The sport of rugby can trace its origins back to medieval times in several European countries, but it was between 1845 and 1848 that the modern rugby codes were established by pupils from a school in the English town of Rugby and the University of Cambridge. In 1871, the first national federation was formed; two years later, the discipline of rugby sevens was conceived by two butchers, Ned Haig and David Sanderson, as a fund-raising event in Melrose, Scotland. In 1886, the International Rugby Board (now known as World Rugby) was established.
