One of the most important aspects of this novel is Tom’s involvement with rugby. Rugby, which originated in England in the first half of the nineteenth century, is played with two teams, each with fifteen plays. In 1845, the first rugby rules were penned at the private secondary school, Rugby School, located in Rugby, Warwickshire. After it was created by the students at Rugby School, the alumni took the game to Cambridge in 1848.
By 1863, the first rugby or "football" association was founded. The association, however, changed the rugby rules significantly, so much so that they became known as association football, which has developed into modern football, or soccer as it’s known in the United States. Meanwhile, those who preserved the original rugby rules founded the Rugby Football Union in 1871, which played what became known as rugby football. In 1895, there was yet another schism that split this association into the rugby union and rugby league, with rugby union being the more common form played throughout the world, and rugby league being local to Northern England.
Although it started in the British Isles, rugby soon spread internationally. The first Australian rugby club was founded in Sydney in 1864, and in 1987, Australia and New Zealand hosted the first Rugby World Cup, which is the most important competition in rugby. Added to the Olympics in 2016, rugby has become a sport played by people across the world.
