Original Rules of Rugby 1845

On 25 August 1845 three senior pupils at Rugby School received instructions to codify the game of Football. Just three days later W.D. Arnold, W.W. Shirley and F. Hutchins submitted 37 Rules to the Sixth Levee; they were immediately passed and a Rule Book was printed as follows

Football Rules

THE FOLLOWING Rules WERE SANCTIONED BY A LEVEE OF THE SIXTH, On the 28th August 1845, As the LAWS OF FOOTBALL PLAYED At Rugby School

RUGBY: J. S. CROSSLEY, PRINTER.

RESOLUTIONS.

THAT only in cases of extreme emergency, and only by the permission of the heads of the sides, shall any one be per-mitted to leave the Close, after calling over, till the game be finsihed, and consequently, that all dressing take place before that time.

That the punishment for ab-senting oneself from a match, without any real and well-grounded reason, be left to the discretion of any Præpostor.

That whenever a match is going to be played, the School shall be informed of it by the Head of the School in such manner as he shall think fit, some time before dinner on the day in question.

That no unnecessary delay take place in the commence-ment of the matches, but as soon as calling over be finished, the game be commenced.

That the old custom, that no more than two matches take place in the same week be stricly adhere to, of which, one must always take place on Saturday, without some strong cause to the contrary.

That all fellows not follow-ing up be strictly prohibited from playing any game in goal, or otherwise conducting themseleves in any way which shall be deemed prejudicial to the interests of their side.

That in consequence of the great abuse in the system of giving notes to excuse fagging, &c. and otherwise excempt fellows froma attendance at the matches, no notes shall be received which are not signed by one of the medical officers of the school, and countersigned by the head of the House, or by a Master when the case specified is not illness.

That all fellows at Tutor during calling over, or other-wise absent, shall be obliged to attend as soon after as possible.

That the Head of the School take care that these resolu-tions be generally known among the School, and as far as the case may be they shall apply equally to the big sides.

That Old Rugbæans shall be allowed to play at the matches of Football, not with-out the consent, however, of the two heads of the sides.

RULES.

i. FAIR CATCH is a catch direct from the foot.

ii. OFF SIDE. A player is off his side if the ball has touched one of his own side behind him, until the other side touch it.

iii. FIRST OF HIS SIDE, is the player nearest the ball on his side.

iv. A KNOCK ON, as distinguished from a throw on, consists in striking the ball on with the arm or hand.

v. TRY AT GOAL. A ball touched between the goal-posts may be brought up to either of them, but not between. The ball when punted must be within, when caught without the line of goal: the ball must be placed-kicked and not dropped, even though it touch two hands, and it must go over the bar and between the posts without having touched the dress or person of any player. No goal may be kicked from touch.

vi. KICK OFF FROM MIDDLE, must be a place.

vii. KICK OUT must not be from more than ten yards out of goal if a place-kick, not more than twenty-five yards, if a punt, drop, or knock on.

viii. RUNNING IN is allowed to any player on his side, provided he does not take the ball off the ground, or take it through touch.

ix. CHARGING is fair, in case of a place kick, as soon as a ball has touched the ground; in case of a kick from a catch, as soon as the players foot has left the ground, and not before.

x. OFF SIDE. No player being off his side shall kick the ball in any case whatever.

xi. No player being off his side shall hack, charge, run in, touch the ball in goal, or interrupt a match.

xii. A player when off his side having a fair catch is entitled to a fair knock on, and in no other case.

xiii. A player being off his side shall not touch the ball on the ground, except in touch.

xiv. A player being off his side cannot put on his side himself, or any other player, by knocking or throwing on the ball.

xv. TOUCH. A player may not in any case run with the ball in or through touch.

xvi. A player standing up to another may hold back one arm only, hold one arm only, but may hack him or knock the ball out of his hand if he attempt to kick it, or go beyond the line of touch.

xvii. No agreement between players to send the ball straight out shall be allowed on big side.

xviii. A player having touched the ball straight for a tree, and touched the tree with it, may drop from either side if he can, but the opposite side may oblige him to go to his own side of the tree.

xiv. A player touching the ball off his side must throw it straight out.

xx. All matches are drawn after five days, but after three if no goal has been kicked.

xxi. Two big-side balls must always be in the Close during a match or big-side.

xxii. The direction of sending into goals rests with the heads of sides or houses.a

xxiii. No football shall be played between the goals till the Sixth match.

xxiv. Heads of sides, or two deputies appointed by them, are the sole arbiters of all disputes.

xxv. No strangers, in any match, may have a place kick at goal. Deputies may be allowed to act by the head of the School-side, at the Sixth match.

xxvi. No hacking with the heel, or above the knee, is fair.

xxvii. No player but the first on his side, may be hacked, except in a scrummage.

xxviii. No player may wear projecting nails or iron plates on the heels or soles of his shoes or boots.

xxix. No player may take the ball out of the Close.

xxx. No player may stop the ball with anything but his own person.

xxxi. Nobody may wear cap or jersey without leave from the head of his house.

xxxii. At a big-side, the two players highest in the school shall toss up.

xxxiii. The Island is all in goal.

xxxiv. At little sides the goals shall be four paces wide, and in kicking a goal the ball must pass out of the reach of any player present.

xxxv. Three Præpostors constitute a big-side.

xxxvi. If a player take a punt when he is not entitled to it, the opposite side may take a punt or drop, without running if the ball has not touched two hands.

xxxvii. No player may be held, unless he is himself holding the ball.

As these rules have now become the Laws of the game, it is hoped that all who take an interest in Football will contribute all in their power to enforce their observance.

I like xxxv...

I think Præpostors are akin to Prefects ...

Now I just sound gay...

thanks for posting this!

i like the hacking rule, i assume that means tripping people up:D. If you could slide tackle in rugby it would be so much fun.

That hurt my brain

I think the Royals and Ancients at St Andrews were so impressed with xviii, that they adopted it.

The origninal laws for those playing outside of rugby school can be found here (copies of the original handwritten laws)

http://blackswans.org/laws_of_rugby_1871.htm

I thought 1871 were the first set of laws formalised by a newly formed RFU. As I understood it, from the 1840s football between schools was played to Cambridge Rules without differentiation between codes. These were variously updated over time, with the 1863 version being used as a template for Association Rules with some modifications. Thereafter, the Cambridge Rules governed anything not "soccer" until the sport was codified as "Rugby".

That's not quite accurate - there were actually all kinds of rules that schools were using in the nineteenth century. The Cambridge rules were adopted when the FA was formed in 1863 when they wanted to unify everybody under one code. The Rugby aligned schools refused and the RFU was formed 8 years later.

That's why that story about William Webb Ellis picking up a soccer ball is a myth. Under the rules played at Rugby School at the time players were actually quite entitled to use their hands. According to the story then (and many people doubt even this), the issue was that after Webb Ellis took a mark he ran with the ball instead walking back and kicking it.

Not how I understood it. Different schools had different rules internally, so the challenge was matches between schools. Cambridge rules were started in 1843, generally adopted in 1848 and updated in at least 1856 and 1863. There were certainly other sets as well, but Rugby school was signatory to the Cambridge set. The FA used the '63 version as a starting point with additional revisions (some of which caused immediate ructions), but only a couple of schools adopted them while everyone else just played on as before until Rugby was codified.

WWE is almost certainly is a myth, but it was not at the same time. It was never the origin myth for Rugby as a code, only for the rule set played by Rugby school. At some point their rules did change from a catch and kick game to a carrying game, but how that happened is a mystery. It was probably just an evolutionary thing long after Ellis's time, but I suppose there is always a remote possibility that the idea came from some past event in which he featured.

Whilst the first "Rugby" rules were penned in 1845, with the RFU (Rugby Football Union) being formed in 1871, England initially refused to join the International Rugby Board – which was founded in 1885 by the national bodies of Scotland, Ireland and Wales, after a disputed try in an international between England and Scotland.

Prior to the advent of the IRB, the RFU made up the laws of rugby union. The basis of England’s refusal to join the IRB was the argument that it should have a greater representation - as it had more clubs than the other nations involved.

The RFU eventually gave way on that point and affiliated in 1890.

It's interesting that the rules still weren't completely uniform at that point - England used a different scoring system to Scotland for instance. You could argue that American football was actually just another version of rugby at the time!

RFU was founded on the 26th January 1871, another reason to celebrate Australia Day.

http://twf.com.au/attachment.php?att...1&d=1257430006

And today is the 10th anniversary of John Eales team winning the Rugby World Cup

Jeez, so England has been dragging the lead from day one! Perhaps they got their way the first time and the die was set.