Rugby in Italy goes back around a century, and it has been established that British communities brought rugby to Genoa between 1890 and 1895, with other confirmations of games in Italy around 1909. The society that organised the first games didn't survive long and dissolved soon after them.
Its traditional heartland consisted of the small country towns in the Po Valley and other parts of Northern Italy.[6] One version says that Italian workers returning from France, particularly the south, introduced the game there, and gave it a significant rural/working class base, which still exists in towns such as Treviso and Rovigo.[6] A demonstration game was also played in 1910 in Turin between Racing Club París and Servette of Geneva. French students also introduced the game to Milan University c. 1911. While each of these events has been hailed as the "origin of Italian rugby", it seems that they probably happened more or less simultaneously and independent of one another, and that the introduction of rugby to Italy was a series of events, rather than a single starting point. Whatever the ultimate origins of the game in northern Italy, the region's proximity to the French rugby heartland helped as well.
The first match played by a representative Italian XV was in 1911, between US Milanese and Voiron of France. On July 25 of the same year the "Propaganda Committee" was formed which in 1928 became the Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR).
An original organisational committee was established in 1911, although it was in 1928 when the body became the FIR.
The expansion of rugby in the first half of the 19th century was driven by ex-pupils from many of England's Public Schools, especially Rugby, who, upon finishing school, took the game with them to universities, to London, and to the counties.[4] England's first international match was against Scotland on Monday 27 March 1871.[5] Not only was this match England's first, but it also proved to be the first ever rugby union international.[5] Scotland won the match by a goal and a try to a try,[6][7] in front of a crowd of 4,000 people at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh.[8] A subsequent international took place at the Oval in London on 5 February 1872 which saw England defeat Scotland by a goal, a drop goal and two tries to one drop goal.[7][9][10] In those early days there was no points system, it was only after 1890 that a format allowing the introduction of a points system was provided.[7] Up until 1875 international rugby matches were decided by the number of goals scored (conversions and dropped goals), but from 1876 the number of tries scored could be used to decide a match if teams were level on goals.[
In 1875, England played their first game against the Irish at the Oval, winning by one goal, one drop goal and one try to nil[7]; the match was Ireland's first ever Test.[12][13] England defeated Scotland in 1880 to become the first winners of the Calcutta Cup.[14][15] Their first match against Wales was played on 19 February 1881 at Richardson's Field in Blackheath.[15][16] England recorded their largest victory, defeating the Welsh by seven goals, six tries, and one drop goal to nil[7] and scoring 13 tries in the process.[16] The subsequent meeting the following year at St Helens in Swansea was a closer contest; with England winning by two goals and four tries to nil[7][17] Two years later, the first Home Nations championship was held and England emerged as the inaugural winners.[18] In 1889, England played their first match against a non-home nations team when they defeated the New Zealand Natives by one goal and four tries to nil[7] at Rectory Field in Blackheath.[19][20] In 1890 England shared the Home Nations trophy with Scotland.
England first played New Zealand
(the All Blacks) in 1905. The All Blacks scored five tries, worth three points at this time, to win 15–0.[22] The following year, they played France for the first time, and later that year they first faced South Africa (known as the Springboks); James Peters was withdrawn from the England squad after the South Africans objected to playing against a black player. The match was drawn 3–3.[23] England first played France in 1907,[24] and Australia (known as the Wallabies) in 1909 when they were defeated 3–9.
The year 1909 saw the opening of Twickenham as the RFU's new home, which heralded a golden era for English rugby union. England's first international at Twickenham brought them victory over Wales, and England went on to win the International Championship (then known as the Five Nations) for the first time since the great schism of 1895. Although England did not retain the title in 1911, they did share it in 1912. A Five Nations Grand Slam was then achieved in 1913 and 1914 as well as in 1921 following the First World War. England subsequently won the Grand Slam in 1924 and as well as in 1925.[26] This was despite having started 1925 with a loss to the All Black Invincibles in front of 60,000 fans at Twickenham.
After winning another Grand Slam in 1928, England played the Springboks in front of 70,000 spectators at Twickenham in 1931. Following the ejection of France due to professionalism in 1930, which thus reverted The Five Nations back to the Home Nations tournament,[28] England went on to win the 1934 and 1937 Home Nations with a Triple Crown,[29] and in 1935 achieved their first victory over the All Blacks.
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When the Five Nations resumed with the re-admission of France in 1947 after the Second World War, England shared the championship with Wales. The early Five Nations competitions of the 1950s were unsuccessful for England, winning one match in the 1950 and 1951 championships.[26] England toured South Africa for the first time in 1952 where they lost to the Springboks 8–3. England won the 1953 Five Nations, and followed this up with a Grand Slam in 1957, and win in 1958. England broke France's four-championship streak by winning the 1963 Championship.[26] After this victory, England played three Tests in the Southern Hemisphere and lost all three: 21–11 and 9–6 against the All Blacks, and 18–9 against Australia.[32] England did not win a single match in 1966, and managed only a draw with Ireland. They did not win another Championship that decade.
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Don White was appointed as England's first-ever coach in 1969. According to former Northampton player Bob Taylor, "Don was chosen because he was the most forward-thinking coach in England".[33] His first match in charge was an 11–8 victory over South Africa at Twickenham in 1969. Of the eleven games England played with White in charge they won three, and drew one and lost seven. He resigned as England coach in 1971.
England had wins against Southern Hemisphere teams in the 1970s; with victories over South Africa in 1972, New Zealand in 1973 and Australia in 1976. The 1972 Five Nations Championship was not completed due to the Troubles in Northern Ireland when Scotland and Wales refused to play their Five Nations away fixtures in Ireland. England played in Dublin in 1973 and were given a standing ovation lasting five minutes. After losing 18–9 at Lansdowne Road, the England captain, John Pullin famously stated, "We might not be very good but at least we turned up."
England started the following decade with a Grand Slam victory in the 1980 Five Nations - their first for 23 years.[35] However in the 1983 Five Nations Championship, England failed to win a game and picked up the wooden spoon.[36] In the first Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and Australia, England were grouped in pool A alongside Australia, Japan and the United States. England lost their first game 19–6 against Australia. They went on to defeat Japan and the United States, and met Wales in their quarter-final, losing the match 16–3
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In 1989, England won matches against Romania and Fiji, followed by victories in their first three Five Nations games of 1990. They lost to Scotland in their last game however, giving Scotland a Grand Slam. England recovered in the following year by winning their first Grand Slam since 1980. England hosted the 1991 World Cup and were in pool A, along with the All Blacks, Italy and the United States. Although they lost to the All Blacks in pool play, they qualified for a quarter-final going on to defeat France 19–10. England then defeated Scotland 9–6 to secure a place in the final against Australia which they lost 12–6
The next year, England completed another Grand Slam and did not lose that year, including a victory over the Springboks. In the lead up to the 1995 World Cup in South Africa, England completed another Grand Slam - their third in five years. In the World Cup, England defeated Argentina, Italy and Samoa in pool play and then defeated Australia 25–22 in their quarter-final. England's semi-final was dominated by the All Blacks and featured four tries, now worth five points each, by Jonah Lomu; England lost 45–29.[39] They then lost the third/fourth place play-off match against France
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In 1997, Clive Woodward became England's coach. That year, England drew with New Zealand at Twickenham after being heavily defeated in Manchester the week before. England toured Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in 1998. Many of the England team made themselves unavailable for the tour nicknamed the "tour from hell" where England suffered a record 76–0 defeat to the Wallabies.[40] In 1999 during the last ever Five Nations match, Scott Gibbs sliced through six English tackles to score in the last minute, and the last ever Five Nations title went to Scotland.
England commenced the new decade by winning the inaugural Six Nations title.[41] In 2001, Ireland defeated England 20–14 in a postponed match at Lansdowne Road to deny them a Grand Slam.[42] Although the 2002 Six Nations Championship title was won by France, England had the consolation of winning the Triple Crown.[43] In 2002, England defeated Argentina in Buenos Aires, and then the All Blacks, Australia, and South Africa at Twickenham.[44][45][46][47] In 2003, England won the Grand Slam for the first time since 1995, followed by wins over Australia and the All Blacks in June.
Going into the 2003 World Cup, England were one of the tournament favourites.[48] They reached the final on 22 November 2003 against Australia and became World champions after a match-winning drop goal by Jonny Wilkinson in extra time that made the final score 20–17. On 8 December, the English team greeted 750,000 supporters on their victory parade through London before meeting Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace
In the 2004 Six Nations Championship, England lost to both France and Ireland and finished third.[50] Sir Clive Woodward resigned on 2 September and Andy Robinson was appointed England head coach.[51] Robinson's first Six Nations campaign in 2005 resulted in fourth place for England,[52] and although they then defeated Australia 26–16,[53] the year was completed with a 23–19 loss to the All Blacks
Following their loss to South Africa in the 2006 end of year Tests,[55] England had lost eight of their last nine Tests — their worst ever losing streak. Coach Andy Robinson resigned after this run, and attack coach Brian Ashton was appointed head coach in December 2006.[56] England started the 2007 Six Nations Championship with a Calcutta Cup victory over Scotland.[57] The championship also included a historic match at Croke Park against Ireland which England lost 43–13, their heaviest ever defeat to Ireland
