The 1912 Australia rugby union tour of Canada and the United States was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the Australia national rugby union team against various invitational teams from Canada and the U.S, and also against the US national team.

The squad's leadership

Dr. Otto Martin Bohrsmann (1869–1944) was tour manager. He was a Sydney physician who served as

New South Wales Rugby Union The New South Wales Rugby Union, or NSWRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within most of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia. Within Australia it is considered t ...

treasurer for a number of years. Howell attributes the team's poor performance to a lack of discipline stemming from weakly imposed tour management. Bohrsmann's name would later be given to the landmark Mona Road,

Darling Point, Sydney Darling Point is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, Australia. It is 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of Woollahra Council. Darling Point is bounded by Sydney Harbour to ...

property Otto, which he bought in 1925 and which was retained by his descendants until 2010. His sister Altona would give her name to another Sydney landmark, a Point Piper home which in 2007 set the mark as Australia's most expensive home when it sold for A$50million. Billy Hill was the secretary of the

, he toured with the squad as Assistant Manager and refereed some of the matches. At this time team coaches were frowned upon, with the team captain expected to fulfill these duties. Ward Prentice had toured with the 1908 Wallabies and had played both Tests of that tour. He had made three further Test appearances for Australia in 1910. He was a rugged on-field leader and the 1912 tour marked his swan-song in international rugby, appearing in fifteen of the sixteen matches. After World War I he had a brief first-grade rugby league career Sydney in 1920.

Tom Richards Tom Richards may refer to: * Tom Richards (actor) (born 1948), Australian television actor * Tom Richards (athlete) (1910–1985), British marathon runner * Tom Richards (rugby union) (1882–1935), Australian rugby union footballer * Tom Richards ( ...

had also toured with the 1908 Wallabies and had played 1st grade rugby all over the world, making district representative sides in Queensland, New South Wales, South Africa and England. He was a leader in the forwards and a natural selection as tour vice-captain. He would later see active service with the AIF, landing on day one of the Gallipoli Campaign on 25 April 1915 and he would be awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

Tour itinerary

The squad travelled by ship from Sydney to the US on the ''SS Moana'' with a number of the touring party confined to their cabins with sea-sickness for the first four days.Howell p52 Howell attributes the team's poor performance record to a focus placed on socialising. The squad was billeted out in college fraternity houses in California where the hospitality played havoc with team discipline. Howell quotes squad member Bob Adamson who spoke of the tour: ''"We were never in bed. That was the trouble. I've never had such a time in my life"''

Tour statistics

The tour took in 16 games with only 11 won by the Wallabies, including the sole Test of the tour played against the US All three matches played in Canada were lost by the Wallabies as well as one of the two matches against

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and one of the three matches played against UC Berkeley. The team played in the light-blue jersey of New South Wales with a Waratah emblem and the word ''Australia'' on the chest.

Touring party

The second match of the 1912 New South Wales v Queensland interstate series acted as a selection trial for the tour and the Blues won the match 12–3 in Sydney. The selectors chose only six Queenslanders in the squad including

Jimmy Flynn James P. Flynn (5 February 1934 – 12 September 2022) was an American teamster and film actor. He was a reputed member of the famous Winter Hill Gang. He appeared in films including ''Good Will Hunting'', ''The Cider House Rules (film), The Cid ...

, Lou Meibusch,

Copper Kent Allan W. "Copper" Kent (10 February 1891 – 28 May 1966) was a rugby union player who represented Australia. Kent, a flanker, was born in Toowoomba, Queensland Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Too ...

, Peter Cunningham and Bob Willocks. Willocks withdrew from the touring squad before departure and his place was taken by fellow Queenslander William Murphy. Flynn and Meisbusch were still aged 18 years at the start of the tour.

Management

*Manager: Dr. Otto Bohrsmann *Assistant: W.W Hill *Captain: Ward Prentice *Vice-Captain:

Full backs

Alf Dunbar Alfred Robert Dunbar (18 June 1888 – c. 1954) was a rugby union player who represented Australia. Dunbar, a wing, was born in Glebe, New South Wales Glebe is an inner-western suburb of Sydney. Glebe is located southwest of the Sydney c ...

(Newtown, NSW) * Larry Dwyer (Warratahs-Orange, Western Districts, NSW)

Three-quarters

Bob Adamson Robert Wilson Adamson (c. 1889 – c. 1952) was a rugby union player who represented Australia. Adamson, a wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined ...

(

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...

, NSW) * Daniel Carroll (St. George, NSW) *

( Brothers, Queensland) * Herbert Jones (Newcastle, NSW) * Lou Meibusch (Past Grammar-Toowoomba, Queensland)

Half backs

* Ward Prentice ( West Suburbs, NSW) *

William Tasker William George "Twit" Tasker (15 October 1891 – 9 August 1918) was an Australian World War I soldier who had been a national representative rugby union player making six Test appearances for the Wallabies.Australian Rugby - The Game and t ...

(Newtown, NSW) * Arthur Walker ( Eastern Suburbs, NSW)

Forwards

Jimmy Clarken James C. Clarken (19 July 1876 – 31 July 1953) was a rugby union player who represented Australia. Clarken, a prop, was born in Thames, New Zealand and claimed a total of 4 international rugby caps for Australia His debut game was against New ...

(Glebe, NSW) * Peter Cunningham (Eastern Suburbs, Queensland) * Ted Fahey ( Eastern Suburbs, NSW) * Harold George ( Eastern Suburbs, NSW) * Tom Griffen (Glebe, NSW) * Ralph Hill (Newtown) * Allan Kent (Past Grammar-Toowoomba, Queensland) * William Murphy ( Brothers, Queensland) * George Pugh (Newtown, NSW) *

(Natives-Charters Towers, Queensland) * William Watson (Newtown, NSW)

Match summary

Complete list of matches played by the ''Wallabies'' in the Canada and the United States:Football, Australian Rugby Team in America, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', (Tuesday, 10 December 1912), p.12.
/ref> Test matches Usa v australia rugby 1912

Match details

United States

Bibliography

* Howell, Max (2005) ''Born to Lead – Wallaby Test Captains'', Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ * The Newcastle Herald, Tuesday 2 March 1982, page 16 (re H.A. Jones)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1912 Australia Rugby Union Tour Of The U.S. And Canada Australia national rugby union team tours Australia national rugby union team tours of Canada Rugby union tours of the United States tour 1912 in Canadian rugby union