The World Rugby Museum is a sports museum in the South Stand of
Twickenham Stadium
Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team play ...
, London, England. Its collection comprises over 37,000 pieces of rugby memorabilia, boots, balls, jerseys, programmes, match-tickets, books and assorted paraphernalia.
The museum was first opened as The Museum of Rugby, in 1996, becoming the World Rugby Museum in 2007. It re-opened in early February 2018.
Exhibitions
The World Rugby Museum has several fluid exhibition spaces in which it rotates objects from its collection and curates a regular programme of special exhibitions.
Past exhibitions have included: HQ at 100, One Century Hundreds of Moments. More Than A Tour, the 1905 All-Blacks. Core Values: The Life and Work of Gerald Laing. England 2010, the Women's Rugby World Cup. Lest We Forget: Rugby and the First World War. Brave Blossoms: The History of Rugby in Japan.
Permanent exhibitions include: The 1871 Room, Amateurs and Professionals, Wartime Rugby, 6-Nations Gallery, Rugby World Cup and What Kind of Rugby Player Are You Interactive Gallery.
Education
The World Rugby Museum’s education facilities predominantly comprise its ‘Workshops and Seminars’ programme.
Workshops involve a series of hands-on, curriculum-focused active-learning sessions, such as: ‘Rugby Strips & Textiles’, ‘What Kind of Rugby Player Are You?’ and ‘Stadium Director.
Seminars are delivered by professionals from within the Rugby Football Union and include: ‘Twickenham Control’, ‘Commercial Twickenham’ and ‘History of Rugby and Football in Britain'.
‘Workshops and Seminars’ received the Sandford Award for Heritage Education in 2010, 2015 and 2020.
Collections
The World Rugby Museum has the most extensive collection of rugby football memorabilia in the world and includes over 25,000 recorded objects, 7,000 pieces of archival material and 7-8,000 photographs.
It includes the RFU collection, the
Harry Langton Collection
The Harry Langton Collection includes cultural and sporting items relating to the history of football and forms the core of both the National Football Museum in Manchester, England and the World Rugby Museum, housed in the South Stand of Twic ...
and the RFU Rugby Archive.
Star items include: the
Calcutta Cup
The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested be ...
, the 2003 Rugby World Cup, an 1871 England Jersey and Cap and an 1888 Anglo-Australian Tour Jersey and Cap.
The World Rugby Museum is a museum of international rugby history and includes objects from all over the globe.
Rugby Archive
The Rugby Archive consists of over 7,000 pieces of archival material including books, match-programmes, minutes and club histories.
Star items include: Rugby Football Union minutes 1871-1949, the 1907 Twickenham Stadium deeds, a photograph album relating to the first British and Irish lions Tour of South Africa in 1891, the original 'Football Rules' as produced at Rugby School in 1845 and the Rugby Football Union's 1871 'Proposed Laws of the Game'.
The archive does not operate a lending facility but students and private researchers can use the resource upon appointment.
Twickenham Stadium Tours
The World Rugby Museum operates Twickenham Stadium Tours that provide privileged access to areas within Twickenham Stadium, the English national rugby stadium.
Rugby Football Foundation
The World Rugby Museum comes under the umbrella of the Rugby Football Foundation, a charitable trust established by the Rugby Football Union.
See also
*
Webb Ellis Rugby Football Museum
The Webb Ellis Rugby Football Museum is a rugby football museum in the town centre of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, near Rugby School. It takes its name from William Webb Ellis who is credited with inventing the game of Rugby football.
The muse ...
- a rugby museum in the town of
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
in
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
.
*
Rugby Art Gallery, Museum & Library
The Rugby Art Gallery and Museum is a combined art gallery and museum in central Rugby, Warwickshire, in England. The purpose-built building housing it is shared with Rugby library; it was opened in 2000 and was built in the place of Rugby's previ ...
– also in Rugby; physical home of the
World Rugby Hall of Fame
The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...
*
New Zealand Rugby Museum
The New Zealand Rugby Museum, based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, is a museum dedicated to the sport of Rugby union. Founded by John Sinclair and modeled after the Trophy Room in Cardiff Arms Park in Wales, the museum's collections include eq ...
- a rugby museum in
Palmerston, New Zealand
The town of Palmerston, in New Zealand's South Island, lies 50 kilometres to the north of the city of Dunedin. It is the largest town in the Waihemo Ward of the Waitaki District, with a population of 890 residents. Palmerston grew at a major roa ...
References
External links
World Rugby Museum- official site
{{Authority control
Sports museums in the United Kingdom
History of rugby union
Museums in Twickenham
Rugby union museums and halls of fame
Museums established in 1996
1996 establishments in England