Rugby Shorts
After a the Home Nations could not come to an agreement on a disputed try in a match between England and Scotland in 1884, the Irish Rugby Union, Scottish Rugby Union and Welsh Rugby Union met on this day in rugby history in 1887 in Manchester to create a board that could settle any similar disputes over the rules.
At the inaugural meeting, the committee members wrote up the first four principles of the International Rugby Football Board.
“That the Board approve of the rugby union Rules of 1885 and adopt them as the rules under which the International matches be played.”
England, the birth nation of the sport, was a noticeable absence from the meeting. The English boycotted the meeting saying they should have more representation since they had more rugby clubs.
Scotland was one team opposed to unequal representation. They agreed to drop their dispute over the 1884 but only if the meeting was held with equal representation.
The IRFB members were committed to including all the Home Nations countries and refused to play England until they joined which they eventually did in 1890. It was in this same year that the first international laws of rugby union were drafted.
Rugby Birthdays
1976 – Xavier Garbajosa, French rugby union footballer
