Stokes played for
Blackheath F.C. and was, for a time, captain. His five brothers also played for Blackheath. On 26 January 1871, when Stokes was 20 years old he, along with
Benjamin Burns, represented Blackheath at a meeting of twenty-one rugby teams at the
Pall Mall Restaurant. The outcome of the meeting was the founding of the
Rugby Football Union whose Laws were to be drafted by three
Old Rugbeians,
Algernon Rutter,
E.C.Holmes and
L.J. Maton. Less than two months later, Stokes, himself an
Old Rugbeian, accepted a challenge from Scotland to raise a 20-man squad who would go to
Edinburgh and play in what was to be the first international. Burns was also in the England team and, of the 20 men, 10 were former pupils of
Rugby School. Stokes was chosen to captain this team, which played Scotland at
Raeburn Place in Edinburgh on 27 March 1871. The laws of rugby were still far from clearly defined at the time and the Scottish and English teams used different interpretations of them, which led to what has been described as "a sometimes chaotic affair". Scotland won this first international by one goal and one try to one try. Stokes was chosen to captain the return match in 1872 when Scotland visited the
Kennington Oval on 5 February 1872. England won this match by one goal, one drop goal and two tries, to one drop goal. The teams played for a third time the following year on 3 March 1873 in
Glasgow which ended scoreless. Once again, Stokes was the captain and was one of only three England players to have appeared in every match. This was Stokes's last international and he effectively retired from international rugby when he was 22. However, his involvement continued and in 1874 he became the second president of the fledgling RFU and remains the youngest man to have held the position. He was described as a "brilliant forward, being always on the ball, and often making excellent runs …can also play at capital form at half-back, is a sure tackle and a first-rate drop or place-kick". ==Other sports==