Rugby Multimedia and Photos from 'Round the World
NOTE: Since I created this page in late 1998, the Internet has developed many good multimedia resources; Youtube.com is an excellent one. If you are looking for rugby videos I suggest typing "rugby" in the search box of that site. There is a lot of good stuff out there that I simply do not have the disk space to store! (Okay, I'll make it a little easier on you: Various youtube rugby videos) - Wes
An image of me for the curious. This photo doesn't do me justice, I assure you. In real life I am much more handsome and formidable.
William Webb Ellis - A picture of the legendary inventor of rugby, as a priest.
William Webb Ellis' gravesite - You can see the famous inscription on the tombstone.
William Webb Ellis marker - Plaque at Rugby School.
The Close again - This time from an old postcard.
An artsy view of the close - From a postcard.
View of Rugby School - From the road.
A cartoon about baseball that is also relevant to rugby.
One of the lock forwards on the Starfleet Select Side. Cauliflower ears not an issue. Nose got that way from too many rucks.
Some Old Boys - Clearly, wrapping one's head with electrical tape is not an activity necessarily confined to the young! In fact, this is the beauty of rugby: anyone, at any age, can go onto a pitch of grass and slam into one's peers for two or three halves with one's head wrapped in electrical tape.
the New Zealand Eye Gouge - This makes me queasy just thinking about it.
Garin "Tenpin" Jenkins - An eye gouge image from the 1999 RWC.
Bendy knee - Ouch! Looks like a player in the London Irish.
Punch in the face - This can't be legal.
Mmm. Tasty. - Hey, dummy. Matches are videotaped these days.
When Eagles Collide - This wasn't good.
What's that 'Bok doing up there?
A big Celtic hug - Awwwwww.
US Eagle prop George Sucher - You can dress rugby players up, but you can't expect presentable photographs.
Andrew Mehrtens flies the bird - This was his response to some Bulls fans in Pretoria. He seems like such a nice fellow, too. Another in the series of Ruggers With Extended Middle Fingers. (See above.)
Jonah Lomu - Pulling away from some English.
How To Perform The Haka - Here's what it is they're doing, should you care to try it yourself.
Steinlager All-Blacks poster page, 1987-1999.
1905 postcard image of the All-Blacks
1905 All-Blacks haka - It just looks weird!
1907 postcard image of the All-Blacks
1932 postcard image of the Cardiff RFC
Football in 1827 - Wearing funny hats, yet.
Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer - A great image of the 1998 Welsh side. I just couldn't resist this one - especially since some cranks fussed about the religious song title.
Fiji's Mesake Rasari smiles for the camera
Rugby baby - Some dads cannot be restrained.
1977 Russian rugby stamp issue
A better Australian centennial stamp issue
1886 vintage ruggers - I don't know from what team or club.
rugby doll - Yes, they have them in New Zealand. You can tell if it's Mattel, it's swell!
More rugby dolls - Maybe they're really "action figures."
Jeff Wilson, headliner - How he can sprint with that swollen head, I don't know.
Sports Illustrated - This site was listed as a rugby reference in the 11/1/99 issue, on page 26. Cool!
An 1891 rugby ball ad - Not especially interesting, but what the heck?
The Harley-Davidson All-Blacks - They brandish motorcycle chains while doing the haka.
Winnipeg Rugby - I'm confused. (And Pete Murray from my club weighs in to relieve my confusion: "I can understand your not understanding the Winnipeg RFC line-up which looks a gridiron lineup. Well, in fact, it is a gridiron lineup. The short of the story is that the Canadian Football League (CFL) was called something like the "Canadian Rugby Union" until the 1950s. All clubs in the league were rugby football clubs but they played gridiron. I am not sure when they switched "codes" but the Grey Cup is still awarded to the top rugby club or so the legend says on some of the Canadian rugby sites.
A rugby spoon - That's right, a spoon.
Rugby Punch print - Silly women!
Zulus! - Warning! Partial nudity! This is the rugby team of Paris. They zulued before a game to celebrate the opening of the "Stade Charletty."
Rugby Rowdy - Uh, yeah, well... I found this on E-Bay.
Eggheads - Don't ask. I don't understand. But here's photographic proof.
I Love Rugby - A Nike ad.
I Love Rugby - Another Nike ad.
John Hart: Guilty! - They sure take their rugby seriously in New Zealand...
Philly-Whitemarsh's National 7's poster - Good design or bad design? Good design. (But then, I'm into retro.)
Rugby Smurf - The question is, why?
Rugby Clown - Again, the question is, why?
Well, it's still a cup, right?
The McDonald's All-Blacks Snoopy - Now there's a combination! A McDonald's giveaway from Australia.
Robertson's Rugby Gollywog - A trade card from 1955. This one takes some explaining! Robertson's manufactures jams and jellies. The "gollywog" - their symbol - is this stereotyped image of a black man; this one is holding a rugby ball. No, it is not politically correct. If Robertson's were an American company their gollywog would have gone the way of Aunt Jemima's slave kerchief.
Robertson's Rugby Golly pin - A pin of the same fellow from above.
Disney tray - Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off for a try we go.
Half time - This cartoon could be about rugby or soccer.
The All-Blacks vs. Rugby Androids - An exciting fantasy match brought to you by Weet-Bix.
rugby cats - The All-Blacks vs. the All-Whites.
Elliman's Universal Embrocation - Good for kicks and bruises. From the 1890's.
Out of the Game - We've all been there.
Twickenham weathervane - I like weather vanes, this one especially. Mercury's butt seems a little pronounced, however...
Rugby mouse whistle - The perfect gift for rugby coaches...
South African postcard: "a scrum"
Rugby print from 1896 - And a colorful one, too.
The Rugby Match by William Barns Wollen - You can buy it here. It depicts a Yorkshire vs. Lancashire game, before rugby league was formed. When it was, the players who went into league play were airbrushed out of the drawing by the Rugby Union authorities. The original hangs in the clubhouse at Otley, in England.
The Famous Grouse ad - As seen on the back cover of the March issue of Rugby World. I like this ad a lot. It's spare, striking and witty.
Roger Uttley - Rugby players do not generally have movie star idol looks - but this fellow stands out.
Japanese rugby phonecards - Some interesting images of rugby from Japan.
Donald Duck's rugby car - Okay, so it's weird.
Rugby dog print - I like the look on the face of the weenie dog.
Black Is Thicker Than Blood - Awesome Adidas image of the All-Blacks front row.
If Disney characters played rugby... - According to the people on the Maldive Islands.
1926 Barclay's ad - The black and the white.
1934 Rugby league postcard - The artwork is a little odd.
Rugby, Indiana - In addition to the towns of that name in Tennessee and North Dakota.
"Matthe, the rugby and footbal wonder" - I'd be more impressed if he used rugby balls.
Rugby (North Dakota) police - (Knock, knock) "Who's there?" "Rugby police, Ma'am. You'll have to remove your blouse."
Murrayfield under water - Still, it would be fun to watch a match played in it.
Image comics' Comanche - No, I've never heard of him, either. But this is the first comic book rugby player I've ever seen.
Old style lineouts - No hoisting allowed.
Bok slayers - Wishful thinking.
Nearly in - It looks like it's going to be a try to me...
Try teapot - One of the more bizarre rugby items I've seen.
Six Nations Postcards - Is it that worrisome?
Neck wrench - Yikes!
Boys try - From a 1900 boy's illustrated book
Rugby hankie - Achoo! Here, take mine.
Twickers flag - Small island, big flag.
Anime postcard - Ryuunosuke from "Urusei Yatsura"
More Ryuunosuke - Japanese ruggers prevent an alien earth invasion!
Topless female ruggers on Harleys - I bet that got your attention.
Le Rugby - on a plate.
"Cadbury Cocoa." - A 1901 ad
"Rugby at Twickenham" - An ad from 1921
Brial-Bunce punch-up - Look at that neck!
Stade Francais' nekkid rugby calendar - For 2001. You can buy one - if you'd want such a thing - at http://boutique.stade.fr/# "Sensuels, charmeurs, athlétiques, esthètes, les rugbymen du club ont posé nu pour un calendrier événement, les « Dievx du Stade »."
The (now discontinued) Akteo rugby watch - I could have come up with a better design featuring a scrum or something...
The Rugbys - One of them is even wearing a rugby shirt.
comic book-looking All-Blacks - Who needs Superman, Batman or the Green Lantern when you have Lomu, Marshall and Umaga?
Nekkid grubber kick - An early experiment with stop-motion photography.
Raw Talent - As displayed by Lawrence Dallaglio.
A young rugger - From an early postcard.
"Girls Rugby Team" by Partarrieu - Not quite realistic.
Richard Harris tackles Sean Connery - From the film "the Molly Maguires"
Rugby tobacco - A real man's smoke!
Making his Mark - A British postcard from 1910.
Black and White Scotch ad - From 1948
I will try - An old British postcard.
Rugby, racing and beer - A towel from New Zealand.
Inga Tuigamala - In full haka.
19th C. etching - I know this is supposed to look classical and all that, but it seems pretty homo-erotic to me.
The Lone Star Mercenaries - Rugby just doesn't get more American-looking than this.
The Lone Star Bunnies - Here they are again, in a very unnerving photograph. From the 2002 Missoula Maggotfest.
Carisbrook program - From 1926.
Welsh bean bag toy - Does this resemble anyone you know?
Antarctic rugby scrum - Talk about your "southern hemisphere play"... it just doesn't get any more southern that this.
legs corkscrew - It just looks odd, that's all.
A little gift to Osama bin Laden from the U.S. Navy.
Effite Rugger - Don't ask me to explain. I can't.
NYC Firemen and the Reenactment of the Pose - You kind of get the impression they're not exactly overwhelmed by the celebrity.
Ref needs glasses - As it was in 1935, so it is today.
Tight Fifteen image - From a Draught Beer ad for Canterbury (NZ) rugby.
The Attack of the 92 Foot Goalposts - I'd be more impressed if they had 92 foot tall goal post pads (for especially tall locks).
A Welsh Rugby Player Died For Your Sin-Bins - Proof conculsive that in Wales, rugby is a religion.
Ball's Out Rugby photo page - There are some great images here!
Superfine Shagg - An ad from the 1920's.
Rugby glass - Looks like an American football player to me.
Anthony Foley and Girvan Dempsey
Old Brylcreem ad - Use enough of this stuff and a tackler won't be able to keep his hands on you.
Rugby player salt and pepper shakers
Coordination - Can't win without it.
All-Black canvas - One of Adidas' goofier publicity schemes. I prefer Picasso.
John Mehlberg's immortalia.com - The all-time best rugby songs page I have seen on the Internet.
Cool old rugby Christmas cards from Rugby Relics: Card #1, Card #2, Card #3, Card #4, Card #5, Card #6, Card #7, Card #8.
William Barnes Wollen's "The Last Cent"
Perilous Scrum! - I'm sure it's a Photoshopped image from a British ad, but I like it.
Rugby Drink - It's the Real Thing! Okay, okay, it's not... but it's The Japanese Thing!
Must be some rule against it - Well? Is there?
Young's Pub Scrum Down - Which smells worse, human or animal, I wonder...
George W. Bush (Yale RFC) punches an opposition player
Rugby player weathervane - You can buy it from www.weathervanes.co.uk, not here!
John Edgar Platt's "The Rugby Scrum"
Hermaphroditic Rugger - An unnerving image.
Forwards have no modesty - ...which is what a backline player friend of mine called this photo.
Women on the ground - I'm not sure if this is a rugby try or not. From an old postcard. Meant to seem tittilating, I guess.
The Ridable Rugby Ball - For hire in the U.K. Wahhh-hooo! Ride 'em, crumpet! (I like her painted toesies.)
The England Rugby Ball Clock - Beep! Beep! Beep! Time to wake up for morning tackle practice!
Rugby ball-shaped golf ball - Anyone can play golf with a round ball...
The Nine Meter Ball - Don't stand under it in a windstorm.
Mister stuffed Kiwi ball - Awwww, fer cute!
Ice ball - Cold hands, warm heart?
It isn't unusual for a rugby player to run with a ball. (Unless that rugby player is me, of course.) And it isn't very unusual for a rugby player to run with a ball naked, public nudity being a rugby thing. But here's a guy running with a (foot)ball not only unclothed, but wearing no skin.
Irish Rugby Guinness ad #1, Irish Rugby Guinness ad #2, Irish Rugby Guinness ad #3.
O2 Promo, RWC '07, England vs. France
Pitch diagram - From Rugby Canada.
Rugby strip show caught on video.
The un-licked cub (1905 Punch cartoon).
Whee!
A test of commitment to any tackle
Initiation of Taiwan's Rugby Football Game Monument - A monument to... what, exactly?
sweatshirt - Not entirely true anymore...
Czech rugby ad. The text says, "Soccer is for wussies. Try Rugby."
Rugby vs. (Gridiron) Football.
I've taken my share of bloody-faced rugger photos before, but this photo-op is Just plain wrong!
Sebastien Chabal Caron ad, 1 and 2
Elsewhere in smells: Royall Rugby
Robert Harrop Bulldogs
Who is Robert Harrop? In the tradition of great dog art (like the poker-playing dogs, for example), this fellow makes sports dogs, academic dogs, etc. Where can you get one of these? I don't really know. I see them posted on e-Bay every now and then. I suppose you can go there and search on "Harrop," and make a bid. They're certainly easier to look at than the Roybal paintings...
English Bulldog
Scottish Bulldog
Welsh Bulldog
Irish Bulldog
Australian Bulldog
New Zealand Bulldog
Harrop puppies