The Balmain Rugby Football Club is an Australian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

football club, based in Balmain, Sydney,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The original club established in 1873 is one of the oldest rugby clubs in Australia. Balmain was one of the founding members in 1874 of the Southern Rugby Union, later renamed the New South Wales Rugby Union, which was the first governing body for the sport in the Southern Hemisphere.

Billy Murdoch William Lloyd Murdoch (18 October 1854 – 18 February 1911) was an Australian cricketer who captained the Australian national side in 16 Test matches between 1880 and 1890. This included four tours of England, one of which, in 1882, gave ri ...

, who would later go on to captain the

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) a ...

, was Balmain's first captain, and he represented the club at the Southern Rugby Union's formation. Over the years, Balmain has provided several players who have represented Australia in international rugby, including Bob Craig, Robert Graves, and

Herbert Moran Herbert Michael "Paddy" Moran (29 April 1885 – 20 November 1945) was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative flanker who captained the Wallabies on their first overseas tour in 1908–09. __TOC__ Early years M ...

, who was captain of the 1908 Australian side and served as Balmain's president in 1911-12. Bill McKell who would later become Australia's

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...

also played for Balmain in 1909-10. More recently, international players including Wallabies

Drew Mitchell Drew Alan Mitchell (born 26 March 1984) is a former Australian rugby union professional player. He played on the wing or as fullback. Up to the 2006 season he played for the Queensland Reds. He played for the Western Force for the 2007–09 Sup ...

Matt Giteau Matthew James Giteau (born 29 September 1982) is an Australian rugby union professional player who is playing with the LA Giltinis of Major League Rugby (MLR). Giteau joined the Giltinis after a short playing stint with the Gungahlin Eagles in ...

Matt Dunning Matt Dunning (born 19 December 1978) is a former Australian rugby union footballer. He played as a prop for the Waratahs and Western Force in Super Rugby, and represented Australia. He coached the Balmain rugby club in Sydney 2013/2014. Earl ...

and

Ryan Cross Ryan Cross (born 6 October 1979) is a former Rugby Union footballer for Racing Metro 92 after signing from USA Perpignan in the French Top 14. He previously played for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition, the We ...

, and French representative Sebastien Chabal have all played for the club run by Warren Livingstone, re-established in 2005. Balmain currently competes in the

New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union The New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union, or NSWSRU, is affiliated to the New South Wales Rugby Union and runs the competition affectionately known as "Subbies" rugby. There are around 7500 players and 55 clubs competing across 6 divisions, maki ...

competition and won the first grade premiership

Kentwell Cup The Kentwell Cup is the major trophy for the New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union (NSWSRU), colloquially known as the "Subbies" competition. It is awarded to the first grade premiers of the first division competition. The Kentwell Cup was origi ...

in 2013, shared with St Patrick's Rugby Club after a 33-all extra-time draw. The club won the Kentwell Cup two years later with a 43–29 win over Knox in the 2015 Grand Final.

References

Bibliography

* * {{NSWSRU, state=expanded Rugby union teams in Sydney Rugby clubs established in 1873 1873 establishments in Australia Balmain, New South Wales