 In 1875 , England played their first game against the Irish at the Oval , winning by one goal , one drop goal and one try to nil ; the match was Ireland 's first ever Test . England defeated Scotland in 1880 to become the first winners of the Calcutta Cup . Their first match against Wales was played on 19 February 1881 at Richardson 's Field in <unk> . England recorded their largest victory , defeating the Welsh by seven goals , six tries , and one drop goal to nil and scoring 13 tries in the process . The subsequent meeting the following year at St Helens in Swansea was a closer contest ; with England winning by two goals and four tries to nil Two years later , the first Home Nations championship was held and England emerged as the inaugural winners . In 1889 , England played their first match against a non @-@ home nations team when they defeated the New Zealand <unk> by one goal and four tries to nil at <unk> Field in <unk> . In 1890 England shared the Home Nations trophy with Scotland . 
