Say goodbye to the old Lansdowne Road.1920s A short Historical Back drop of Britain
- Irish Civil War breaks out 1922
- 'Plaid Cymru' is formed to disseminate knowledge of the Welsh language 1925
- John Logie Baird gives the first public demonstration of television 1926
- Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa are recognised as autonomous 1926
- British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is created 1927
- All women over the age of 21 get the vote 1928
- The first 'talkie' (film with dialogue) 'The Jazz Singer' is shown in Britain 1928
- Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin 1928
- Wall Street Crash sparks the Great Depression 1929
1920 - United States (8) beat France (0) in Olympic Games to take gold (only two teams compete).
Fédération Française de Rugby formed.
1921 - The International Rugby Board introduced numbering on jerseys.
King George V unveils war memorial at Twickenham. At Twickenham a stand is built above the North terrace, under which workshops are placed.
Varsity fixture is played at Twickenham for the first time.
1922 - The Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU) became the Rugby Football League.
1924 - Feb 2nd, Scotland beat Wales at Inverleith, Edinburgh. Scotland won by 4 goals, one penalty and four tries (35) to two goals (10)
| Wales: | Scotland: | |
| B.O. Male (Cardiff) | D. Drysdale (Heriot's FP) | |
| Harold J. Davis (Newport) | I.S. Smith | |
| J. Elwyn Evans (Llanelli) | G.P.S. Macpherson | |
| M.A. Rosser (Penarth) | G.G. Aitken | |
| T. Johnson (Cardiff) | A.C. Wallace (Oxford Uni) | |
| V.M. Griffiths (Newport) | H. Waddell (Glasgow Acads.) | |
| Eddie Watkins (Neath) | W.E. Bryce (Selkirk) | |
| J. Whitfield (Newport, Captain) | J.C.R. Buchanan (Stewart's coll., FP., Captain) | |
| S. Morris (Cross Keys) | J.M. Bannerman (Glasgow HSFP) | |
| Ivor Morris (Swansea) | D.M. Bertram | |
| Tom Jones (Newport) | A.C. Gillies (Watsonians) | |
| C. Pugh (Maesteg) | K.G.P. Hendrie (Heriot's FP.) | |
| Ivor Jones (Llanenni) | R.A. Howie (Kirkcaldy) | |
| W.J. Ould (Cardiff) | J.R. Lawrie (leicester) | |
| Gwyn Francis (Llanelli) | A. Ross (Kilmarnock) |
USA successfully defend the Olympic title (USA 17 - France 3), this is a great story! Romania take the bronze. Rugby has since been discontinued in the Olympic programme.
A touring team consisting of the best players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales became known as the "British Lions" while playing in South Africa because they wore ties with the British Lion emblem on them.
March 8th - Seventeen-year-old Frank Hewitt, the youngest man to play for Ireland, helped them to a 13-10 win at Cardiff in front of two future kings - the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) and Duke of York (later King George VI) - and the first Labour prime minister, Ramsey MacDonald. It was a great family day as Hewitt's older brother, Tom, was also making his debut and the pair of them scored Ireland's tries.
1925 - Cyril Brownlie the first man sent off in an international (England vs. New Zealand at Twickenham). The 1924/25 New Zealand team gained the nickname "The Invincible's", after winning all 32 matches on tour.
February 7th Wales vs. Scotland at St Helen's Swansea. Ian Smith the brilliant Scottish winger scored four splendid tries, two of which were from 60 yards out. Scotland built a 21-0 lead before Wales scored 14 points in the last 15 minutes to make the final score 24-14.Scotland went on to win the triple crown. The Scottish three-quarter line all played together at Oxford Uni.
Wales: Scotland: T. Johnson (Cardiff) D. Drysdale (Heriot's FP) W.P James (Abervon) I.S. Smith Evan Williams (Abervon) G.P.S. Macpherson (Capt.) R.A. Cornish (Cardiff) G.G. Aitken Cyril Thomas (Bridgend) A.C. Wallace (Oxford Uni) W.J. Hopkins (Abervon) J. C. Dykes W.J. Delahay (Cardiff) J.B. Nelson (Glasgow Acads.) C. Pugh (Maesteg) J.M. Bannerman (Glasgow HSFP) S. Morris (capt.) J.C.H. Ireland (Glasgow HSFP) R.C. Herrera (Cross keys) D.S. Davies (Hawick) Bryn Phillips (Abervon) J.R. Paterson (Birkenhead Park) W. Idris Jones (Llanelli) J.W. Scott (Stewart's coll., FP) D. Parker (Swansea) A.C. Gillies (Watsonians) Idris Richards (Cardiff) R.A. Howie (Kirkcaldy) S. Lawrence (Bridgend) D.J. MacMyn (London Scottish)
1926 - British Police Rugby founded, when a semi-official body known as the Police Rugby Union arranged a few matches during the course of several seasons. This picked up very quickly with Police Union Rugby sides playing against English Counties like Devon and Cornwall. Records show that a British Police team toured the West Country and Cornwall as early as 1932. This led on to fixtures with such famous clubs as Pontypool in 1934 and Llanelli in 1937.
First important 7-a-side tournament organized at Twickenham (in aid of Middlesex hospital). Won by Harlequins.
1927 - Captain H.B.T. Wakelam was the first to broadcast a commentary on a Rugby International, the match in question being England v. Wales in 1927. He became one of the team of all-round commentators, covering not just rugby, boxing, cricket and tennis, but also other things entirely, such as Tidworth Tattoo. His speciality was always rugby, however.
Top added above old East Stand at Twickenham which brings the stand's capacity to 12,000.
1929 - The original Rugby Union of Canada was founded in September, 1929, and lasted until the outbreak of the War in 1939. It was not revived until 1965 as the Canadian Rugby Union.
5 October: Memorial gates unveiled at Twickenham in honour of Sir George Rowland Hill. Special match to mark the occasion, England/Wales vs. Scotland/Ireland.
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