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In the early 19th century many English public schools had their own types of football. The school at Rugby played a style that involved handling the ball rather than just kicking it and this became one of the main forms of football played by the mid-century. When the rules were formalised by people wanting to continue playing after leaving school and university, the game of football split into two basic camps - one became the kicking game of Association Football (Soccer) and the other became the Rugby Union. Rugby Union was spread through the then British Empire and became especially popular in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and elsewhere, as well as many clubs forming on the Continent, especially in France. A form of the game played mostly in the Ivy League colleges eventually evolved into American Football. In 1895 some northern clubs in the UK broke away from the Rugby Union and eventually developed the distinctively different game of Rugby League which is popular in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, France and the Pacific Nations. There have been many changes to the laws of Rugby Union over time, usually adjusting the scoring values as the tactics and style of the game progressed, but also to deal with safety issues. In recent years the laws have had several changes to encourage a more open, flowing style of game.

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10y ago

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