The History of Tag Rugby

Tag Rugby’s origins can be traced back to 1983 in Gibraltar. Sportswriter Terry Godwin described seeing the game being played by Navy serviceman and locals. A lack of grass pitches meant an alternative variant to rugby was developed to play rugby whilst on board ships or hard grounds. A 25cm belt was tucked into the waistband, and its removal by an opponent with a shout of ‘tag’, was classed as a ‘tackle’. If the attacking team failed to score by the fourth ‘tackle’, the defending team was given possession of the ball.

From the decks of Navy ships and the shores of Gibraltar, the game made its way to Plymouth, England via former serviceman called Barry Johns. In 1990 the modified version of tag rugby was created and pioneered by PE teacher Nick Leonard. He was also introduced to Velcro tags by a South African called Robert Macdonald. He explained the tags were being used in America to play a non-contact version of American Football. Leonard recognised the use they could have for a non-tackle form of Rugby. Leonard devised a set of rules suitable for children using belts and ribbons. He organised the first ever schools Tag Rugby festival at UCP Marjon, Plymouth in 1991, attracting 8 schools. The following year 20 schools participated and now over 250 primary schools in Devon annually compete in mixed Tag Rugby Festivals.

Meanwhile, in 1992 Sydney, Australia. Former St George Dragons halfback Perry Haddock founded the non-contact sport of OzTag while coaching a Rugby League junior team. He developed tag rugby initially as an aid to develop passing and running skills in his young players.

By 1993, the game had caught on as a separate sport in it’s own right. Played at first in the Sydney area, with 28 tag rugby teams playing in a local league, tag rugby quickly caught on and spread across Australia.

Tag rugby soon spread to New Zealand where the game became known as Kiwi tag, and after a few years of informal play, was organised by the governing body Auckland Kiwi tag Inc in 2005.

Tag rugby was introduced to Ireland in 2000 by the Irish Tag Rugby Association ITRA working in tandem with the Irish Rugby Football Union. Tag rugby had taken off in the republic of Ireland and has approximately 30,000 people playing tag rugby - a number that has been increasing since 2007.

The company Try Tag rugby began running autumn and winter tag rugby competitions in 2009 throughout London which are proving to be popular. Many Australian and Kiwi players currently living in London play.

Australia and Ireland can be seen as being the centres of tag rugby but the game is spreading and has recently begun to be played in South Africa. There is also some interest in tag rugby in the USA where it is known as flag football, but the game has a way to go yet before it is recognised in Europe and at the moment remains a niche sport. Tag rugby is still a very new sport but perhaps it will be played on a global level in the not so distant future.

Tag rugby comes in several forms with OzTag and Mini Tag being some of the better known variations. Tag rugby has the highest participation levels in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.