GKT School of Medical Education is the medical school of King's College London. The school has campuses at three institutions, Guy's Hospital (Southwark), King's College Hospital and St Thomas' Hospital (Lambeth) in London – with the initial of each hospital making up the acronymous name of the school. The school in its current guise was formed following a merger with the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals on 1 August 1998. As of 2023, the medical school is ranked 5th best in the UK for clinical medicine by U.S. News & World Report, and 10th best worldwide by Times Higher Education.
The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested between any two international rugby union teams, pre-dating the Bledisloe Cup by more than half a century. It is also the oldest of several trophies awarded under the umbrella of the Six Nations Championship, which include the Millennium Trophy (England–Ireland), Centenary Quaich (Ireland–Scotland), Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy (France–Italy), Auld Alliance Trophy (France–Scotland), the Doddie Weir Cup (Scotland–Wales) and the Cuttitta Cup (Italy–Scotland).
The history of rugby union follows from various football games long before the 19th century, but it was not until the middle of that century that the rules were formulated and codified. The code of football later known as rugby union can be traced to three events: the first set of written rules in 1845, the Blackheath Club's decision to leave the Football Association in 1863 and the formation of the Rugby Football Union in 1871. The code was originally known simply as "rugby football". It was not until a schism in 1895, over the payment of players, which resulted in the formation of the separate code of rugby league, that the name "rugby union" was used to differentiate the original rugby code. For most of its history, rugby was a strictly amateur football code, and the sport's administrators frequently imposed bans and restrictions on players who they viewed as professional. It was not until 1995 that rugby union was declared an "open" game, and thus professionalism was sanctioned by the code's governing body, World Rugby—then known as the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB).
Blackheath Football Club is a rugby union club based in Well Hall, Eltham, in south-east London.
Richmond Rugby Club is a rugby union club in Richmond, London, England. It is a founding member of the Rugby Football Union, and is one of the oldest football clubs. It fields teams in both men's and women's rugby; the men's first team currently play in National League 1 following their relegation from the RFU Championship at the end of the 2022–23 season, while the women's first team play in the Women's Championship.
Rugby union in England is one of the leading professional and recreational team sports. In 1871 the Rugby Football Union, the governing body for rugby union in England, was formed by 21 rugby clubs, and the first international match, which involved England, was played in Scotland. The England national team compete annually in the Six Nations Championship, and are former world champions after winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The top domestic men's club competition is Premiership Rugby, and English clubs also compete in international competitions such as the European Rugby Champions Cup. The top domestic women's competition is the Premier 15s.
The 1885 Home Nations Championship was the third series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, but the tournament was not completed.
The 1887 Home Nations Championship was the fifth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 8 January and 12 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The 1883 Home Nations Championship was the inaugural series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Five matches were played between 16 December 1882 and 3 March 1883. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
The Macadam Cup is a varsity match played between the sports teams of King's College London proper (KCL) and Guy's, King's and St. Thomas' School of Medicine (GKT). The championship is named in honour of Sir Ivison Macadam, an alumnus of King's. Macadam also gave his name to a building at the King's Strand Campus, the location of the students' union.
King's College Hospital RFC is an open rugby union club founded in the 19th century as a football club whose representatives were made up of medics from King's College Hospital. In its original form it was one of the twenty-one founding members of the Rugby Football Union, and produced a number of international players in the sport's early international fixtures. The merging of King's College Hospital medical department in 1999 with the already merged Guy's Hospital and St Thomas' Hospital led to the creation of Guy's, Kings and St. Thomas' Rugby Football Club, an amalgam of three formerly distinct hospital rugby clubs each with a long history. King's College Hospital Rugby Football Club opted to remain a separate entity in so doing became an open rugby club that no longer represented the Hospital medics.
The United Hospitals Rugby Football Club represents the five medical schools in London, each of whom have their own distinct rugby clubs but from whom are picked a select fifteen to compete for UHRFC. The club exists to encourage and facilitate rugby at these institutions. It hosts the United Hospitals Cup, the oldest rugby cup competition in the world.
Imperial Medicals Rugby Club is the name given to the rugby union team of Imperial College School of Medicine Students' Union, a modern amalgam of three formerly distinct hospital rugby clubs each with a long history, having all been founded in the nineteenth century. The teams from Charing Cross Hospital and Westminster Hospital were the first to merge in 1984 following the union of their respective Medical Departments. When St Mary's Hospital, London also merged in 1997 the team was strengthened by one of the two most successful hospital sides in London. Imperial Medics is notable for its recent dominance of the oldest competition in rugby, the United Hospitals Cup, as well as its history and the joint history of its constituent elements which have produced a large number of international players.
The 1880–81 Home Nations rugby union matches were a series of international rugby union friendlies held between the England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales national rugby union teams. This season is most notable for the introduction of Wales as an international rugby union nation, playing their first ever match in a game against England. Although Wales were humiliated by a crushing defeat it did not stop rugby union being adopted by Wales as the country's national sport.
Barts and The London Rugby Football Club, also known as the Royal Hospitals Rugby Football Club, is the rugby club of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. They have held the United Hospitals Cup, the oldest rugby cup competition in the world, for 3 years (2022–2024).
The United Hospitals Challenge Cup is contested by the six medical schools in London and is most notable for being the oldest rugby cup competition in the world.
Alfred Allport was an English rugby union forward who played club rugby for Blackheath and international rugby for England. In 1890 Allport became one of the original members of the Barbarians Football Club. He also represented Surrey at County level.
Dr. Lennard Stokes was a rugby union international who represented England from 1875 to 1881. He also captained his country on five occasions, notably in the first ever match against Wales. Like his brother Frederick Stokes, after captaining his country he went on to become the president of the Rugby Football Union.
Middlesex Rugby is the governing body for rugby union in Middlesex, England; Middlesex is a historic county of England that covers areas in the ceremonial counties of Greater London, Surrey and Hertfordshire. The historic county is still in use when referring to sport, and some businesses in the area. Middlesex RFU was originally created as the Middlesex County Rugby Club but within six years was being referred to as the Middlesex County Rugby Football Union and is now known simply as Middlesex Rugby.
The Kent Rugby Football Union is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in the county of Kent in England. The union is the constituent body of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for Kent, and administers and organises rugby union clubs and competitions in the county. It also administers the Kent county rugby representative teams.
