This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' plus talks to Gavin Willacy, author of 'No Helmets Required' about the incredible story of the 1953 American All Stars tour of Australia. We chat about how it happened, why its promise failed to materialise, and what lessons can be learned as rugby league once again discusses expansion into North America. (With apologies for the poor sound quality this week)

1906 was the year league went 13-a-side, the All Blacks transformed rugby union, and America football legalised the forward pass. Discover how 1906 revolutionised the Oval World in the new ‘Rugby Reloaded’ podcast. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com

This week we take a deep dive into the announcement that rugby union may introduce a 50-22 rule modelled on rugby league's 40-20. Is it another case of union stealing league's clothes? This week's ten-minute rugby time tunnel looks at the evolution of rugby rules and asks if it is inevitable that union will go down the same road as league. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com

The shape of things to scrum? This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' looks at the past, present and future of the scrum. Take a ten-minute trip back to the time when scrums worked the wrong way round and discover why the scrum's problems have always been a headache for all codes of the oval ball game. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com

This week's 'Rugby Reloaded plus' interviews Andrew Ferguson, one of the brains behind the 'Rugby League Project' website, which aims to compile a complete database of the game's statistics. We talk about where the Project gets its stats, the problems of assessing matches, and why there are no unified records for the sport - not to mention swapping notes on ganglions, the old-school researcher's curse.

For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com

This week sees the centenary of thekick-off the 'King's Cup', the international military tournament that celebrated the end of World War One. But was it really 'rugby's first world cup' as some claim? As this week's podcast discovers, it was not a world cup but something far more interesting and complex, which shaped the future of international rugby union for the next fifty years. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com

This week's 'Rugby Reloaded plus' chats with Mike Rylance about his new book 'The Struggle and The Daring', just published by Scratching Shed. We talk about the history of French rugby league, its fabulous origins, ban by Vichy, the post-war struggles, immortal sides of the 1950s, and its fall from grace. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com

Rugby Reloaded plus this week talks to Sean McGuire, former St Helens' CEO and London rugby league pioneer. Sean chats about his experiences in London in the 1980s with the Hornsey Lambs and reflects on what that means for the future of rugby league, opportunities for expansion, and the never-ending thrill of the game. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com

This week's Rugby Reloaded looks at the history of rugby in Italy and how national politics have shaped the game. From Mussolini to Berlusconi, the sport has always been seen as a way to influence society and business - and along the way it has fought its own civil war between union and league. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com

This week's Rugby Reloaded plus chats with journalist Huw Richards about the origins of the Six Nations, its early rivalry with soccer, how Rugby's Great Split of 1895 changed the tournament forever, and much more. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, follow me on Twitter @collinstony and at www.rugbyreloaded.com