William Webb Ellis was an English Anglican clergyman who, by tradition, has been credited as the inventor of rugby football while a pupil at Rugby School. According to legend, Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it during a school football match in 1823, thus creating the "rugby" style of play. Although the story has become firmly entrenched in the sport's folklore, it is not supported by first hand evidence, and is discounted by most rugby historians as an origin myth.
The only known contemporary image of Webb Ellis, published in the Illustrated London News, 1854
Webb Ellis grave in le cimetière du vieux château at Menton in Alpes Maritimes
Webb-Ellis carries the ball during a school football match played in 1823. According to legend, this action created the rugby style of play
Image of the plaque at Rugby School
Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league.
Football match on the 1846 Shrove Tuesday in Kingston upon Thames, England
Griffins RFC Kotka, the rugby union team from Kotka, Finland, playing in the Rugby-7 Tournament in 2013
Calcio Fiorentino match in Piazza Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy, painted by Jan Van der Straet
A scrummage in a La soule game in Basse Normandie, France, 1852
