Philip Patrick Carmichael (25 January 1884 – September 1973) was a

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 its m ...

player who represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He won a gold medal in rugby at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

Rugby career

Carmichael, a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, was born in

Sandgate, Queensland Sandgate is a northern coastal suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Sandgate had a population of 4,909 people. The town became a popular destination for the people of Brisbane in the early 20th century and remains pop ...

, and played his club rugby career was played in Queensland. He claimed a total of 4 international rugby caps for Australia. His debut game was against Great Britain, at Brisbane, on 23 July 1904. He was selected in Australia's inaugural national rugby team to tour the northern hemisphere – Dr. Paddy Moran's First

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

for the

1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of Britain The 1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of the British Isles was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the Australia national rugby union team against invitational and national teams from England and Wales, as well as severa ...

At the time, the rugby tournament for the London Olympics game may not have appeared to be of great significance. Australia had already beaten Cornwall, and the British county champions early in the tour, and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

had all turned down the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

's invitation to participate in the Olympic bouts. Neither the tour captain Moran, nor the vice-captain Fred Wood played, so

Chris McKivat Christopher Hobart McKivat (alternatively spelled McKivatt, pronounced ; 27 November 1880 − 4 May 1941) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player – a dual-code rugby international. He represented the Wallabies in over 20 Tests ...

led the Wallabies to an easy 32–3 victory and to Olympic glory, in which Carmichael scored 11 points, then each Wallaby in that match were thereafter known as an Olympic gold medallist. Phil Carmichael played in both Tests of the tour – the 6–9 loss to Wales at

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British E ...

which was the first test played by an Australian team on British soil as well as the Test against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in January 1909 at Rectory Field, Blackheath – a match won by Australia 9–3. Postcard - Wallabies 1908

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carmichael, Phil Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players 1884 births 1973 deaths Rugby union players at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic rugby union players for Australasia Olympic gold medalists for Australasia Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Rugby union players from Brisbane Rugby union centres

Rugby career

See also

References

External links