Not-So-Fancy Footwork

Rugby’s fancy footwork has never been confined to those flash Harry's on the wing. In the early days of the game there was not much specialised gear around and players often just wore whatever was to hand, including boots. Work boots fitted with hobnails and steel toe and heel plates were sometimes worn, often with bloody consequences for the opposition. The wearing of such boots was banned, but the rule seem to have been only patchily enforced. Writing in 1885 about a match between Fielding and Palmerston North a newspaper correspondent complained that “some of the players had heel and toe plates on their boots in direct contravention of the rules. One of the Palmerston men had his head cut open and was rendered hors de combat early in the first spell.”