Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: Where did Rugby originate?
Rugby refers to the team sports rugby league and rugby union. Legend claims that Rugby football was started around the time of 1845 in Rugby School, Rugby, Warwickshire, England, although forms of football in which the ball was carried and tossed date to medieval times. Rugby eventually split into two sports in 1895 when twenty one clubs split from the original Rugby Football Union, to form the Northern Union (later to be named rugby league in 1922) in the George Hotel, Huddersfield, Northern England over the issue of payment to players, thus making rugby league the first code to turn professional and pay its players, rugby union turned fully professional in 1995. Both sports are run by their respective world governing bodies World Rugby (rugby union) and the Rugby League International Federation (rugby league). Rugby football was one of many versions of football played at English public schools in the 19th century. Although rugby league initially used rugby union rules, they are now wholly separate sports. In addition to these two codes, both American and Canadian football evolved from rugby football.
Rugby began its revival in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, as many colleges started club rugby teams. USA Rugby, the body that governs rugby in the U.S., was founded in 1975. On 31 January 1976, the U.S. national team played Australia—in its first official match since the 1924 Olympics—before 8,000 fans at Glover Field in Anaheim, California. Australia won the match 24–12.
Rugby union took root in Wales in 1850, when Reverend Rowland Williams became Vice-Principal at St David's College, Lampeter, where he introduced the sport. Wales played their first international on 19 February 1881; organised by Newport's Richard Mullock, Wales played against England, losing by seven goals, one drop goal and six tries to nil (8–0). On 12 March 1881, the Welsh Rugby Union was formed at The Castle Hotel, Neath. Two years later, the Home Nation Championshipnow the Six Nations Championshipwas first played and Wales did not register a win. However, rugby in Wales developed and, by the 1890s, the Welsh had developed the four three-quarters formation. This formation – with seven backs and eight forwards, instead of six backs and nine forwards – revolutionised the sport and was eventually adopted almost universally at international and club level.
Rugby league came into existence due to the very issue of professionalism. Rugby football split into 'union' and 'league' over the issue of payment to player. Rugby league favoured payments and has thus been a professional sport since its beginnings in 1895, when 22 clubs based in northern England split from the more amateur-minded Rugby Football Union. The officially amateur RFU had previously brought charges of professionalism against some clubs for their use of "broken time" payments to compensate players for missing work due to matches or injuries received whilst playing. On August 29, 1895 in a meeting at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, the clubs decided to break away and form the Northern Rugby Union, which later would become the Rugby Football League. The rules of rugby league were gradually changed so that now it and rugby union are distinctly different games, however rugby union has since turned professional as well. On 17 December 1967 the first professional Sunday matches of rugby league were played.
USA Rugby, the body that governs rugby in the U.S., was founded in 1975. On 31 January 1976, the U.S. national team played Australia—in its first official match since the 1924 Olympics—before 7,000 fans at Glover Field in Los Angeles. 
In 1980, USA Rugby formed a college national championship tournament. In 1987, the U.S. national team participated in the inaugural Rugby World Cup. The U.S. women's national team was officially formed in 1987. 
The Rugby Super League, a nationwide club competition, was played from 1996 to 2012. From 2003 to 2011, the U.S. national team played in the Churchill Cup, with the U.S. hosting matches from 2006 to 2010. The U.S. men's national rugby sevens team has participated in the World Rugby Sevens Series each year since the tournament's founding in 1999, and the women's national sevens team has participated in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series since the competition's launch in 2012. Rugby in the U.S. received a significant boost in 2009 when the International Olympic Committee voted to reinstate rugby into the Summer Olympics beginning in 2016. In 2014, the United States hosted the New Zealand national team before a record sellout crowd of 60,000+ at Soldier Field in Chicago, a match later billed as potentially marking the rise of American rugby. In 2016, PRO Rugby established the first fully professional Rugby competition in the U.S. Also in that year, the English top-flight club London Irish took a home match against Saracens to the Red Bull Arena in the New York area, marking the first top-flight English match ever held outside that country.
The Rugby Club was formed in 1945 and was originally the Headquarters of the New South Wales Rugby Union and later the Australian Rugby Union and was where Wallabies touring teams were presented their jerseys. It was also where the Australian Rugby Union and New Zealand Rugby Union Boards agreed to establish the Rugby World Cup and later the Super Rugby and Tri-Nations competitions and the clubhouse of Sydney Harlequins who Participate in the New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union.
Rugby union in the United States began its revival in the 1960s and 1970s, as many colleges started club rugby teams. USA Rugby, the body that governs rugby in the U.S., was founded in 1975. On 31 January 1976, the U.S. national team played Australia—in its first official match since the 1924 Olympics—before 7,000 fans at Glover Field in Los Angeles. The United States national team participated in the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup. Rugby in the U.S. received a significant boost in 2009 when the International Olympic Committee voted to reinstate rugby into the Summer Olympics beginning in 2016.
Rugby railway station serves the town of Rugby in Warwickshire, England. It opened during the Victorian era, in 1885, replacing earlier stations situated a little further west. Since the closure of the former Rugby Central station on the now-abandoned Great Central Railway route through the town, it is Rugby's only station. Between 1950 and 1970 the station was known as Rugby Midland before reverting to its original title. The station underwent an extensive upgrade during 2006–2008, with extra platforms added, and a new ticket office and entrance building constructed, however the original Victorian part of the station was retained in the upgrade.
Rugby union is played professionally, recreationally and in colleges, though it is not governed by the NCAA (see college rugby). An estimated 1.2 million people in the United States play rugby. The U.S. national team has competed at the Rugby World Cup. In rugby sevens, the men's national team is one of 15 "core teams" that participate in every event of the annual World Rugby Sevens Series, and the women's national team is one of 11 core teams in the Women's Sevens Series. The professional domestic club competition PRO Rugby began play in April 2016, but lasted only one season; a second attempt at a professional league, Major League Rugby, launched in 2018.
Rugby union participation in the U.S. has grown significantly in recent years, growing by 350% between 2004 and 2011. A 2010 survey by the National Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association ranked rugby union as the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. The sports profile in the U.S. has received a tremendous boost from the IOC's announcement in 2009 that rugby union would return to the Olympics in 2016. Since the Olympic announcement, rugby union events such as the Collegiate Rugby Championship, the USA Sevens, and the Rugby World Cup have been broadcast on network TV. The USA Sevens, held every year in February or March as part of the World Rugby Sevens Series and adding a parallel women's event in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series in 2017, regularly draws more than 60,000 fans to Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas.
Rugby football in Canada had its origins in the early 1860s, and over time, a unique code of football known as Canadian football developed. Both the Canadian Football League (CFL), the sport's top professional league, and Football Canada, the governing body for amateur play, trace their roots to 1882 and the founding of the Canadian Rugby Football Union (later reorganized as the Canadian Rugby Union). In 1909, the Grey Cup was donated by the then Governor General of Canada Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey, to recognize the top amateur rugby football team in Canada. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the two senior leagues of the CRU (the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union) gradually evolved from amateur to professional leagues, and found they had less and less in common with the amateur leagues, and consequently in 1956 formed a new umbrella organization, the Canadian Football Council. In 1958, the CFC left the CRU altogether and was renamed the Canadian Football League. By this time, teams from the amateur Ontario Rugby Football Union had stopped challenging for the Grey Cup, and ever since, it has been exclusively awarded to CFL teams. Since 1965, university teams have competed for the Vanier Cup.
The Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini rebranded rugby union as "palla ovale", deciding it was an evolution of the Roman game harpastum. The game was used as a vehicle for Fascist unity, and by 1927 rugby union had its own propaganda committee. However, Mussolini found rugby union inconveniently resistant to authority and dropped the sport, and for Fascist purposes turned to volata, a malleable kind of handball. Volata never caught on and in 1933 the effort was officially abandoned, however the invention of the game proved damaging to rugby union's popularity and place in Italian sporting culture. After the decline of the volata project, his supporters turned back to rugby in the years leading up to the Second World War as an alternative to soccer, which they saw as an effete English influence. However, despite this far right involvement, Italian rugby managed to escape too much of an association with the regime.
Today, college rugby continues to grow in popularity, and rugby is one of the fastest growing club sports across college campuses. The 32,000 registered college players in 2010 marked a 14% increase from 28,000 college players in 2008. Over 180 college rugby clubs started between 2010 and 2014.
The National Small College Rugby Organization grew from 85 teams in 2007 to 151 teams in 2011 and to over 200 men's teams for 2012. 
Several schools have increased their investments in men's and women's rugby programs, by creating rugby programs with varsity or quasi-varsity status and funding for scholarships, and Notre Dame and Texas have upgraded their rugby programs from "club" status to "Olympic" status.
Greenock hosts a rugby union team, Greenock Wanderers RFC, founded in 1873. It is one of the oldest clubs in Scotland.
The Loyola University Rugby Football Club is the men's rugby union team that represents Loyola in the National Small College Rugby Organization. The club is composed of over 50 student-athletes, alumni volunteers, and professional trainers. Founded in 1976 by a group of Loyola students, LURFC continues to be the oldest and most active club sport at the college. LURFC and its players have achieved many All-American titles and U.S. Rugby rankings, currently ranked #8 in the country and in the NSCRO "Sweet 16" in 2017.
The oldest rugby union club in Germany is the DSV 78 Hannover, formed in 1878 as "DFV Hannover", in a time when a differencation between rugby and football was not yet made in Germany. While there is older clubs in Germany then "DSV 78", like the Heidelberger TV which was formed in 1846, their rugby departments were established after "DSV's".
Because of these issues, and to raise the level of rugby in the consciousness of the American public, USA Rugby restructured Division 1 college rugby. In 2010, several of the top college teams agreed to form the College Premier League to begin play in spring 2011. USA Rugby and the top colleges believed that an elite level college rugby competition would make it easier to get college rugby onto TV and attract sponsors. USA Rugby also believed that a higher level college competition would develop players to potentially play for the U.S. national team.
Stoolball is a sport that dates back to at least the 15th century, originating in Sussex, southern England. It may be an ancestor of cricket (a game it resembles), baseball, and rounders, in fact stoolball is sometimes called "cricket in the air". There is a tradition that it was played by milkmaids who used their milking stools as a "wicket" and the bittle, or milk bowl as a bat. Hence its archaic name of "bittle-battle."
In 1960–1961 season, the first NHK Cup was held, which decides the No. 1 rugby club in Japan. Before that, university teams had been stronger than company teams in Japan. But after the World War II, many company teams were restarted or founded newly, and the company rugby were growing up. So Japan Rugby Football Union organized the NHK cup for three times from this season, and changed it to All-Japan Rugby Football Championship from 1963–1964 season.
A rugby union game is divided into two halves of 40 minutes (or shorter for lower-grade games, and breaks given halfway through each half if playing conditions are considered to be extreme) separated by a half time period of up to 15 minutes in an international match. Most notably, a rugby union game will continue after the scheduled end of a half (half-time or full-time) until the ball becomes dead - any occurrence that would have play restart with a scrum or lineout, or when a team scores. This has led to some "nail-biting" finishes where teams losing by only a small margin work their way towards scoring, and games can go on several minutes over time. Something similar can occur at the end of either half in American football, though usually for only a few seconds of additional time, because a play that begins before the half expires continues until the ball is dead regardless of whether there is any time left on the clock. In both sports, the clock is also stopped during substitutions and for injuries, so the referee does not need to add stoppage time as is done in soccer/Association football. American football games are made up of four quarters of 15 minutes each (less at the high school and youth levels), but the clock stops and starts according to specific rules, so that a 15-minute quarter lasts much longer.
For origins of the game, see Rounders, a game originating in England and Ireland. Unlike many other sports, the Official Baseball Rules have remained largely static during the modern era of the game. Many baseball players, fans, and administrators view the rules and traditions of professional baseball as time-tested and nearly sacrosanct.
The Boston College Rugby Football Club, or BCRFC, is a collegiate rugby union team that represents Boston College. It competes in the East Coast Rugby Conference (ECRC). Like other Boston College athletic teams, BC ruggers are called the Boston College Eagles. With over 90 members, BC Rugby is one of the largest athletic teams at Boston College.
The Boston College Rugby Football Club (BCRFC) founded in 1968, has an impressive 48-year history on the pitch, in the classroom, and after graduation. With league play every fall and tournaments during the spring, BCRFC fields three sides – A, B, and Developmental – with over 80 players participating each year. BCRFC nears its 50th Anniversary and has produced All Americans as well as players for the USA Eagles national team. The Eagles compete in the East Coach Rugby Conference each fall, against rivals AIC, Northeastern, Dartmouth, Fairfield, and UMass. Since 2013, Robert Conway has been the head coach of the Eagles.
In 1996, the inaugural Ireland "State of Origin" series was established between Northern Ireland and the Republic where representatives of the club teams engaged in the All-Ireland competition played for each region over a 3 match competition. The inaugural winner was the Southern team. Some of the players involved in the State of Origin series from both regions over the next few years included some of the original stalwarts of Rugby League in Ireland: Eric Doyle, Phelim Comerford, Rickey Smith, Innes Gray, Brian Carney, Sean Cleary, Gavin Gordon, Peter McNamara, [Dara MacCarthy], Gavin Lee, Paul Ryan, Conor O'Sullivan, Neil Ryan, Ernie Hendy, Dave Moore, Garret Molloy,Dara MacCarthy Mick Molloy and Mick Browne.
Rugby is an unincorporated community in Morgan and Scott counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Founded in 1880 by English author Thomas Hughes, Rugby was built as an experimental utopian colony. While Hughes's experiment largely failed, a small community lingered at Rugby throughout the 20th century. In the 1960s, residents, friends and descendants of Rugby began restoring the original design and layout of the community, preserving surviving structures and reconstructing others. Rugby's Victorian architecture and picturesque setting have since made it a popular tourist attraction. In 1972, Rugby's historic area was listed under the name Rugby Colony on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district.
An integral part of Rugby Road is "Beta Bridge". In the 1850s, a bridge was erected over the Chesapeake and Ohio train tracks in the location of what is now Beta Bridge, but the current structure was built in 1923. The bridge was a part of a citywide paving and improvement project to prepare Charlottesville area streets for the automobile. Although it was originally known simply as the Rugby Road Bridge, when the Beta Theta Pi fraternity built their house at the corner of Chancellor and Rugby in 1927, it took its current name. In 1971, that fraternity location was closed, and the Delta Upsilon fraternity moved into its current location at 180 Rugby Road. As the unofficial monitors of the bridge, brothers and pledges of DU would paint over offensive messages or messages which did not contain 'THX DU' (for "Thanks Delta Upsilon"). In 2011, Beta Theta Pi moved back into their original house next to the bridge, and now messages typically contain 'THX Beta'.
In 1966, preservationists formed Historic Rugby, a non-profit group dedicated to restoring and maintaining the community's surviving historic structures, which include the Christ Church Episcopal, the Thomas Hughes Library, the Rugby School, Kingstone Lisle, Uffington House, and Newbury House. The group has also reconstructed several buildings based on their original designs, including the Board of Aid office, the Rugby Commissary, and Sir Henry Kimber's Percy Cottage. The Harrow Road Cafe, a restaurant built in the 1980s, was named for a restaurant that existed at Rugby in the 1880s, although its original design is unknown. The Rugby Printing Works, which originally stood at nearby Deer Lodge, was moved to Rugby in the 1970s. Historic Rugby opened up the community's Beacon Hill area (originally planned to include residences and a park) to new home construction, with the condition that all new homes must be designed in accordance with the community's Victorian aesthetic.