"a specialized position in rugby union and similar to the hooker in league: the number 9 initiates most moves by his or her team and must be an excellent passer of the ball in rugby union as with league. In rugby league any player can act from dummy half, however, in the professional modern game it is a specialised job for the hooker to instigate and direct the forward platform. He must also be able to probe with a running and varied kicking game from dummy half while still possessing strong and effective tackling. The similarity between the two games"
"History of rugby league The history of rugby league as a separate form of rugby football goes back to 1895 in Huddersfield, West Riding of Yorkshire when the Northern Rugby Football Union broke away from England's established Rugby Football Union to administer its own separate competition. Similar schisms occurred later in Australia and New Zealand in 1907. Gradually the rugby played in these breakaway competitions evolved into a distinctly separate sport that took its name from the professional leagues that administered it. Rugby league in England went on to set attendance and player payment records and rugby league in Australia"
"Rugby football Rugby refers to the team sports rugby league and rugby union. Legend claims that Rugby football was started around the time of 1845 in Rugby School, Rugby, Warwickshire, England, although forms of football in which the ball was carried and tossed date to medieval times. Rugby eventually split into two sports in 1895 when twenty two clubs split from the original Rugby Football Union, to form the Northern Union (later to be named rugby league in 1922) in the George Hotel, Huddersfield, Northern England over the issue of payment to players, thus making rugby league the first code"
"History of rugby union The history of rugby union follows from various football games played long before the 19th century, but it was not until the middle of that century that the rules were formulated and codified. The code of football later known as rugby union can be traced to three events: the first set of written rules in 1845, the Blackheath Club's decision to leave the Football Association in 1863 and the formation of the Rugby Football Union in 1871. The code was originally known simply as ""rugby football"". It was not until a schism in 1895, over the"
"Rugby Football Union, was established in 1895 as a breakaway faction of England's Rugby Football Union (RFU). Both organisations played the game under the same rules at first, although the Northern Union began to modify rules almost immediately, thus creating a new faster, stronger paced form of rugby football. Similar breakaway factions split from RFU-affiliated unions in Australia and New Zealand in 1907 and 1908, renaming themselves ""rugby football ""league""s"" and introducing Northern Union rules. In 1922, the Northern Union also changed its name to the Rugby Football League and thus over time the sport itself became known as ""rugby"
"most recent being Jordan (2007), Ecuador (2008), Turkey (2009) and the United Arab Emirates (2010). ""For more details see the article Rugby World Cup"" History of rugby union The history of rugby union follows from various football games played long before the 19th century, but it was not until the middle of that century that the rules were formulated and codified. The code of football later known as rugby union can be traced to three events: the first set of written rules in 1845, the Blackheath Club's decision to leave the Football Association in 1863 and the formation of the"
"England broke away from the governing body of Rugby football, the Rugby Football Union, and formed a rival body, the Northern Rugby Football Union (later renamed the Rugby Football League) over the issue of payments to players. This ""Great Schism"" led to the creation of two forms of Rugby football - rugby union governed by the Rugby Football Union and rugby league overseen by the Rugby Football League. 100 years later in August 1995, the International Rugby Board announced that rugby union was to be an ""open"" game, ending the prohibition of payments to players. In January 1996, an announcement"
"the national team's performance. Rugby Union is the second most popular sport in the country based on viewership. Like association football, rugby union and rugby league both developed from traditional British football games in the 19th century. Rugby was codified by the Rugby Football Union in 1871. The Rugby Football League developed after a number of leading clubs, that wished to be allowed to compensate their players for missing work, formed their own governing body in 1895 and subsequently the two organisations developed somewhat different rules. For much of the 20th century there was considerable antagonism between rugby league, which"
"rugby league was in 1939, when the Californian Rugby Football Union wrote to the governing body of rugby league, the Rugby Football League, to tell them they wanted to switch from rugby union and affiliate to the RFL. The timing was unfortunate, and the RFL was unable to send out a delegation due to the outbreak of the outbreak of World War II in Europe. California was one of the historic heartlands of rugby union in the USA. However, during the war itself, American servicemen stationed abroad occasionally played matches against teams from other allied sides - these included those"
"to turn professional and pay its players, rugby union turned fully professional in 1995. Both sports are run by their respective world governing bodies World Rugby (rugby union) and the Rugby League International Federation (rugby league). Rugby football was one of many versions of football played at English public schools in the 19th century. Although rugby league initially used rugby union rules, they are now wholly separate sports. In addition to these two codes, both American and Canadian football evolved from rugby football. Following the 1895 split in rugby football, the two forms rugby league and rugby union differed in"
"Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It promotes and runs the sport, organises international matches for the England national team, and educates and trains players and officials. The RFU is an industrial and provident society owned by over 2,000 member clubs, representing over 2.5 million registered players, and forms the largest rugby union society in the world, and one of the largest"
"hybrid game of English rugby devised by the University of McGill. The first attempt to establish a proper governing body and adopted the current set of Rugby rules was the Foot Ball Association of Canada, organized on March 24, 1873 followed by the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU) founded June 12, 1880, which included teams from Ontario and Quebec. Later both the Ontario and Quebec Rugby Football Union (ORFU and QRFU) were formed (January 1883), and then the Interprovincial (1907) and Western Interprovincial Football Union (1936) (IRFU and WIFU). The CRFU reorganized into an umbrella organization forming the Canadian Rugby"
"the two variants and experimental hybrid games have been played that use a mix of the two sports' rules. Rugby union was originally referred to as rugby football. During the early development of rugby football different schools used different rules, on many occasions agreeing upon them shortly before commencement of the game. In 1871, English clubs met to form the Rugby Football Union (RFU). Rugby football spread to Australia and New Zealand, with games being played in the early to mid nineteenth century. In 1892, charges of professionalism were laid against Yorkshire clubs after they compensated players for missing work."
"teams return voyage to New Zealand. Rugby league was founded in 1895 when rugby union clubs in Northern England split from the governing body over the ability to pay their players and formed the Northern Union. Similar tensions developed in Australasia and they came to a head when the 1905 Original All Blacks toured Great Britain. This tour made the New Zealand Rugby Union a huge profit of £12,000, yet the players were only paid 3/- a day expenses while on tour. This resulted in the 1907-08 New Zealand tour of Great Britain to play the Northern union clubs. At"
"introduced until, by the arrival of the All Golds in 1907 the major differences between the games had been introduced. These major differences were: ""See:"" Rugby league gameplay for more on the current game. During this period the Northern Union began to develop the British game's major tournaments. The league championship, after initially being played as one competition, was split into two sections, the Lancashire and Yorkshire leagues, with only a limited number of inter-county games. This necessitated a play-off structure to determine the overall champions. A nationwide cup, the Challenge Cup was introduced, and soon became the biggest draw"
"Rugby Football Union wrote to the governing body of rugby league, the Rugby Football League, to tell them they wanted to switch from rugby union and affiliate to the RFL. In June 1939, the RFL made plans to send a delegation out to California but were unable to do so due to the outbreak of World War II. One of the earliest attempts to introduce rugby league to the United States was in 1953, when Mike Dimitro, a wrestling promoter and former UCLA football all star and NFL Rams player (1947 draft), was asked to organize a tour of Australasia"
"for rugby until 1871, when 21 clubs from London came together to form the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The first official RFU rules were adopted in June 1871. These rules allowed passing the ball. They also included the try, where touching the ball over the line allowed an attempt at goal, though drop-goals from marks and general play, and penalty conversions were still the main form of contest. As was the case in Britain, by the early 19th century, North American schools and universities played their own local games, between sides made up of students. For example, students at Dartmouth"
"league. On 29 August 1895, at a meeting at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, 20 clubs from Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire decided to resign from the RFU and form the Northern Rugby Football Union, which from 1922 was known as the Rugby Football League. In 1908, eight clubs in Sydney, Australia, broke away from union and formed the New South Wales Rugby League. The dispute about payment was one which at the time was also affecting soccer and cricket. Each game had to work out a compromise; rugby's stance was the most radical. Amateurism was strictly enforced, and anyone accepting payment"
"as played at that time. What began as modifications to make the competition more entertaining to spectators continued until a distinct sport had emerged. Initially the rules were decided by the Northern Rugby Football Union, today's Rugby Football League, the governing body for rugby league in the United Kingdom. As the sport spread to around the world, other rugby leagues were established, notably in Australia, France and New Zealand, a more international approach was adopted. In 1948, the International Rugby League Board (IRLB) was formed. Initially the RFL retained this responsibility for the Laws while it was seen how the"
"rugby union went professional in 1995 and, as a result, other restrictions on rugby league were relaxed by the Rugby Football Union. This opened up the possibility of expanding the game into areas where it had never been played before as it allowed rugby league clubs to groundshare with rugby union clubs and for union players to try out the other code without fear of persecution. In 1995, the fallout from the Super League war hit Britain, and the game underwent massive re-organisation. A new elite league, Super League was formed, and the sport switched from a winter to a"
"sports: rugby union administered by the RFU and rugby league administered by the Rugby Football League as the two games evolved different sets of rules. Although rugby league spread overseas, sanctions by the RFU made it more difficult for the sport to expand beyond its ""heartlands"" in the traditional counties of Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumberland. Prior to the Rugby League Conference, there were several non-heartland leagues throughout England run by the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA); the most recent ones being the London Amateur Rugby League, the Midlands and South West Amateur Rugby League Association (MASWARLA), the East Midlands"
"stated that those players who joined Super League did so in the knowledge that they were forfeiting their chance of representing the established national team. The first official rugby league international took place on 1 January 1908 when Wales defeated New Zealand 9–8 at the Aberdare Athletic Ground in Aberdare, Wales in front of approximately 15,000 fans. The match was the 29th game of the 1907–08 All Golds tour. Test match (rugby league) A test match in rugby league football is a representative match between teams representing members of the Rugby League International Federation. The definition of a test match"
"University. Rugby is also an ancestor of Canadian football, currently its main competitor. A ""running game"", resembling rugby, was taken up by the Montreal Football Club in Canada in 1868. Back in England, a schism developed between those who favoured strict amateurism and those who felt that players should be compensated for time taken off work to play rugby. In 1895, this resulted in the formation of a break-away governing body, the Northern Union. The Northern Union began to make changes to the laws of rugby in 1906, which resulted in the sport of rugby league. The Rugby Football Union's"
"Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known in most of the world as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line. Rugby union is a popular sport around the world, played by male and female players of all ages. In 2014, there were more"
"as the largest rugby league competition in the world. Rugby league football, usually called football, footy or just league has a place with some Sydneysiders, as a sporting and a tradition within the city. This stems back from the earlier colonial days of the city where the city and its cultural were largely dictated by wealthy Englishmen whom traditionally played and were supporters of the Rugby code of football, which was largely advertised and passed on to the people of Sydney, including the working class who in back in England largely played soccer. In the early 1900s some Rugby footballers"
"Rugby Football Union, that governed the sport in England, and helped found the Northern Union. This eventually developed into the separate sport of rugby league. Alfred Teggin won caps for England while at Broughton Rangers in 1884 against Ireland, in 1885 against Wales, in 1886 against Ireland, and Scotland, and in 1887 against Ireland, and Scotland. In the early years of rugby football the ""goal"" was to score goals, and a try had zero value, but it provided the opportunity to ""try"" at goal, and ""convert"" the try to a goal with an unopposed kick at the goal posts. The"
"Rugby League International Federation The Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. The RLIF is responsible for the ""Laws of the Game"", the development, organisation and governance of rugby leagues internationally, and for the sport's major international tournaments; most notably the Rugby League World Cup. There are two regional associations affiliated to the RLIF; the Rugby League European Federation (RLEF) and the Asia-Pacific Rugby League Confederation (APRLC). Rugby league, which had started in England in 1895 and spread to Wales in 1907 and Australia and New Zealand in 1908, was"
"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 22 clubs was held in London at the Pall Mall Restaurant. As a result of this meeting the Rugby Football Union (RFU) was founded. Three lawyers who had been pupils at Rugby School drew up the first laws of the game which were approved in June 1871. The Club is one of seven of the original twenty-one clubs to have survived to this day. Blackheath initially played its matches on"
"the rugby union at Twickenham, in England. Administration was given over to the Southern Rugby Union in 1881. Rugby began outside of Sydney first in Queensland in 1876, with the first inter-colonial match being played in Sydney in 1882. During these years the rugby that was played, was administered by the Queensland Football Association, which was the organisation administering principally the Melbourne Rules football code. Primarily due to the poor treatment rugby received by the QFA, a new organisation to oversee rugby was founded at a meeting held on 2 November 1883 at the Exchange Hotel in Brisbane. This organisation"
"universities. At the time association football, or ""soccer"", and rugby were not as differentiated as they are now and teams would negotiate the rules before playing a game. The sports of Canadian football and American football evolved from these intercollegiate games. Meanwhile, in England a schism developed in rugby football between those who favoured strict amateurism and those who felt that players should be compensated for time taken off work to play rugby. In 1895 this resulted in the formation of a break-away sport, rugby league, the rules of the two codes of rugby (union and league) would themselves diverge."
"and rugby in Ireland. The code of football later known as rugby union can be traced to three events which occurred in England: the first set of written rules in 1845, the Blackheath Club's decision to leave the Football Association in 1863 and the formation of the Rugby Football Union in 1871. The code was originally known simply as ""rugby football."" It was not until a schism in 1895, over the payment of players, which resulted in the formation of the separate code of rugby league, that the name ""rugby union"" was used to differentiate the original rugby code. Michael"
"June 1987. History of rugby union in Australia Rugby Union has a long history in Australia, with the first club being formed in 1863 at Sydney University. Today it holds tier one status with World Rugby and has over 82,000 players nationwide. There is some evidence of indigenous Australian forms of football being played in Australia, before the European arrival. Some of these involved kick and catch games. Early Europeans may well have played their own forms of traditional football as well, which involved kicking and handling. With the arrival of Europeans, a form of football was played very early"
"of Australia, seeing the term ""rugby league"" first used for the new game as in the rest of the world, in 1907 at the instigation of the famous test cricketer Victor Trumper. At a meeting in Bateman's Crystal Hotel in Sydney, New South Wales, the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) was formed as a professional organisation. Players were immediately recruited for the new game, and despite the threat of immediate and lifetime expulsion from the rugby union, the NSWRFL managed to recruit Herbert ""Dally"" Messenger, the most famous rugby footballer in Sydney at that time. Rugby league then"