The 1881–82 Home Nations rugby union matches were a series of international rugby football matches played between the England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales national rugby union teams. This was the last season before the introduction of the Home Nations Championship. The only recognised competition held between the countries was the annual Calcutta Cup match, contested between England and Scotland. It was the fourth challenge for the trophy, and the first time Scotland won it, beating England by two tries to nil.

Format

The matches for this season were decided on goals scored. A goal was awarded for a successful conversion after a try, for a dropped goal or for a goal from mark. If a game was drawn, any unconverted tries were tallied to give a winner. If there was still no clear winner, the match was declared a draw.

Results

Ireland vs. Wales

Ireland: RE McLean ( NIFC), JR Atkinson,

Thomas St. George McCarthy Thomas St George McCarthy (1862–1943) was an Ireland rugby union international and founder member of the Gaelic Athletic Association, being present at Hayes Hotel, Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland at the Association's inaugural meeting on 1 No ...

( Dublin University), WW Fletcher (Kingston), EH Greene ( Dublin University), GC Bent ( Dublin University), AJ Forrest ( Wanderers) capt., JM Kennedy ( Wanderers), F Kennedy ( Wanderers), HB Morell ( Dublin University), EA McCarthey (Kingstown), WA Wallis ( Wanderers), AJ Downing ( Dublin University), FS Heuston (Kingstown), RG Thompson ( Lansdowne) Wales: Charles Lewis ( Llandovery College) capt., Samuel Clark (

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...

William Norton William Joseph Norton (2 November 1900 – 4 December 1963) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste from 1948 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1957, Leader of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1960, Minister for Social Welfare from ...

( Cardiff),

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

(

Rhymney Rhymney (; cy, Rhymni ) is a town and a community in the county borough of Caerphilly, South Wales. It is within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. With the villages of Pontlottyn, Fochriw, Abertysswg, Deri and New Tredegar, Rhymney is ...

Charlie Newman Charlie Newman (28 February 1857 – 28 September 1922) was a Welsh international three-quarter who played club rugby for Newport. He was awarded ten caps for Wales and captained the team on six occasions. An original member of the Newport squa ...

(

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

), George Frederick Harding (

), James Bridie (

Hugh Vincent Sir Hugh Corbet Vincent (27 April 1862 – 22 February 1931) was a Welsh rugby union, association football player and politician. He played club rugby for Bangor RFC and club football for Carnarvon Wanderers and Bangor City F.C. as well as a si ...

( Bangor),

Frank Purdon Frank Thomas Purdon (8 November 1857 – ?) was an Irish-born rugby union forward who played club rugby for Newport and Swansea. Purdon was capped four times for Wales including the first Wales international, against England in 1881. Rug ...

(

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

) Tom Clapp ( Nantyglo), Bob Gould (

Thomas Baker Jones Thomas Baker Jones (16 September 1862 – 26 May 1959) was a Welsh international rugby union player who played club rugby union for Newport. Jones was capped six times for Wales and was the first player to score recognised international points f ...

(

William David Phillips William David Phillips (16 August 1855 – 15 October 1918) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cardiff Rugby Football Club and international rugby for Wales. He won five caps for Wales and would later become ...

( Cardiff), Tom Williams ( Pontypridd), George Morris (

) This match was the first ever meeting between the two nations rugby union teams; and resulted in the first ever Welsh victory over international opposition. Ten of the Irish teams were new caps, which reflected the makeshift nature of the Irish team after ten of the original squad withdrew before the match. Kennedy of Ireland withdrew with an injury after half an hour of play and Atkinson took a serious injury to his nose.Griffiths (1987), page 3:4 . The match itself was frequently disrupted after disputes broke out from both sides,Griffiths (1987), page 4:3 . with Wales finishing victorious. The sports correspondent from '' The Irish Times'' wrote a damning article in his match coverage, referring to the "dormant apathy" of the Irish team. ----

Ireland vs. England

Ireland: RB Walkington ( NIFC), RE McLean ( Dublin University), EJ Wolfe ( NIFC), WW Pike (Kingstown), M Johnston ( Dublin University), GC Bent ( Dublin University), AJ Forrest ( Wanderers), JW Taylor ( NIFC) capt., R Nelson ( Queens's University), HB Morell ( Dublin University), WEA Cummins (

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

), JA McDonald (

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

), RW Hughes ( NIFC), TR Johnson-Smyth ( Lansdowne), OS Stokes (Cork Bankers) England:

A. N. Hornby Albert Neilson Hornby, nicknamed Monkey Hornby (10 February 1847 – 17 December 1925) was one of the best-known sportsmen in England during the nineteenth century excelling in both rugby and cricket. He was the first of only two men to captain ...

( Manchester), WN Bolton (

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

), E Beswick ( Swinton), R Hunt ( Manchester), HT Twynam (

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

), HC Rowley ( Manchester), JI Ward (

Charles Gurdon Charles Gurdon (3 December 1855 – 26 June 1931) was an English barrister, judge, rower and rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cambridge University and Richmond. Gurdon represented England fourteen times during the early develop ...

(

) capt., BB Middleton ( Birkenhead Park), Harry Vassall (

Herbert Fuller Herbert George Fuller (4 October 1856 – 2 January 1896) was an English born rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cambridge University and won four international caps for the England national rugby union team between 1882 and 1884. E ...

(

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

), JT Hunt ( Manchester), GT Thomson ( Halifax), A Spurling (

), WW Hewitt ( Queen's House) ----

Scotland vs. Ireland

Scotland: T Anderson (Merchiston),

Bill Maclagan William Edward Maclagan (5 April 1858 – 10 October 1926) was a Scottish international rugby union forward who played club rugby for London Scottish F.C. Maclagan was one of the longest-serving international rugby players during the early dev ...

(

Glasgow Academicals The Glasgow Academical Football Club is the third oldest rugby football club in Scotland. The club was also a founder member of the Scottish Football Union (the future SRU) in 1873. History Glasgow Hawks In 1997 the decision was made t ...

), F Hunter ( Edinburgh University), WS Brown (Edinburgh Inst. FP),

AGG Asher Sir Augustus Gordon Grant-Asher (18 December 1861 – 15 June 1930)Godwin, p30 was a Scotland international rugby union player. He also represented Scotland as a cricket player.Bath, p104 Rugby Union career Amateur career Grant-Asher went to ...

( Oxford University), G Macleod (

), R Ainslie (Edinburgh Inst. FP), C Reid ( Edinburgh Academical), DY Cassels ( West of Scotland) capt., D. Somerville (Edinburgh Inst. FP), D McCowan ( West of Scotland), R Maitland (Edinburgh Inst. FP), T Ainslie(Edinburgh Inst. FP), AFC Gore ( London Scottish), JB Brown (

) Ireland: RB Walkington ( NIFC), RE McLean ( Dublin University), JR Atkinson ( Dublin University), RW Morrow ( Queens's University), WW Fletcher (Kingstown), J Pedlow (Bessbrook), AC O'Sulivan ( Dublin University), JW Taylor ( NIFC) capt., R Nelson ( Queens's University), JBW Buchanan ( Dublin University), W Finlay ( NIFC), JA McDonald (

), RW Hughes ( NIFC), G Scriven ( Dublin University), J Johnston (Belfast Acads) ----

England vs. Scotland

England:

( Manchester) capt., WN Bolton (

), E Beswick ( Swinton), JH Payne ( Broughton), HH Taylor (

), Charles Coates (

Yorkshire Wanderers Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

), WM Tatham ( Oxford University),

(

), PA Newton (

), Harry Vassall ( Oxford University),

( Cambridge University), JT Hunt ( Manchester), GT Thomson ( Halifax), ET Gurdon (

), HC Rowley ( Manchester) Scotland: JP Veitch (Royal HSFP),

(

), A Philip (Edinburgh Inst. FP), WS Brown (Edinburgh Inst. FP),

Andrew Ramsay Don-Wauchope Andrew Ramsay "Bunny" Don-Wauchope (29 April 1861 – 16 January 1948) was a Scottish international rugby union back who played club rugby for Cambridge and Fettesian-Lorettonian. Don Wauchope played an important role within the early growth o ...

( Cambridge University),

Archibald Walker Archibald Walker was a Scotland international rugby union player.Bath, p137 Rugby Union career Amateur career He played for West of Scotland. He played for Fettesian-Lorettonians in 1883 while still with West of Scotland, alongside his bro ...

( West of Scotland), Robert Ainslie (Edinburgh Inst. FP), Charles Reid ( Edinburgh Academical), DY Cassels ( West of Scotland) capt., WA Walls (

), D McCowan ( West of Scotland), Robert Maitland (Edinburgh Inst. FP),

Thomas Ainslie Thomas Ainslie may refer to: * Thomas Ainslie (rugby union) * Thomas Ainslie (colonial official) See also * Thomas Ainslie Young Thomas Ainslie Young (June 12, 1797 – February 8, 1860) was an official and political figure in Lower Canada. ...

(Edinburgh Inst. FP), JG Walker ( West of Scotland), JB Brown (

) At the fourth attempt, Scotland won the Calcutta Cup for the first time. ----

Wales vs. North of England

Although not a full international, the match between Wales and the North of England was important for the establishment of the Home Nations Championship the following season. In 1881, Wales had suffered such a crushing defeat at the hands of the English that it their readiness for full international participation was brought into question. In 1882 it was therefore decided to put a North of England team against them. The winning margin attained by the North was by just a goal to a try. This good form shown by the Welsh added to their victory over Ireland, gained for them a place in the International fixtures of the future.Marshall, Francis, ''Football; the Rugby union game'', p172, (1892) (London Paris Melbourne, Cassell and company, limited)

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Home Nations History of rugby union matches between England and Scotland History of rugby union matches between England and Ireland History of rugby union matches between Ireland and Scotland History of rugby union matches between Ireland and Wales History of rugby union matches between England and Wales England national rugby union team matches Scotland national rugby union team matches Ireland national rugby union team matches Wales national rugby union team matches 1881–82 in British rugby union 1881–82 in English rugby union rugby union rugby union 1881–82 in Scottish rugby union