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1. William Webb Ellis Was Framed!
In the first episode of our ten-minute half-time history talks, Rugby Reloaded explores the myth of William Webb Ellis, investigates why it emerged when it did, and looks at its unexpected consequences.
2. Rugby’s Great Own Goal
In 1880 The Times said ‘the players of the rugby union game are probably twice as numerous as those of theFootball Association'. Rugby often attracted bigger crowds than even for the FA Cup Final. So what happened? How did soccer overtake and eclipse rugby? This is the story of Rugby's Great Own Goal.
3. Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the 1895 Rugby Split
In this Easter special, we take a look at Sherlock Holmes and rugby. What does the resident of 221B Baker Street have to do with rugby, and what is his connection to rugby's great split of 1895?
4. Why Does Wales Play the Wrong Type of Rugby?
In the second of our Easter weekend specials, we follow up the recent BBC Wales 'Rugby Codebreakers' documentary and asks why, if Welsh rugby had a similar industrial and social history to Northern England, is rugby union, and not rugby league, the national sport of Wales?
5. How ‘Rugby’ Evolved into Rugby League
Our ten minute rugby history podcast this week goes way back to explore how rugby evolved in Victorian times, giving birth to both rugby league and rugby union. Stand by for way too much detail on the history of scrums and points systems.
6. Albert Baskerville and the Birth of International Rugby League
This week’s Rugby Reloaded ten-minute history talk looks at how world rugby blew apart in 1907 and led to the birth of International rugby league - and how Albert Baskerville took a great leap into the unknown to change rugby forever.
7. Jean Galia and the First Ten Years of French Rugby League
This week your ten minute rugby history fix looks at how rugby league came to France, almost conquered a nation, but was then forcibly 'deleted' from French sport and society by the Vichy government during World War Two.
8. How Two Words Broke Rugby Apart
Take ten minutes out to discover how the word 'Broken' and 'Time' tore rugby in two in the 1890s. Why did broken time become the issue that broke the game apart? We go all 'fly on the wall' at the 1893 RFU annual meeting to find out what was going on.
9. Not the Lions: the 1888 British Rugby Tour Down Under
Spend ten minutes in rugby's time tunnel as we look at the first-ever British rugby tour to Australia and New Zealand. Although now claimed as the first tour of the rugby union British Lions, the tour was in reality opposed by the rugby authorities. Listen to how this unofficial team changed the face of international rugby forever.
10. 1895: The Aftermath
This week's ten minute time tunnel takes us back to 1895 and the aftermath of Rugby's Great Split. We take a quick tour of how the split unfolded across the north over the next few years, and look at how rugby union started to re-organise after its near-death experience.
11. The First Rugby Tour To Britain: The 1888 NZ Native Team
Take ten minutes out of your day to discover the amazing story of the 1888 NZ Native Touring Team to the British Isles. Pioneers of Māori rugby, the tourists won the hearts of many supporters but incurred the wrath of the English rugby authorities, leading to rugby's own mini 'Bodyline'-style controversy.
12. Sevens, Nines and Sixes: the origins of 'limited player' rugby
This week our half-time history talk looks at the beginnings of sevens, nines and sixes - the 'short form' versions of rugby - in a journey that takes us from the Scottish Borders to downtown Batley. Once again, we discover that the truth about rugby history is rarely pure and never simple.
13. From Wallaroos to Kangaroos: Origins of Australian Rugby League
From the Wallaroos to the Kangaroos, discover how Australian rugby union's embrace of amateurism ripped the game apart and why the popularity of the game led to the creation of rugby league - all in just ten minutes.
14. The Wally McArthur Story: An Aboriginal Rugby League Pioneer
This is the story of Wally McArthur, the first Aboriginal rugby league player to play for an English club. Born a son of Australia's Stolen Generation, Wally blazed a trail for Aboriginal players when he signed for Rochdale Hornets in 1953 and went on to prove that true greatness is about much more than what happens on the pitch.
15. Rugby League’s American Dream
What links Walter Camp, Lucius Banks and Harry Sunderland? As our latest ten-minute history tour explains, they've all played parts in rugby league's dream of establishing itself in the United States. Listen to the complete story of how league almost came to America in the 1930s.
16. Why Does Rugby League Have a Six-Tackle Rule?
This week's half-time history talk looks at why league has a six tackle rule. Was limited tackle rugby brought in to stop St George's domination of Australia in the 1960s or does it have deeper links with American football's four downs system (and Canada's three downs)? It's a six-tackle history in just ten minutes.
17. Wallabies versus Kangaroos: the battle for the soul of Australian rugby
Take ten minutes to discover how the Wallabies and Kangaroos battled it out for Australian rugby supremacy. This was a war that was fought on the playing fields of Britain as much as it was was on the paddocks of Sydney - and it left rugby league the winner.
18. Rugby’s Hundred Year War
This week's ten-minute time tunnel looks at rugby union's one hundred war against rugby league. From 1895 to 1995 rugby union excluded rugby league players from playing its game, developing a system that even rugby union's Danie Craven described as 'the strictest form of apartheid'. How and why could this happen?
19. Soccer 1885 versus Rugby 1895: Why Didn't Soccer Split Like Rugby?
How did soccer avoid a split over professionalism in 1885 but rugby tore itself apart over the same issue in 1895? In a special prview of my new book 'How Football Began' this week's ten-minute meander through sporting history explains why soccer stayed united but rugby split.
20. Why Soccer Went Global… but Rugby Didn’t
How did soccer became the global game - but not rugby? This week we take a ten minute world tour and compare the fate of soccer and rugby in Argentina and Brazil. Take a listen and discover how soccer defeated rugby to become the undisputed champion of the football world.