In 1839, when Queen Adelaide visited the School, School House (75) played ‘the rest’ (225). To score a try would not gain points but would allow a team to ‘try’ to take a ‘drop at goal’ to score a point. With so many on each side this was hard to do and sometimes games would last up to five days. The Close itself was merely three rough fields, and it was not until the late 1850s that the ground was levelled. Sheep still grazed here until the early 1900s. No written rules at this time!

In 1823, William Webb Ellis, a local boy in Town House, first ran with the ball, but this rule was not adopted straight away. By 1830, running with the ball was an accepted play, although the first written rules did not appear until 1845. These rules were written by the boys. Ellis was born just outside Manchester, but moved down to Rugby. He went on to Brasenose College Oxford where he took Holy Orders. He died in France in 1872 where his grave is cared for by the French RFU.

The Ball and Key Words

An original Rugby ball was round and changed shape over a period of time to the oval it is today. They varied in sizes depending on the pig’s bladder they were made from. Gilberts, a local boot maker, took up ball making to supply the School. Others, notably Lindon, supplied the boys and it was this maker that invented the inflatable inner and the pump.
Many of the words associated with today’s game originated here. For example, ‘try’ was from the days when a touch-down did not score points, but allowed an attempt to kick at goal. ‘Offside’, ‘knock on’, ‘touch’ and ‘goal line’ are all from the original School football rules.
Uniform, Teams and Rules
Rugby School was the only team to play in white because the committee of the RFU in 1871 was composed largely of ORs, which is why England played in white. School House was the first team to play in a uniform kit (long flannels, shirts and caps), because it was the only House to play as a single group until 1850. Before this, the boys played in their ordinary school clothes in teams made up from various Houses. In 1867 the first ‘foreign’ match was played against ORs and the town. The teams were now down to 20 players, and then 15 by 1876. Internal teams stayed at 20 until 1888. The first inter-School match was against Cheltenham in 1896 and half the players in the first England international team were ORs. The RFU was formed (largely of ORs) in 1871 and the first national code was introduced. The boys at Rugby kept their own rules, and even modified them, until the late 1880s. There were no referees in the early days – boys would wear sharpened boots with nails in them for extra hacking. Boys considered good enough to play for the main teams were given ‘following up’ caps, which later developed into the international cap awarded to the country’s top players.

Rugby School Boys and the Calcutta Cup

The Calcutta (Rugby) Football Club was established by former students of Rugby School in January 1873. However, with the departure of a local British army regiment (and perhaps more crucially the cancellation of the free bar at the club!), interest in rugby diminished in the area and sports such as tennis and polo began to thrive as they were better suited to the Indian climate.
Whilst the Calcutta (Rugby) Football Club was disbanded in 1878, members decided to keep the memory of the club alive by having the remaining 270 silver rupees in their bank account melted down to be made into a trophy. The trophy was then presented to the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to used as “the best means of doing some lasting good for the cause of Rugby Football.”
The Calcutta Cup continues today as the trophy that is presented to the winner of the England versus Scotland rugby union match which takes place during the annual Six Nations Championship.

The formation of the first Rugby Union

1871 engraving of the game

On 4 December 1870, Edwin Ash of Richmond and Benjamin Burns of Blackheath published a letter in The Times suggesting that "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". On 26 January 1871, a meeting attended by representatives from 21 clubs was held in London at the Pall Mall restaurant.

Inscription in memory of Rugby Football Union foundation in London where Pall Mall restaurant stood
The 21 clubs and schools (all from London or the Home Counties) attended the meeting: Addison, Belsize Park, Blackheath (represented by Burns and Frederick Stokes the latter becoming the first captain of England[7]), Civil Service, Clapham Rovers, Flamingoes, Gipsies, Guy’s Hospital, Harlequins, King's College, Lausanne, The Law Club, Marlborough Nomads, Mohicans, Queen’s House, Ravenscourt Park, Richmond, St Paul's, Wellington College, West Kent, and Wimbledon Hornets.[8] The one notable omission was the Wasps who "In true rugby fashion ... turned up at the wrong pub, on the wrong day, at the wrong time and so forfeited their right to be called Founder Members".

As a result of this meeting, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) was founded. Algernon Rutter was elected as the first president of the RFU and Edwin Ash was elected as treasurer. Three lawyers, who were Rugby School alumni (Rutter, Holmes and L.J. Maton), drew up the first laws of the game; these were approved in June 1871.

First international game 

The first international football game resulted from a challenge issued in the sporting weekly Bell's Weekly on 8 December 1870 and signed by the captains of five Scottish clubs, inviting any team "selected from the whole of England" to a 20-a-side game to be played under the Rugby rules. The game was played at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, the home ground of Edinburgh Academicals, on 27 March 1871.

This is not only the first international rugby match, but the first international of any form of football because, despite the fact that three England v Scotland fixtures had already been played according to Association Football rules at The Oval, London, in 1870 and 1871, these are not considered full internationals by FIFA as the players competing in the Scotland team were London-based players who claimed a Scottish family connection rather than being truly Scottish players.[11]

The English team wore all white with a red rose on their shirts and the Scots wore brown shirts with a thistle and white cricket flannels.[10] The England team was captained by Frederick Stokes of Blackheath, that representing Scotland was led by Francis Moncrieff; the umpire was Hely Hutchinson Almond, headmaster of Loretto College.

The game, played over two halves, each of 50 minutes, was won by Scotland, who scored a goal with a successful conversion kick after grounding the ball over the goal line (permitting them to 'try' to kick a goal). Both sides achieved a further 'try' each, but failed to convert them to goals as the kicks were missed (see also 'Method of Scoring and Points' below).[12] Angus Buchanan of Royal High School FP and Edinburgh University RFC was the first man to score a try in international rugby.

In a return match at the Kennington Oval, London, in 1872, England were the winners.