The Original Rules of Rugby

by Bodleian Library, Martin Johnson (Foreword), Jed Smith (Introduction)

Rugby has rules, seriously? Believe it or not, it does. The Original Rules of Rugby brings together the original rules of the game drawn up at Rugby School in 1845 and the first rules of the Rugby Football Union in 1871. The book shows the complex evolution of rugby football and the intriguing history behind its shifting rules.

96 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

The Bodleian Library, established in 1602, is the main research library of the University of Oxford and one of the oldest libraries in Europe. In Britain it is second in size only to the British Library.

Ask an Oxford Librarian
http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ask/

Reviews

[Emma Armieri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed learning about the history of rugby. Some places were not detailed enough. Like they did not define hacking and other terms that I originally did not know.

[zb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read! Amazing just how much the sport has evolved in the last ~200 yrs

[Giles Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun antidotal book about the origins of Rugby and how these developed over time.

Foreworded by Martin Johnson