| Growing
Abroad, Strife at Home
Rugby quickly began to spread to other countries.
By the end of the decade, Scotland, Ireland
and Wales had also formed Rugby Unions.
The first international fixture, or match)
was played between Scotland and England
in 1871. Before the turn of the century,
countries around the globe from Argentina
to Zimbabwe (then known as Rhodesia) were
playing rugby. In 1900, Rugby made the first
of its four Olympic appearances. France
and Germany were the only entrants and France
won the Gold medal.
Even as the game grew in
popularity among players and spectators
in other countries, rifts were developing
at home. The first rift arose between Scotland
and England in 1884. The clubs had a dispute
and England took the position that since
the Laws of the Game had been developed
in its country, its decision on the dispute
was final. Scotland thought otherwise and
refused to play against England in 1885.
This dispute led to the
formation in 1886 of the International Rugby
Football Board. The Board was comprised
of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England
declined to join until 1890.
Pay for Play?
The second dispute arose over the issue
of player pay. Some teams wanted to compensate
players for “broken time”—time
that they had to take away from work to
travel or play with their rugby team. The
Rugby Union had strict rules against paying
players in any form. In 1896, two clubs
left the English Union over this issue and
formed the Northern Union. This Union grew
into what became know as the Rugby League
in 1922.
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