The 1912 Australia rugby union tour of Canada and the United States was a collection of friendly

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 ...

games undertaken by the

Australia national rugby union team The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the ...

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 ...

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 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 Point Piper is a small, harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, east of the Sydney CBD, in the local government area known as the Municipality of Woollahra. Point Piper has been historically ...

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 Warden Selby Prentice (30 July 1886 – 26 February 1969) was an Australian sportsman who captained Australia at rugby union and New South Wales at first-class cricket and also played first-grade rugby league for the Western Suburbs Magpies. Ru ...

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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

he had a brief first-grade

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

career Sydney in 1920.

Tom Richards Tom Richards may refer to: * Tom Richards (actor) Thomas Richards (born 22 March 1948) is an Australian former actor on television soap operas. He is best known for roles including in ''Matlock Police'' as Steven York from 1972 and 1976 and in t ...

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 The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

for conspicuous gallantry on the

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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 conside ...

and one of the three matches played against

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

. The team played in the light-blue jersey of New South Wales with a

Waratah Waratah (''Telopea'') is an Australian-endemic genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees, native to the southeastern parts of Australia (New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania). The best-known species in this genus is ''Telopea speci ...

emblem and the word ''Australia'' on the chest.

Touring party

The second match of the 1912

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 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

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,

Lou Meibusch Ludwig Samuel "Lou" Meibusch (26 March 1893 – 1 December 1965) was a rugby union player who represented Australia. Meibusch, a wing, was born in Toowoomba, Queensland Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in ...

Copper Kent Allan W. "Copper" Kent (10 February 1891 – 28 May 1966) was a rugby union player who represented Australia. Kent, a flanker (rugby union), flanker, was born in Toowoomba, Queensland and claimed 1 international rugby cap for Australia. See ...

, 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:

*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 Daniel Carroll (July 22, 1730May 7, 1796) was an American politician and plantation owner from Maryland and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He supported the American Revolution, served in the Confederation Congress, was a del ...

(St. George, NSW) * Jimmy Flynn (

Brothers A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

, Queensland) * Herbert Jones (Newcastle, NSW) *

(Past Grammar-Toowoomba, Queensland)

Half backs

( 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 the ...

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

Forwards

* Jimmy Clarken (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 (

, Queensland) *

George Pugh George Ellis Pugh (November 28, 1822July 19, 1876) was a Democratic politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1855 to 1861. Early life Pugh was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the son of Lot and Rachel (nee Anthony) Pugh, who w ...

(Newtown, NSW) *

(Natives-Charters Towers, Queensland) *

William Watson William, Willie, Bill or Billy Watson may refer to: Entertainment * William Watson (songwriter) (1794–1840), English concert hall singer and songwriter * William Watson (poet) (1858–1935), English poet * Billy Watson (actor) (1923–2022), A ...

(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 Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

1912 in Canadian rugby union