The History of the England national rugby union team covers the period since 1871, when the England national rugby union team played Scotland in the first ever rugby union international.
First match
The game of rugby union developed out of the game of football that was played at Rugby School from the mid-18th century. In the first half of the 19th century, the game began to spread, as ex-pupils of Rugby, and other public schools, introduced it into the universities. At Cambridge University, in 1839, a game was organised between Old Rugbeians and Old Etonians, and a rugby club was formed at Guy's Hospital, London in 1843. The rules of Rugby were first codified at Rugby School by William Delafield Arnold, W. W. Shirley and Frederick Hutchins in 1845. In 1848, representatives of the major public schools agreed a code of rules. On 26 January 1871, a meeting was held in London that led to the founding of the Rugby Football Union. Following a challenge from Scottish members, teams representing England and Scotland met at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, on 27 March 1871 in the first ever international rugby union match. Scotland won by four points to one, in front of 4,000 people.
1872–1899
In a return match at the Kennington Oval, London, on 5 February 1872, England won 8–3 (three tries, one conversion and one drop goal, to one drop goal). The next game between the two nations was at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, and resulted in a draw. The succeeding match between the two nations took place two years later on Monday 23 February 1874, at the same location as their first game. England again won the game, though this time the score was a lot closer; England winning just three points to one.
The following year England played their first game against the Irish at the Oval, winning seven nil; the match was Ireland's first Test. Another match between England and Ireland was held in December, with England winning again. Games were played against Scotland and Ireland in 1876 and 1877 respectively, and although holding the opponents scoreless, the margin of scoring was low. A second game against Scotland that year resulted in England's first loss since their first game.
In 1878 Ireland hosted England at the Lansdowne Road stadium in Dublin. England emerged as winners, defeating Ireland seven points to nil. After defeating Ireland in 1879, England followed this up with another victory at Lansdowne Road; although the game was a lot closer, with England winning four points to one. England hosted Scotland in 1880 at the Whalley Range ground in Manchester; which they won to become the first winners of the Calcutta Cup. They beat Ireland at the same ground a year later.
England played Wales for the first time, on 19 February 1881 at Richardson's Field in Blackheath. England racked up their largest victory, defeating the Welsh 30 points to nil. The subsequent meeting the following year at St Helens in Swansea was a closer contest; with England winning 10 nil. England drew with Scotland then Ireland in 1881/82, and were then beaten by Scotland in 1882. Scotland came close to defeating England again in 1883. The two try to one try win to England was watched by a crowd of 10,000. That year, the first Home Nations championship was held, and England emerged as the inaugural winners.
In 1884, England defeated Wales at the northern venue of Cardigan Fields in Leeds. This was followed by a successful defence of their Home Nations trophy, although the 1885 tournament was not completed. Despite the tournament not being completed, 1886 would have been a shared victory with Scotland.Both completed their three games; winning two of them. Wales and Ireland both played two and lost two. Hence if the tournament was completed the result would have been a tie between Scotland and England. In 1887, Ireland defeated England for the first time. In 1889, England played their first match against a non-home nations team. England defeated the New Zealand Natives 7–0 at Rectory Field in Blackheath.
In 1890, England shared the Home Nations trophy with Scotland. The following year England lost their game against Scotland, who won the tournament. However, the following year, England won all their games and won the tournament outright. England did not perform as well in the subsequent tournaments, only winning one game in both the 1893 and 1894 Home Nations championships. They won two of their three games in 1895, but dropped to winning one game in the 1896 and 1897 championships. They experienced a Home Nations whitewash in 1899, when they failed to win a game.
1900–1939
After winning one match in 1900, England was again whitewashed in 1901. They returned to form the following year, dropping one game. In 1905 England again lost all of their Home Nations games, and ended the year with their first encounter with the New Zealand All Blacks; the All Blacks won 15–0. In 1906 France began playing in the Home Nations tournament, and England won their matches against France and Scotland. Also in 1906, England played the South Africa (known as the Springboks) for the first time; drawing three all. England began their 1907 Home Nations with a big win, defeating France by 28 points at the Athletic Ground in Richmond. This was followed by three straight losses to the other home nations. England performed slightly better the following year, winning two of their four fixtures. This result was repeated in the 1909 Home Nations. England played Australia (known as the Wallabies) for the first time in 1909, losing three points to nine.
Twickenham was opened as the RFU's new home in 1910, This heralded a golden era for English rugby union. England's first international at Twickenham brought them success over Wales, and England won the International Championship (also known as the Five Nations) for the first time since the great schism of 1895, Their title coincided with the rise of Harlequin F.C., whose brand of attacking rugby led to a purple period in the years leading up to the Great War. England did not retain the title in 1911; winning and losing two games. England only lost one game (to Scotland) in the 1912 Five Nations, and thus shared that championship with Ireland. A Grand Slam of the Five Nations was achieved by England in 1913 (meaning they won every game). England successfully defended the title at the 1914 Five Nations, and achieved another Grand Slam.
There were no games between 1914 and 1920 owing to the 1st World War, but when the Five Nations resumed in 1921 England continued where they left off; winning another Grand Slam. Davies returned to head the attack, and Wavell Wakefield pioneered specialization in the scrum to give England an edge in forward play. They lost a game to eventual champions Wales and drew with France in the 1922 championship. In both 1924 and 1925 England won the Grand Slam.
They started 1925 off with a loss to the All Black Invincibles in front of 60,000 fans at Twickenham. This was followed by two wins, a draw and a loss at the 1925 Five Nations. England slipped to just the one win in 1926; with a draw and two losses in the Five Nations that year. This was followed by two wins and two losses at the subsequent championship. In 1928 England returned to Five Nations form, and produced a Grand Slam in the process. Although they only won the two games at the 1929 championship, England won it again in 1930. The following year, the tournament returned to its Home Nations format after France were excluded due to allegations of professionalism.
The 1931 Home Nations resulted in a three-way tie between Ireland, England and Wales. That same year England played the Springboks in front of 70,000 at Twickenham. England won the 1934 Home Nations with a "Triple Crown".A Triple Crown is when a Home Nation defeats the other three in one tournament. In 1935 England achieved their first victory the All Blacks; thanks in part to Obolensky's famous try.Polanski (2003), pg 38–39. The victory is still England's biggest over New Zealand. In 1937, England won the Home Nations, with a Triple Crown. Scotland won the following year, but England shared the championship again a year later, with Ireland and Wales.
1940–1979 Due to World War II, the Five Nations was not held again until 1947. France were now back in the tournament. England won a shared 1947 championship with Wales; losing just the one game. The following year England did not win a game; drawing with Wales and losing the rest of their games. The 1949 championship was better for England when they won half of their games. The early Five Nations competitions of the 1950s were unsuccessful for England; winning one match in the 1950 and 1951 championships. England toured to South Africa for the first time in 1952 where they lost to the Springboks three points to eight. The Five Nations was better that year however, as England won half their games. England was victorious at the 1953 Five Nations, winning all their matches except for a draw with Wales. This was followed up by a three-way tie with France and Wales the following year. They won only one game at the next year, as well as drawing another.
England won two of their games at the 1956 Five Nations, and followed this up with a Grand Slam the next year. They drew two games in the 1958 Five Nations, which was enough for them to win the championship. They also defeated Australia in England that year. Two draws, a loss and one win resulted at the 1959 Five Nations. France dominated the Five Nations championship for the early years of the 1960s, but England did share a win with them in 1960. Following this shared championship, England lost to the Springboks at the start of the year and only managed to win one game in the 1961 Five Nations. They drew twice in 1962, winning and losing their other games.
The following year England broke France's four-championship streak by winning the 1963 Championship. After this victory, England played three tests in the Southern Hemisphere and lost all three; 21–11 and 9–6 against the All Blacks, and 18–9 against Australia. The All Blacks came to England the following year; defeating England 14–0. England did not win a single game in 1966, and managed only a draw with Ireland. They did not win another Championship that decade.
The RFU's centenary year was 1971 when England struggled to overcome Japan 6–3 in Tokyo. Nevertheless, England had wins against southern hemisphere teams that decade; with victories over South Africa in 1972, New Zealand in 1973 and Australia in 1976 (albeit losing twice to the Wallabies in previous weeks). The 1972 Five Nations Championship was not completed due to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Following the British embassy in Dublin being burnt down by a mob after Bloody Sunday, and threatening letters being sent to players, Scotland and Wales refused to play their Five Nations away fixtures in Ireland. England played in Dublin the following year and were given a standing ovation that lasted for five minutes. After losing 18–9 at Lansdowne Road, the England captain, John Pullin famously stated, "We might not be very good but at least we turned up."
1980–1999