Rugby is currently overwhelmed with testimonies like Steve Thompson's and it raises existential questions about the sport's future.

For children, the benefits still outweigh the risks. But if my son wanted to turn pro? That might be different. Thompson is among eight players who intend to launch legal action for negligence in failing to protect them from the risks of concussions.

Selections such as these always create a stir, but after a decade of dominance New Zealand could be forgiven for scratching their heads.

Should Warren Gatland opt for proven Lions performers or give youth a chance? And what has changed since the Autumn internationals.

Rugby union is going through one of its dullest periods, and it is in desperate need of full houses to inject some joy to proceedings.

Plus: which players are in line to replace the injured personnel. I loved the game, loved playing the way I did and understood that I could get injured in many different ways.

England were made to battle their way past France in the final, while Ireland sealed third place with victory over Scotland.

Much of the sniping at England comes from supporters of other teams and Eddie Jones and his side should pay scant regard to it. Under 18 Academy League.

Heineken Champions Cup. Challenge Cup. Bath Rugby. Bristol Bears. Exeter Chiefs. Gloucester Rugby. Leicester Tigers.

London Irish. Newcastle Falcons. Northampton Saints. Sale Sharks. Worcester Warriors. Community News. Improve a Million Lives.

Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup. Premiership Rugby Academy. Try Rugby Premiership Rugby Scholarships. Full-back Stokes rejoins London Irish.

England beat France in dramatic final. Sale snuff out London Irish for second win. Harlequins hold on with 14 men to earn bonus-point win at Gloucester.

Avenging England set sights on silverware. The top domestic women's competition is the Premier 15s. Rugby in England is generally attributed to when William Webb Ellis "who with a fine disregard for the rules as played in his time, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it" in at the Rugby School , although modern scholars consider this story to be a myth.

One of the earliest football clubs formed, some claim it to actually be the first, is the Guy's Hospital Football Club which was founded in in Guy's Hospital , Southwark , London.

The club played an early version of rugby football and was formed by old boys of the Rugby School. The Football Association was formed at the Freemasons' Tavern , Great Queen Street, on Lincoln's Inn Fields , London on 26 October , with the intention to include the most acceptable points of play under the one heading of football.

However, disagreements over what was being excluded led the Blackheath Club to withdraw from the association which was followed by a number of other clubs.

In , Richmond F. On 27 March the first ever international match took place, involving the English rugby team and the Scottish.

Scotland won the match, which was played at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh. In , England opted not to join the International Rugby Football Board which was formed by Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as they thought they should have greater representation on the board as they have the larger number of clubs.

By the late 19th century, the issue over broken time in rugby had become important, particularly in the North of England, where a larger working class played rugby compared to the south, thus their work and injuries they received whilst playing came into conflict with the rules of amateurism.

With mounting pressure regarding player payments and veiled professionalism , on 29 August at a meeting at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, 21 clubs met to form the Northern Rugby Football Union and thus resigned from the RFU.

The game of rugby league was formed from the disaffected clubs. During this period, rugby was played between counties similar to the system of first-class cricket in England now.

In , Cornwall won the county tournament and went on to represent Britain at Rugby union at the Summer Olympics.

During the First World War , the Four Nations Championship became suspended in and it was not resumed until One hundred and thirty three international players were killed during the conflict.

Many played in the eight rugby "Internationals" between England and Scotland which were played by Armed Services teams. The authorities also allowed the playing of two "Rugby League vs.

Rugby Union" fixtures as fundraisers for the war effort both matches were won by the rugby league teams playing rugby union. In , long after the William Webb Ellis had become engraved as a legend in the history of rugby union, his grave was finally located by Ross McWhirter in the French town of Menton near the border with Monaco.

The RFU had long resisted leagues competitions, as it was thought that they would encourage player payments, thus most club matches were only organised friendlies, with competitions such as the County Cups and County Championship existing also.

The league evolved over time since starting in when the Courage Leagues were formed, a league pyramid that had more than clubs playing in leagues; each with promotion and relegation.

The Heineken Cup was formed in as a competition for twelve European clubs and ran through to the —14 season, after which it was replaced by the European Rugby Champions Cup.

The century-old competition for the European rugby powers became the Six Nations Championship in with the addition of Italy. In November a proposal was made and adopted by the RFU to create a fully professional second tier of club rugby, to be called the Championship.

It replaced National Division One starting with the —10 season. The team Premiership is the top level of competition; it is fully professional, but has a salary cap in place.

The Championship became fully professional in —10; League 1 is semi-professional. Below this there are many regional leagues. Attendances at club rugby in England have risen strongly since the sport went professional.

Some clubs have good all seater grounds in the 10,—25, capacity range; some have older grounds which are still partly terraced, and others play in council -owned joint-use stadia.

Some clubs rent stadia from football clubs. From through to , the top-level European club competition was the Heineken Cup, contested by the best teams from the Six Nations countries of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.

Through its history, it was viewed by some as the top prize in European rugby for club teams.

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