Who Framed William Webb Ellis

Tony Collins is emeritus professor of history, whose books include The Oval World: A Global History of Rugby and How Football Began. He has won the Lord Aberdare Prize for sports history book of the year four times, and appeared on many BBC television and radio programmes.

1. Who Framed William Webb Ellis?................................................5
2. Why Is Rugby Played With An Odd-Shaped Ball? ..................11
3. How Rugby Scored The Greatest Own-Goal Of All Time ......16
4. League Or Union: Which Is The Real Rugby? ..........................22
5. Why Didn't Soccer Have Its Own 'Great Split'? ......................27
6. Why Does Wales Play The Wrong Type Of Rugby? ................34
7. Why Didn't Lily Parr Play Rugby? ............................................39
8. The Mystery Of Sherlock Holmes's
Missing Three-Quarter.................................................................45
9. Unintended Consequences: How The All Blacks
Kick-Started Rugby League Down Under ................................49
10. Did Australian Rugby Union Lose The Code War
Because It Was Too Patriotic? ......................................................54
11. Why The 'First Lions' Weren't The First
(And Weren't Even Lions)............................................................59
12. Inner City Blues (And Reds):
How Manchester Was Lost By Rugby .......................................64
13. The Pen Is Mightier Than The Ball?
How Tom Brown's School Days Launched Rugby......................70
14. Rugby's Line-Out And Soccer's Throw-In:
Separated At Birth?.......................................................................75
15. Are Leicester Tigers The Most Important Club
In The History Of Rugby Union? ...............................................80
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16. Who Painted The Players Out Of William Wollen's
'The Roses Match'? .......................................................................86
17. Why Scrums Aren't What They Used To Be
(But Never Were Anyway)?.........................................................91
18. Leeds United's Secret Rugby League History ..........................97
19. Why Doesn't Robert Delaunay's Painting
'The Cardiff Team' Show The Cardiff Team?..........................103
20. Why Are There So Many Penalty Goals In Rugby Union?...109
21. Why Does Hull Have Two Professional Rugby Teams?........115
22. Is This Sporting Life Really A Film About Rugby? ..................121
23. When Rugby League Was Almost A Jewish Game................127
24. How Lucius Banks Became America's
First Pro Rugby Player And Rugby's First Black Pro ............133
25. Did Melrose Invent Rugby Sevens? It's Complicated ...........138
26. How Romanian Rugby Became A Cold War Football...........144
27. How Wigan v Bath Showed How Rugby Had Changed
... Or Did It? .................................................................................150
28. 1-2-3-4! The Rise And Fall (And Rise?) Of Drop-Goals.........156
29. Imitation Is Not Just A Form Of Flattery:
Why Union Borrows From League ..........................................162
30. The Game That Won't Die: Why Reports Of Rugby
League's Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated...................168