The Royal Air Force Rugby Union (RAFRU) was formed in 1918 to administer the playing of

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. It fields a representative side that competes in the Inter-Services tournament with the

Army Rugby Union The Army Rugby Union (ARU) is the governing body for rugby union in the British Army and a constituent body of the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The ARU was formed on 31 December 1906 and marked the fulfilment of Lieutenant J. E. C. "Birdie" Partr ...

and the

Royal Navy Rugby Union The Royal Navy Rugby Union (RNRU) was formed in 1907 to administer the playing of rugby union in the Royal Navy. It fields a representative side that competes in the Army Navy Match, although a side representing the Royal Navy predates the formati ...

History

The founding of the RAFRU relies much on the shoulders of

William Wavell Wakefield William Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal (10 March 1898 – 12 August 1983), known as Sir Wavell Wakefield between 1944 and 1963, was an English rugby union player for Harlequins, Leicester Tigers and England, President of the ...

. He joined the Royal Navy Air Service but on the formation of the

in April 1918 he transferred to them. He was one of the founders of the RAFRU; and in its early years a driving force:- he was a player, captaining the team; a selector; and the secretary of the RAFRU. He played in 8 Inter-Service matches for the club, captaining the side in all the matches. His last two matches for RAFRU were particularly noteworthy. The RAFRU played its first Inter-Service match at

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 ...

on 14 February 1923. This was against the

. They beat the Navy 3-0 in the match. Another Inter-Service match was organised against the

on 10 March 1923, again at Twickenham, and again RAFRU were victorious, winning the match 13-5 and becoming Twickenham's Inter-Service champions at the first time of asking. The RAF-Army match was Wakefield's last match as a player for RAFRU. That same year he was called up to the England squad.

100th Anniversary year

2018 became a notable year for the club as they beat both the Army and Navy sides, becoming Inter-Service Champions for the first time since 1994.

Womens side

The RAFRU run a womens side. They compete for the Molly Rose trophy with the womens navy side.

Veterans side

The veterans side is known as the Royal Air Force Vultures.

Notable former players

Scotland internationalists

The following former RAFRU players have represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

at full international level. * Angus Black * William Steele * Percy Friebe * Jim Greenwood *

Norman Munnoch Norman McQueen Munnoch (4 January 1929 – 6 November 2023) was a Scottish international rugby union player. He played as a hooker. Rugby union career Amateur career Norman played for the Watsonians. He also played for the RAF rugby union t ...

* Roy Kinnear * William Penman * Keith Geddes

Wales internationalists

The following former RAFRU players have represented

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

at full international level. *

Willie Davies Willie Davies (23 August 1916 – 26 September 2002) was a Welsh international dual-code rugby fly half who played rugby union for Swansea and rugby league for Bradford Northern. He won six caps for the Wales rugby union team and nine caps for ...

* Bleddyn Williams *

Jeff Young Jeffrey "Jeff" Young (born March 31, 1962) is an American guitarist. He graduated from Musicians Institute in 1985, and is best known for his time with the thrash metal band Megadeth, appearing on the 1988 album '' So Far, So Good... So What! ...

Sian Williams Sian Mary Williams (; born 28 November 1964) is a Welsh journalist, current affairs presenter best known for her work with the BBC, and psychologist. From 2001 until 2012, Williams regularly presented weekday editions of ''BBC Breakfast'' as ...

England internationalists

The following former RAFRU players have represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at full international level. * William Wakefield *

Don Rutherford Donald Rutherford (22 September 1937 – 12/13 November 2016) was an international rugby union player and administrator. He was the first ever Technical Director of the Rugby Football Union at Twickenham, becoming Director of Rugby where he s ...

Paul Hull Paul Anthony Hull (born 17 May 1968) is an English former rugby union international full back. He was head coach of Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and un ...

* Bob Weighill * Peter Larter * John Orwin * Rory Underwood * Peter Yarranton

Ireland internationalists

The following former RAFRU players have represented

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

at full international level. *

George Beamish Air Marshal Sir George Robert Beamish, (29 April 1905 – 13 November 1967) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force from the Second World War to his retirement in the late 1950s. Prior to the Second World War, while Beamish was in the R ...

References

{{Portal, United Kingdom, War 1918 establishments in the United Kingdom Military sport in the United Kingdom Sports organizations established in 1918 Royal Air Force