company in 1823 and in the 1860s it was his business partner's idea to replace the bladder inner tubes with rubber. He also claimed to design the unique oval shape, but failed to patent the idea. Today Gilbert is the official brand of the 2015 Rugby World Cup ball.
The rules
The rules of Rugby were first written in 1845 and distributed to schools and other countries. The rules were created at Rugby School and recorded for the first time by the then football captain and head schoolboy, Isaac Gregory Smith who asked three of the current senior players to write down the previously unwritten rules. The rules were illustrated to produce the first ever images of the game of rugby football. Around the same time, the concept of the all-important 'offside' rule was documented, which became such a significant rule that in 1871 the Rugby Union stated: "No rules in the rugby code require to be more strictly observed. Disregard of these fundamental rules will completely nullify all the science and spoil all the spirit of the rugby game."
The game
The game took some years to develop - originally there were no formal positions and anyone could join in and play, but by 1847, a fixed number of players was agreed, starting with 17 forwards and three full-backs. Later on, this developed into teams of 8 forwards, 2 half-backs and 4 three-quarters and a full back. Soon, the tackle was developed whereby holding and grappling with an opposing player became the core activity of the game, but this activity could go on for more than 15 minutes without the ball being put down, which led to the RFU officially introducing the tackle in 1874. .
The RFU
The RFU, rugby's first governing body, was formed on January 26th in 1871 by representatives from 21 of the local rugby clubs, and shortly after this, a set of codes or laws were created by a lawyer known as Leonard Maton who wrote the first draft whilst laid up with a broken leg - from playing rugby! Unions continued to form in other countries and on 27th March 1871, the first international rugby match was played between England and Scotland. International tours became incredibly important in the development of the game worldwide and in 1882, the first ever Rugby Union tour occurred when an Australian team visited New Zealand.
The Rugby World Cup
Another century of Rugby was played before the introduction of the Rugby World Cup. During the century that passed, various significant rules were added to the game such as drop goals, listed as a form of kicking by the RFU in 1887, the introduction of umpires and a referee in 1885 and the scrum which developed in 1905. In 1985, the first ever Rugby World Cup was launched and in 1987 it was hosted in New Zealand and Australia. The trophy, named the William Webb Ellis cup, was chosen by the then chairman John Kendall-Carpenter.
The great split
The great split between Rugby Union and Rugby League occurred back in 1895. At the time, Rugby fever had hit Britain hard and more and more clubs were developing in some of the largest cities and counties in the north of England. With the development of the new leagues came the demand for more control and autonomy to include payment of players for loss of earnings, but the RFU was keen to retain its amateur status. This led to the Northern clubs forming the Northern Rugby Union, formally known as Rugby League from 1922. It wasn't until the summer of 1995 when rugby union finally agreed to became professional having held on to its amateur status for 150 years.