Rugby League in a nutshell
Created | Updated Oct 10, 2002
Rugby League split away from Rugby Union in 1895. Rugby itself was a splinter group from the early days of the generic game of Football. Rugby School and others, including Charterhouse, refused to do away with the handling aspect of the game,
The split within the game of 'Rugby' came about due to the question of compensating players for missing work to play. This was not considered important by the wealthy who ran the game, but for the working man, it was a vital matter. Consequently, the Northern Union was formed at the George Hotel in Huddersfield.
The reaction from the RFU was somewhat disproportionate, banning for life anyone who played the new code. This was supposedly for reasons of preserving the amateur 'Corinthian' ethos, yet players were also banned for playing Rugby League at amateur level. This practice continued for almost exactly a century, by which time many top Rugby Union players were being unofficially paid as much as, if not more than, their League counterparts.
The games moved apart in other ways too. Rugby Union became the 'Southern' code and Rugby League the 'Northern'. Rugby League, needing as a professional sport to attract spectators, modified and evolved their rules, most notably reducing the number of players per team to 13 from 15. Archaic Victoriana like line-outs, mauls and pushover tries were also discarded as irrelevant and insufficiently entertaining.
Rugby Union, coming from a public school background, used all the influence it could muster to repress the upstart code. The ban on playing the game in the armed forces remained in place until 1996, when an act of parliament was required to overturn it.
In many countries, underhand methods were used to hold back Rugby League and in many cases, such as South Africa and Italy destroy it completely.
But the worst and most shameful action was taken by the French. Before World War II, French Rugby Union was in what seemed like terminal decline, with playing and spectating numbers plummeting. The free-flowing, exciting code of Rugby League had proved to be far more popular with the French. As Hitler's forced took over the country, Petain's collaborationist Vichy government was lobbied by the FRU. A government enquiry gave a convenient verdict and Rugby League was banned. Assets and Stadia were handed over to Rugby Union and players were encouraged to switch their allegiances. After the war, the code was not allowed to describe itself as 'Rugby' for nearly 50 years.
Nowadays, Rugby League is played across the nation, thanks to the Summer Conference. New League-playing nations are springing up all around the globe, from Japan to Morocco and from Russia to New Caledonia.
The game has gone through all the tribulations a professional sport can suffer; narrow-minded and short-sighted adminstrators in particular have brought the game to near disaster time and time again. As Rugby Union takes the first steps along the road towards true professionalism, the mistakes they make bring up uncomfortable memories for League fans who see history repeating itself.
The split within the game of 'Rugby' came about due to the question of compensating players for missing work to play. This was not considered important by the wealthy who ran the game, but for the working man, it was a vital matter. Consequently, the Northern Union was formed at the George Hotel in Huddersfield.
The reaction from the RFU was somewhat disproportionate, banning for life anyone who played the new code. This was supposedly for reasons of preserving the amateur 'Corinthian' ethos, yet players were also banned for playing Rugby League at amateur level. This practice continued for almost exactly a century, by which time many top Rugby Union players were being unofficially paid as much as, if not more than, their League counterparts.
The games moved apart in other ways too. Rugby Union became the 'Southern' code and Rugby League the 'Northern'. Rugby League, needing as a professional sport to attract spectators, modified and evolved their rules, most notably reducing the number of players per team to 13 from 15. Archaic Victoriana like line-outs, mauls and pushover tries were also discarded as irrelevant and insufficiently entertaining.
Rugby Union, coming from a public school background, used all the influence it could muster to repress the upstart code. The ban on playing the game in the armed forces remained in place until 1996, when an act of parliament was required to overturn it.
In many countries, underhand methods were used to hold back Rugby League and in many cases, such as South Africa and Italy destroy it completely.
But the worst and most shameful action was taken by the French. Before World War II, French Rugby Union was in what seemed like terminal decline, with playing and spectating numbers plummeting. The free-flowing, exciting code of Rugby League had proved to be far more popular with the French. As Hitler's forced took over the country, Petain's collaborationist Vichy government was lobbied by the FRU. A government enquiry gave a convenient verdict and Rugby League was banned. Assets and Stadia were handed over to Rugby Union and players were encouraged to switch their allegiances. After the war, the code was not allowed to describe itself as 'Rugby' for nearly 50 years.
Nowadays, Rugby League is played across the nation, thanks to the Summer Conference. New League-playing nations are springing up all around the globe, from Japan to Morocco and from Russia to New Caledonia.
The game has gone through all the tribulations a professional sport can suffer; narrow-minded and short-sighted adminstrators in particular have brought the game to near disaster time and time again. As Rugby Union takes the first steps along the road towards true professionalism, the mistakes they make bring up uncomfortable memories for League fans who see history repeating itself.
