There are two forms of Rugby played in the UK, Rugby Union and Rugby League. Rugby Union is played by teams of 15 while Rugby League is played by teams of 13.

Rugby Union Football is named after the English school, Rugby, where the game originated in the 19th Century. A popular myth is that rugby began in 1823 when a pupil at the school, William Webb Ellis "in fine disregard for the rules" picked up the ball and ran with it.

Rugby League was born in 1895 when clubs, mainly in the industrial north of England, broke away from the Rugby Union because players wanted compensation for the wages they lost while playing and training. Rugby Union did not become fully professional until 1995.

England became the World Champions by winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup when they beat Australia by three points in Sydney with Jonny Wilkinson scoring a drop goal just 26 seconds from the end of the game.

British teams experienced mixed fortunes during the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, with England and Scotland reaching the knockout stages and Ireland and Wales not making it past the first round. England completed an amazing recovery from a 36-0 hammering by South Africa in the group stages to reach the final in Paris, where they again lost to the South African Springboks, this time by 15 points to six.

After the first defeat to South Africa, England faced, in effect, five knockout matches if they were to reach the final and successfully defend the world title they so memorably won in Australia in 2003.

Wins over Samoa and Tonga secured a place in the quarter-final against old rivals, Australia. An outstanding performance from prop, Andrew Sheridan - who almost single-handedly destroyed the lightweight Australian forwards - was the highlight of a superb team display which sent England on to a semi-final against the hosts, France, in Paris. A crowd of more than 80,000 fans packed into the Stade de France saw England overcome the French by 14 points to nine. Fly-half, Jonny Wilkinson, was the hero, kicking a sweetly struck drop-goal from 40 metres to move England five points clear and secure victory with just over five minutes left to play.

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Rugby Football Union
Rugby Football League