Football at Rugby School was predominately a kicking, scrummaging and mauling game.

Handling and running with the ball was an integral part of the sport, but not the primary feature.

To be caught in possession of the football or to dive onto a loose ball was dangerous (to say the least).

By the time the first laws of the RFU (1871) were agreed upon, a number of rules provided for the protection of players and to eliminate mauling (except in-goal) and minimise scrums.

Rewarding a player who caught the ball on the full (a "mark" or "fair catch") was just as much for protecting the catcher from the horde of defenders about to descend upon him as anything else.

Once a ball-carrying runner was tackled to the ground or held (unable to pass the ball), play would stop momentarily and a scrum formed to re-start the game. The tackled player was required to stand and then to put/drop the ball down in front of his feet for the scrummage. These were known as the "down" and "held" rules respectively.

"A maul outside the goal line [i.e. in the field of play]...takes place when a player holding the ball is held by one or more players of the opposite side, and if he cannot get free of them or give the ball to some other of his side (not in front of him) who can run with it, he cries 'Have it down'." 1866 Laws of Rugby Football [Rugby School]. "In the event of any player holding or running with the ball being tackled and the ball being fairly held he must at once cry down and there put it down." 1871 RFU Laws. "A scrummage takes place when the holder of the ball being in the field of play puts it down on the ground in front of him and all who have closed round on their respective sides endeavour to push their opponents back and by kicking the ball to drive it in the direction of the opposite goal line." 1871 RFU Laws. "A tackle is when the holder of the ball is held by one or more players of the opposite side. In the event of any player holding or running with the ball being fairly tackled and the ball fairly held, he must at once cry 'down' and then put it down. If in the opinion of the referee he has not immediately put the ball down, and if he, lying on the ground, has not immediately got up, he shall, on a claim from the opposite side, award a free kick." 1889 RFU Laws.

By the 1890s the laws had been amended such that once the tackled/held player had regained his feet, and put the ball down, he could "play the ball" in any direction with his foot to re-commence play. Invariably by the time the tackled player had regained his feet, a loose/informal scrum (i.e. ruck) had formed around him.

In the early 1900s the RFU encouraged tackled players to simply leave the ball on the ground and roll away, though the laws were not changed to make this clear. The laws also placed a responsibility on the referee to call a halt to play when it became dangerous - and many felt a tackled or held player was in immediate danger unless the referee stopped play to order a scrum.

As a result, in Great Britain in particular, the "down" law was rigorously enforced by referees and the set scrum was invariably called for every time a man was tackled to the ground or held.

By 1910, in an attempt to speed up play and reduce the number of set scrums, it was increasingly prevalent for referees in Australia and New Zealand to allow play to continue once an attacker was tackled (by forming a "loose scrum" / ruck) or held (by mauling).

The Referee (sports newspaper) provided comment on how the tackled laws were operating under different referees in Sydney rugby union in 1909: "Mr Melville simply allowed the players to maul one another in struggling for the ball on the ground after a tackle. And after the two sets of forwards had got mixed up in a heap, the whistle went and a scrummage was formed. With all due deference to the abilities and good intentions of most of our referees, this, I contend is not Rugby Union football at all; it is spurious, and is foisted on the players as the genuine thing." "Mr Evans deserves the thanks of everyone, players and spectators, for his determination to interpret the rule in the manner in which it was intended, and to prevent a lot of quite unnecessarily rough play. This recalls Rugby of old. Mr Evans seems like a pioneer, but he is merely bringing back to Rugby some of the old and very desirable features."

Despite the protests of many who chided that ignoring the down and held rules was not rugby, the rucks and mauls soon became signature features of the sport (though the maul was not regularised by law until in 1969 when "a maul ends a tackle" was added).

Interestingly, accepted lore has told us that rugby league ("play-the-ball") and American football ("down" / line of scrimmage) introduced these methods as a means to re-start play in an effort to avoid the so-called scrappy and unappealing rucks and mauls in rugby union.

Yet these methods of re-starting play pre-date the prevalence of rucks and mauls in rugby union.

The answer lies further back in time. It is readily apparent that the "down" in American football and the "play-the-ball" in rugby league are merely a continuation of the original "down", "held" and "play the ball" rules of 19th century rugby union.

The terms "down" and "play the ball" are old rugby union expressions - they were not invented by American football and rugby league (respectively). By way of confirmation, one only needs to momentarily watch these two codes today to witness the tackled, "down" and "held" rules of 19th century rugby union still in operation today. [Putting aside that both codes have removed any contest for possession of the ball in the down or play-the-ball.]

What previously hasn't been recognised is that the "play-the-ball" introduced into rugby league in 1906 was not an innovation at all, but was taken from rugby union. Indeed, The Yorkshire Post reported the change as "in effect a return to the 'play the ball' rule".

The "play-the-ball" (together with the "markers" and "dummy-half"), in its pure form, is a stream-lined loose scrum. Before 1906, rugby league was using the RFU's "down" law and there was no rucking and mauling.

Rugby league adopted the "play-the-ball" to minimise the scale and duration of scrums, not to overcome rucking and mauling (as they largely didn't exist). Recently found film footage of English rugby league (c.1903) confirms scrums were being formed after every tackle or when a player was held with the ball.

Ironically, it is the present methods of re-starting play after a completed tackle in American football and rugby league which are closer to the original form of rugby union.

The Referee (1909) called for the RFU laws to be altered to provide further clarity in regard to the tackle (provided below). The comments are worth presenting here as they provide a clear demonstration of the tackled laws as they existed in rugby union at the time. They also provide direct evidence that the "play-the-ball" laws in rugby league were not an innovation, but originated in rugby union. "The law dealing with a player tackled and downed with the ball needs slightly altering in the wording, in order to make it plainer to the referees and the players." "In every case where a player is so downed, and the tackler does not immediately let him go, the referee should be empowered by a change in the law to at once blow his whistle and award a free kick to the side [team] of the tackled player." "By making the tackler solely responsible in this way, the law would simplify the whole business by releasing the tackled player, who would have to at once get up and play the ball with his foot before he could handle it again." "The tackler having obeyed the law, the tackled player would have to likewise or suffer the penalty of a free kick, as in that case his breach would be observable by everyone, seeing that he would no longer be held or interfered with on the ground, as is the case at present." "This suggestion is practically the law as it at present stands."

While American football abandoned any semblance of a contest for possession of the ball after a "down" in the 1890s, the two rugby codes are now rapidly following the same path.

References:
RFU Laws (var)
The Mitchell & Kenyon Collection
The Referee
The Yorskhire Post