Rugby Union - Influence On Other Sports

Influence On Other Sports

See also: History of American football, Comparison of American football and rugby union, Origins of Australian rules football, Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, and History of rugby league

Rugby union football, and its immediate ancestor rugby football, has had a strong influence on several other sports. The Gridiron codes, American football and Canadian football, are derived from early forms of rugby. Confusingly, in Canada, Canadian football has also frequently been referred to as "rugby football", and a number of national and provincial bodies were called "Rugby Football Unions" or "Rugby Unions", such as the Ontario and Quebec Rugby Football Unions. For example, in the Encyclopedia Canadiana, the entry Rugby Football begins by referring to "the Canadian development of rugby union or "English rugger" introduced into Canada in the third quarter of the nineteenth century", but later states that "the Canadian game is a radical departure from rugby union".

Some historians have argued that the primary influence on Australian rules football was rugby football and other games originating in English public schools. Tom Wills, who is recognised as one of the pioneers of Australian football, also attended Rugby School.

James Naismith took aspects of many sports including rugby to invent basketball. The most obvious contribution is the jump ball's similarity to the line-out as well as the underhand shooting style that dominated the early years of the sport. Naismith played many years of rugby at McGill University.

Swedish football was a code whose rules were a mix of the association football rules and the rugby football rules. Some played the game with a round ball, while others played with an oval ball. It is no longer played.

Rugby lends its name to wheelchair rugby (also known as "quad rugby" or "murderball"), but the sport is more strongly influenced by wheelchair basketball, ice hockey and handball than rugby union.