Acts of Union 1707 previous attempts (in 1606, 1667, and 1689) to unite the two countries by Acts of Parliament, but it was not until the early 18th century that both political establishments came to support the idea, albeit for different reasons. The Acts took effect on 1 May 1707. On this date, the Scottish Parliament and the English Parliament united to form the Parliament of Great Britain, based in the Palace of Westminster in London, the home of the English Parliament. Hence, the Acts are referred to as the Union of the Parliaments. On the Union, the historian Simon Schama said "What began
Rugby union in England newspapers which read "Those who play the rugby-type game should meet to form a code of practice as various clubs play to rules which differ from others, which makes the game difficult to play". In January of the following year, 21 clubs meet at the Pall Mall Restaurant and the Rugby Football Union (RFU) was founded. On 27 March 1871 the first ever international match took place, involving the English rugby team and the Scottish. Scotland won the match, which was played at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh. In 1884, England opted not to join the International Rugby Football Board which