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.
