Rugby Union was the original, starting back in the 1820s at Rugby School. Rugby League began to split from Rugby Union in the late 1800s, when the Northern Rugby Football Union broke away from the Rugby Football Union.
The whole idea of rugby dates back to 1823, when a schoolboy named William Webb Ellis supposedly picked up a football and ran with it during a match at his school. While some say this is just a story, rugby did indeed start at Rugby School as a kind of football.
As time went on in the 1800s, the game evolved, but there weren’t really set rules. This led to different versions of rugby popping up in various parts of the country. Toward the end of the century, things started to split a bit.
Down south, rugby union was more popular, especially among the upper and middle classes. But up north, there was a slightly different game known as Rugby League. This created some problems as people began writing down rules for the game.
Eventually, the Northern Rugby Football Union decided to break away from the Rugby Football Union and create its own league. The folks up north wanted to play Rugby League, so the sport split from Rugby Union. This means that Rugby Union came first, and Rugby League developed from it thanks to the northern regions.
When did Rugby League split from Rugby Union?
Well, both types of rugby kind of went along together through most of the 1800s. There weren’t really any fixed rules during that time, so they both just fell under the name “rugby.” The rules were kind of different depending on where you were in the country.
The official split between Rugby League and Rugby Union happened in 1895. This is when the Northern Rugby Football Union separated from the national Rugby Football Union, which takes care of Rugby Union. This is like the point where the two games went their separate ways. Later on, the Northern Rugby Football Union turned into the Rugby Football League, which still looks after Rugby League in England.
Similar splits between Rugby Union and Rugby League occurred in other countries too. In places like Australia and New Zealand, Rugby League became really popular during the 1800s. British travelers brought the sport there. The separation between the two forms of rugby happened in Australia and New Zealand in 1907.
Why did Rugby League split from Rugby Union?
Well, as the late 1800s went on, problems began cropping up. Some teams wanted to play in a way more like Rugby League, and there were also quite a few disagreements between the southern and northern Rugby clubs.
The Pay Issue
The big problem that really caused the two games to split is the disagreement about whether to pay the players. Back when rugby first started, it was all about playing for the love of the game, without getting paid. Keeping the game amateur was a strong belief among traditionalists who wanted to stick with that idea.
However, the clubs up north had a different view. They wanted rugby to become a professional sport, so they started making plans in 1892 to give players money for the time they missed from work to play. This didn’t sit well with the Rugby Football Union, even though they did pay players for things like the team’s tour to Australia in 1888.
Players were also unhappy because club owners were making money by selling tickets, but the players themselves weren’t getting a share. This was especially tough for the northern teams, where most players were from working-class backgrounds. In the south, it was a bit different – many players there came from middle or upper-class families.
This money issue was really the main reason behind the differences between the two games, and eventually, it led to the split.
Unfair Balance in RFU Representation
The other big reason Northern clubs got frustrated was that they felt they didn’t have a fair voice in the main governing group of the sport, the RFU. The committee of the RFU had more Southern clubs in it, and the meetings were mostly held in London. This made it tough for Northern clubs to attend.
The issue was that because of the distance, the RFU didn’t really listen to the Northern clubs’ needs. It felt like the Southern clubs, which were often from wealthier backgrounds, looked down on the Northern clubs that were mostly made up of working-class folks. The Northern clubs believed the only way to get their views heard was to leave the RFU.
Tough Punishments
Many folks point to how strict the punishments from the RFU were as the main reason that pushed Rugby League away from Rugby Union.For a long time, the Northern clubs had been suggesting to the RFU that they should pay their players. But the RFU insisted on keeping the game in its amateur form.
Even though these proposals were rejected, the Northern clubs realized that their players were losing out financially due to the time they had to spend playing. To keep the games going, they thought about giving their players compensation. Sometimes, they would ignore the RFU and pay players or set up a professional league.
But when they did this, the RFU came down really hard on them with harsh punishments. For example, Huddersfield got in trouble for giving money to players to switch clubs, and they ended up with a long suspension. People often saw these punishments as very unfair and way too tough on the Northern teams, even though the RFU had paid players before.
These super strict punishments made frustrations grow, which eventually led the Northern clubs to feel like they had to break away from the RFU.
