Today's Guardian had this article about Sandhurst cadets wanting to play Rugby League, which included a little bit of information I'd never heard before: The news prompted David Hinchliffe, leader of the Parliamentary Rugby League Group who played a key role in lifting the ban on the code that existed throughout the armed forces until less than a decade ago, to table a question to the MoD.

It's one of those bits of information that leave you open-jawed shock - the armed forces weren't allowed to play Rugby League until less than ten years ago! I'm trying to find some information about this on the web, but haven't come up with anything so far. But, there is a wealth of information about the history of Rugby League which is a fascinating example in itself of how class and sport can get bundled together. For instance, here's an interesting House of Lords debate from 1995 about discrimination by the Rugby Football Union against Rugby League players (League players were banned from playing Union at all until recently because of League's professional status) and this Rugby League history website has some interesting stories about the creation of the Northern Union and the prejudice faced by the working class players in the 19th century that led to its establishment.

Of course, Rugby League also has one of the strangest intersections between sport and history. Until the Second World War it was the predominant code in France, but then it was banned by the Vichy government (who also encouraged Union) because the working class roots of the League clubs meant they had close connections with the Communist parts of the Resistance. In fact, until 1989, League had to be referred to as the 'jeu a 13' as it was banned from calling itself 'rugby'. Actually, a quick Googling for 'rugby league france vichy' throws up a lot of interesting links, like this campaign for the return of League assets 'stolen' by the Vichy government.