History of rugby and its origins in New Zealand

Abstract

Rugby union has a rich history that dates back over 200 years. It started off as a folk game between villages, with hundreds of players on each side and few if any rules. The contemporary game today by contrast is much more complicated and pitched between two fifteen-a-side teams that is heavily policed for rules. The origin of rugby does not rest with William Webb Ellis who never knew that he was supposed to have picked up the ball and run with it at Rugby School in 1823. That myth emerged only in the 1880s when the leaders of English rugby wanted to assert its elite and amateur origins against threats from both working-class influences and soccer (Williams 1989; Baker 1981).