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James Stafford 🇺🇦 Profile picture
James Stafford 🇺🇦
@jpstafford
Author of @theputto, the Illustrated History of Rugby trilogy, Unbelievable Underdogs, Ragby, How Wales Beat the Mighty All Blacks. Editor of @theeastterrace.
Nov 1 • 17 tweets • 7 min read
Tomorrow, its @EnglandRugby v @AllBlacks in London.

It will be the 46th Test match between the two sides.

But how much do you know about the very first game in 1905?

A #rugbyhistory thread... 🧵 Image England began playing Test match rugby in 1871.

Before meeting NZ in 1905, England had played 84 Test matches.

The ONLY teams that they had faced were Scotland, Wales and Ireland. So the meeting with NZ was a big thing for the sport, the spectators and the players. Image
May 2 • 24 tweets • 8 min read
For my 'Rugby Rebels' book, I interviewed Jillion Potter, former USA rugby player. I've been lucky enough to meet, work with, and interview people from sports to politics to Hollywood. But my interview with Jillion was possibly the most incredible of them all. A thread.... 🧵🏉🇺🇸 Image As a child, Jillion was a tough cookie, loving rough and tumble play. Born in Austin, Texas, she enjoyed skateboarding and played basketball for her high school.

When she got to the University of New Mexico, she was approached to play rugby by other female players. Image
Mar 10, 2023 • 29 tweets • 14 min read
A brief history of the England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 rugby jersey ahead of the #ENGvFRA game in this weekend's #SixNations.

A thread. 🧵

The white shirt with its famous red rose was first worn back in 1871. On 27 March, 1871, 20 (yes, 20) men represented England against Scotland at Raeburn Place. The match was played under Scottish laws (laws at this point had regional variations) and played in front of 4,000 spectators.
Feb 23, 2023 • 30 tweets • 13 min read
A brief history of the Wales rugby shirt ahead of the #WALvENG game in this weekend's #SixNations.

A thread. 🧵

The scarlet shirt of Wales is one of the most iconic shirts in world rugby. Wales have worn red since their first game in 1881. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales played their first international before the foundation of the Welsh Rugby Union. Players wore a red shirt with the Prince of Wales feathers. As can be seen from the team photo, the shirts were not 100% uniform and two players didn't even have the correct one.