Rugby Football during the Nineteenth Century: A Collection of Contemporary Essays about the Game by Bertram Fletcher Robinson [Paperback]

The mid-nineteenth century represented the sporting equivalent of the "big bang" in terms of winter sports in England, giving rise to the development of what today we call rugby union, football and rugby league, all from the same origin. Perhaps due to its popularity amongst the public schools of the day, rugby union for many years claimed the moral high ground, advocating amateurism and an emphasis on playing the game rather than providing a public spectacle. Indeed, the arguments over the dangers of professionalism, which initially let to the split into rugby league from the Northern clubs, continued in union for well over a hundred years right up to the former England captain Will Carling's description of the powers that be of the RFU as "old farts". In 1896 Bertrand Fletcher Robinson, together with contributions from a few leading players of the day, wrote Rugby Football which was the first volume in a successful nine-part series on Sports and Pastimes that was written for the Isthmian Library. This edition is effectively a facsimile of that edition, with the addition of an introduction, penned by Patrick Casey and Hugh Cooke and compiled by Paul Spring.

In his Foreword to the book Graeme Marrs (you could almost put together a rugby side from the people involved in this book) suggests that "one does not have to be a rugby enthusiast to derive enjoyment from the read". I'm not so sure about that. It's a fairly specialist subject matter and of niche interest and if you have no interest in the game, I would suggest that you will find this less than enthralling.

Paul Spring notes that first editions of the Isthmian Library book are both rare and expensive and so he has taken it upon himself to provide a more accessible version, and this is clearly a good thing.

The emergence of rugby union was chaotic and often highly amusing, but I did not feel that this was particularly evident in the introduction which, while comprehensive, was on the dry side. I'm always a bit suspicious when an author uses the word "interestingly" with a high level of frequency. It's usually better to let the reader be the judge of that.

There's absolutely no doubt that Fletcher Robinson was a fascinating individual. A keen rugby player in his youth, he was also a distinguished editor and writer and, for example worked with both Arthur Conan Doyle (another keen rugby player) and PG Woodhouse - although this is not the subject of this book. However, what I found remarkable was the 'modern' tone of his writing. Much of the style would fit very well into the newspapers of today, combining authority with frequent wit. Of course, given the period of writing, there are times when Fletcher Robinson, or more frequently some of the other contributors, lapse into the style so brilliantly lampooned by Harry Enfield's Mr Cholmondley-Warner, but it's more remarkable how un-dated much of the writing - and styles of rugby described - appear to the modern reader. However, he does view the "passing craze" as he describes it as having gone quite far enough. Then again, in his playing days, Fletcher Robinson was a forward.

Of course, it's more amusing to pick out the more dated issues. Today's players are unlikely to be bothered by the dangers of poisonous dies in their rugby jerseys seeping into their blood, and the chapter on 'Hints on Training' provides some priceless advice, noting that "an energetic school captain should see that none of his 'men' indulge inordinate desires for jam-puffs" and on the subject of tobacco Fletcher Robinson is adamant that "the pipe, then, must remain a matter for the individual conscience". I'm not sure I'd like to be the one to argue that case with Martin Johnson!

Scottish readers too will rejoice in the claimed superiority of "the Scotch schools" in playing the game and Fletcher Robinson proves an accurate judge to note that the French, Australian and New Zealanders may one day master the game enough to challenge the home nations! He also relates the story of a player playing against an early New Zealand touring team getting bitten in the leg - so some things haven't changed that much!

There's much in the book about the playing of the game in schools (by which of course he means public schools) which may now seem a bit nostalgic, but equally, perhaps it is today's educators that Marrs has in mind when he views this as having a wider readership. Organised sports in schools is as much of a good thing today as it was in the nineteenth century, although now less common. For some reason, he is also slightly obsessed with American footballers' tendency to have long hair.

Finally, as a facsimile production, the size of the original book was (and please forgive a lack of technical terminology here) roughly the size of the Wisden cricket books and so, in a modern sized book there is a lot of blank paper. I'm sure there is a good (probably technical) reason for this, but in today's environmentally aware world, I wonder why the book couldn't have been of the original size to save on paper.

So, although specialist in nature, it is a useful and insightful addition to books on the history and development of the game which is to be welcomed.

FOUR years before the mighty New Zealand All Blacks were formed, a touring Maori XV were showing Devon rugby fans just how the game was played on the other side of the world - and it wasn't for the faint-hearted.

During the one-sided encounter against the county's best, one of the home forwards came off the pitch at Exeter rubbing his leg. When asked what was wrong, the bruised and battered player replied: "I came to play football, not to join in a dog fight! One of the beggars has bitten me in the calf."

A crowd of several thousand turned out to watch the tourists who, after discarding their impressive native headdresses, ran in no fewer than seven tries and fired over two goals. The Devon team failed even to get on the score sheet.

Among the crowd that day in January 1889 was Bertram Fletcher Robinson, a teenager from the South Devon village of Ipplepen who had gone to watch his school's classics master and rugby coach take to the field against the tough-tackling Maoris. The match left such an impression on the youngster that when he wrote a book seven years later charting the birth of Rugby Union he featured it in his tome.

During their 25-week tour, the Maoris played no fewer than 74 matches, of which they won 49, drew five and lost 20. The tourists, wrote Fletcher Robinson, were at first very weak in passing the ball, though they steadily improved in this area.

However, their scrummaging was always their strong point. "This is hardly to be wondered at, considering that three of their team weighed over 14 stone, while five more were 13 stone or more," he wrote.

"Unfortunately, a good first edition of the book is rare and expensive - typically retailing for Pounds 250," Spiring says. "Hence, I decided to republish it at a fraction of that price in the hope that this might broaden its readership and help to perpetuate the essence of rugby."

Bertram Fletcher Robinson was the rugby expert at the time the game split into the two codes, late 1800s, and this book is a fascinating insight not only into the debate around amateurism but a great read for someone like me who came to the game later in life. The commentary and introductions from Spiring, Casey and Cooke are excellent. Now I just have to get my football following husband to read it and get converted.