The creation of an official ruling body actually means very little, if you look up the a definition of rugby you will see it decends from football.
The name football came first so it must mean that is the father surely? there were other rules added and just like any other game the rules changed over time. The fact that the rules change doesnt mean that footballs existence gets shifted back a few years.
Football was first played(In england) by people in teams with a pitch in the 1600s before the first official football teams were created, which means that there were some rules in place before hand officially making it a sport.
Just because amatuer and pro football teams were created after in 1800s (just like rugby) doesnt mean anything, i think the first official football team was sheffield wednesday or sheffield united about 1850. The oldest offical rugby club was formed around about 1840-50s. There were many other football teams that recorded scores before official teams, which means that rules must have been created.
The oldest offical scoring of rugby was also later than football about 1860s whereas some london football clubs recorded scores and rules as early as 1600s( im remebering most of this from year 7 history :D i aced the test).
But what does this all mean? absolutely nothing, All i know is football as a game has estanblished rules before rugby, so therefore it existed before rugby which cannot be denied. The official formation of documented leagues and rules can be debated until the cows come home and it means absolutely nothing.
Endure. In enduring, grow strong.
