There is a lot of myth that surrounds the origins of rugby, including the story that includes William Webb Ellis. The actually beginnings were far more complex than the legend and here in this article we shall look at how rugby in the 19th century began and how Twickenham rugby is now considered one of the most prestigious locations to play rugby in 2009 and 2010.

There were around about seven schools in the 19th century that were playing different versions of what is essentially known as 'football'. These schools were Eton, Harrow, Westminster, Charterhouse, Winchester and Shrewsbury. The games that these boys played were very different from the modern games of football and rugby. They were organised by the boys themselves and their masters had very little influence over how it was played.

The games were derived from the Middle Ages in which villages would play a rather riotous game against the neighbouring villages. The game would be played on a large open space and there were very few rules about the conduct of the game. It would have looked extremely different from a Twickenham rugby match today. However there were similarities between the games that the different schools played, each game used a single ball; there were two teams and two 'goals' with a rectangular pitch.

At Eton school the game was referred to as 'Field Game' and most schools allowed players to handle the ball and catch it, being able to claim a point. However as many similarities there were in the game there were also many differences and when the schools wanted to play against one another they came across problems. It is reported that a particular match in 1862 saw that rules of a 'compromise game' were created in which the rules that were common between the schools were included and the differences eliminated.

An attempt was then made to set a football code that would allow for all the schools to play against one another, this saw the formation of the football association. It was never the intention of this code to drive all of the other individual school rules into extinction, but due to the popularity of the sport that is what unfortunately happened.

By 1871 clubs were playing what was known as 'rugby football' made an opposition club to association football and the RFU was formed. This game is the same game that is now played at the home of rugby, Twickenham Rugby.