This text is concerned with how an understanding of rugby football can provide insights into what it has meant to be a man in societies influenced by the ideals of the Victorian upper and middle classes. The essays chart rugby's development from its origins in the English public schools and ancient universities to its acceptance in the farthest reaches of what was once the British Empire. Despite widespread geographical and cultural diffusion, the game remained resilient in upholding the Victorian qualities of self-sacrifice and manliness.

This collection of essays charts the development of rugby football from its origins in the English public schools and ancient universities to its acceptance in the farthest reaches of the empire. As the authors show, central to an understanding of the place of rugby in all these settings is evidence demonstrating that the game was a form of both hegemonic masculinity and homosocial behaviour, as well as a means of promoting nationalism and social control.
A major aim of the editors has been to highlight the changes and continuities which the game of rugby and its traditions of manliness and masculinity have undergone due to the effects of both time and place. The book concludes with a discussion on the current state and future of rugby, particularly of the impact of the World Cup, professionalism and commercialism on this still 'gendered' sport.

This book explores the expansion of rugby from its imperial and amateur upper-class white male core into other contexts throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The development of rugby in the racially divided communities of the setter empire and how this was viewed are explored initially. Then the editors turn to four case studies of rugby's expansion beyond the bounds of the British Empire (France, Italy, Japan and the USA). The role of women in rugby is examined and the subsequent development of women's rugby as one of the fastest growing sports for women in Europe, North America and Australasia in the 1980s and 1990s. The final section analyses the impact of commercialisation, professionalisation and media on rugby and the impact on the historic rugby culture linked to an ethos of amateurism.