Tag: History
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‘We’d just thought you’d go away’: A Brief Early History of Women’s Rugby in The USA
How a counter-culture movement and a landmark civil rights case created the first World Cup winners.
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Your Favourite Rugby Player Probably Doesn’t Need an Autobiography
If you go to any high street book shop in the UK you will find, usually a very small, rugby union section. Your options will likely include a selection of small ‘fun fact’ books, Huw Richards’ Game for Hooligans, an array of books from the Good, the Bad, the Rugby podcast, and at least a…
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The ‘Monkey’ Who Almost Had Wales Kicked Out of the Home Nations
Just a few years after the first official Home Nations tournament, the then very small rugby world would be torn apart by one man and his house.
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The Even Weirder World of the Men’s Six Nations
Last week I posted A Brief History of the Weird World of the Men’s Six Nations, however, there were lots of extra weird bits that didn’t make it into the final draft. Here’s the even weirder world of the Men’s Six Nations for February’s Historian Tier Newsletter!
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The Rugby History Project 2025 Historiography
One of my least favourite pieces of academic writing as a historian is a historiography. Still, after sharing my top three rugby books of 2025 on social media, I thought that sharing all thirteen of the rugby-related books I read last year would be great for January’s Historian Newsletter!
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When Wales Lost a Region: The Tale of the Celtic Warriors
After months of speculation, on the 24th October 2025, the Welsh Rugby Union announced that they would be cutting the number of men’s professional teams from four to three. Let’s look back at the last time the Welsh Rugby Union cut a region.
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Chasing the Egg: A Short History of the Rugby Ball
The rugby ball is one of the most recognisable aspects of rugby, but also one of the most bizarre. How exactly did we end up as eggchasers?
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Meet the Valentines
The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of the Irish Women’s National Rugby Team
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Why is Rugby Union Posh?
In many countries, Rugby Union is considered to be a sport for the middle classes. Stereotypically played in private schools by the sons of professionals, the sport often struggles to overcome this perception. However, how true is this assumption and why did the sport gain it in the first place?
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Emily Valentine: The Female William Webb Ellis?
Emily Valentine was only ten when she picked up a rugby ball and played for Portora Royal School in Enniskillen. Since 2010 she has been hailed as the ‘female William Webb Ellis’ but how true is this?
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