Founded in 1895, rugby league football is a handling form of football played by two teams of 13 players, the object being to score the most number of points through the scoring of tries (four points), goals (two points), and drop goals (one point).

History

The sport originated with the foundation of the first rugby union football clubs in the north of England in the 1860s. Started by the upper middle classes, rugby rapidly spread to the working classes of Lancashire and Yorkshire.These new enthusiasts brought different cultural norms and expectations—especially demands for payment for play. By 1886, the influx of workingclass players had become so great that the middle-class leadership of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) sought to curb their influence by outlawing payment. But the popularity of the sport in northern England meant these regulations were ignored. Thus, in 1922, did rugby league develop apart from rugby union. The new organization won the support of most northern rugby clubs, professional and amateur, but failed to take hold in the rest of England and Wales. A series of rule changes effected up through 1907 made the sport faster and more open and made rugby league more than simply a variation on rugby union.

Rules and Play

Played with an oval ball on a field measuring no more than 112 meters (122 yards) by 68 meters (74 yards), a match comprises two halves of 40 minutes each, during which each side has sets of six tackles, or downs, in which to score before the ball is turned over to the other side. The ball is propelled by players running with it or passing it, although the forward pass is illegal.

In 1907 the sport spread to Australia and New Zealand. In 1908 an Australian side toured the British Isles and a British side reciprocated in 1910, beginning a series of “Test” matches for the “Ashes” between Britain and Australia that have traditionally been seen as the sport’s ultimate challenge.

The rugby union authorities responded to the split of the Northern Union and its Southern Hemisphere supporters by forbidding rugby union players to have any contact with the rebel sport. Coupled with rugby league’s roots in working-class communities in England and Australia, and its willingness to embrace the participation of minorities often excluded from other sports, these discriminatory sanctions helped to forge the sport’s self-identity.“The workingman’s game” and “the most democratic sport in the world” have been two of the most popular descriptions of the game by its supporters. The depression of the interwar years saw rugby league in England and Australia grow stronger. England was able to import rugby league players from Australia, New Zealand, and Wales.Welsh players still play a leading role in the English game. French rugby league evolved along similar lines.Established in 1934, the sport was founded by players seeking open payment for playing. By the outbreak of World War II, rugby league was beginning to eclipse rugby union, but in 1941 the collaborationist wartime Vichy government, supported by the rugby union authorities, banned rugby league. Postwar, French rugby league flourished. The French initiated and hosted the inaugural world cup tournament in 1954. Britain won. The immediate post–World War II decades saw the game increase in popularity. In 1950 Australia defeated Britain in a three-match Ashes series for the first time in 30 years. This signaled the start of a gradual shift in the balance of playing strength to Australia, which was to result in Britain winning only 2 out of the 16 series played between 1960 and 1994.

The game declined in the 1960s with excessive television coverage and the decline of the industries from which it drew its support. This led to a radical rule change in 1966.To make the game more unpredictable, the attacking team was restricted to possession of the ball for just four tackles, before the defending side were given the chance of winning the ball. Based on the fourdown pattern of American football, the four-tackle rule proved too restrictive and was replaced in 1971 by the current system of a turnover every six tackles. This heralded the beginning of the modern age of rugby league, which was to become dominated by the influence of the Australian game. Influenced strongly by the coaching methods of American professional football and marshaled by outstanding players, their national side swept all before them, their success helping the game to spread to the southern Pacific islands and threatening the traditional dominance of rugby union in New Zealand. But despite the relative stagnation of their domestic game, British clubs, led by Wigan,won all but one of the world club championship finals up to 1994.