1908–09 Australia Rugby Union Tour Of Britain
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The 1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of the British Isles was a collection of friendly
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
games undertaken by the
Australia national rugby union team The Australia men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for Australia. The Wallabies first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first Test match (rugby u ...
against invitational and national teams from
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, as well as several games against sides from
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
. This was the first Australian tour of the Northern Hemisphere and the side is sometimes referred to as the "First Wallabies". Both the
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
and South African teams had toured Europe in 1905 and 1906 respectively, both achieving unexpected but deserved success against club and international opposition. Despite the success of these two touring teams, Australia suffered poor pressThomas (1954), p. 52. and with only a single win after the teams' first twelve international matches in its history to that point,Griffiths (1987), 8:3–4. few people suggested the team would do well. Against low expectations the Australians played well, winning 25 of 31 matches played on the tour and with some commentators writing that the team would have achieved better results if they had not picked up so many injuries.Griffiths (1987), 8:4. Australia took in two recognised international games, against
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
and
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, but failed to play any games in
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
or
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
due to the Irish and
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
Unions resenting the
International Rugby Board World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...
's attitude regarding the Australian invitation.


The squad's leadership

Tour manager, who performed the role of coach was New South Wales state selector James McMahon, a veteran of the early NSWRU representative fixtures of 1889 and 1894 against New Zealand. He was assisted by Stan Wickham who had captained the Wallabies on 10 occasions between 1904 and 1905. Tour captain was Dr. Herbert 'Paddy' Moran. The team was also captained in matches during the tour by
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 ...
and by Fred Wood, the tour vice-captain. They played in blue shirts, emblazoned with the
Waratah Australia’s famous waratah (genus ''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 (Australia), Victoria, and Tasmania). The be ...
. Players were paid 3 shillings a day in expenses. Moran writes in ''Viewless Winds'' that when the touring squad first arrived at Plymouth a pack of journalists were there who were anxious to give the team some distinctive name. The "Rabbits" was instantaneously rejected and soon after the team adopted the moniker of "The Wallabies" which for many years was used to describe the
Australia national rugby union team The Australia men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for Australia. The Wallabies first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first Test match (rugby u ...
when touring to Britain. These days the national side are the Wallabies whether playing at home or anywhere abroad.Moran, Herbert (1939) ''Viewless Winds'' reproduced in ''The Spirit of Rugby'' p. 179. Moran also describes as "an affliction" the war-cry which the parent Union in Australia had suggested the team should use for its "box-office value". Moran wrote: Echoing the feelings of the Australian team towards the war-cry, there was little respect shown from their opponents towards it either. In the encounter with Cardiff at the
Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park (), also known as The Arms Park, is primarily a rugby union stadium, and also has a bowling green. It is situated in Cardiff, Wales, next to the Millennium Stadium. The Arms Park was host to the 1958 British Empire and Common ...
, Percy Bush responded to the cry by charging onto the pitch brandishing a sword and shield, in what was intended to be an amusing riposte.Thomas (1954), p. 58.


Tour itinerary

The squad left Sydney on 8 August 1908 on board the ''SS Omrah'' bound for
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
. The ship contained 116 passengers, 1579 bales of wool, 2729 carcasses of mutton, 4650 carcasses of lamb, 2000 quarters of beef, 4800 crates of frozen rabbits and 200 tonnes of lead and copper. They played a game at the
MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...
against a Victorian XV which was won 26–6. They docked in Fremantle and played and won a fixture against a Western Australian XV 58–6. On the long voyage Moran introduced the practice of team meetings that were part lecture and part brain–storming with players encouraged to voice their ideas on improving team performance. Moran stood at a blackboard and while his lecturing style was initially derided by the players he managed to instill a sense of cleverness and skill in players, creating thoughts of rugby as similar to a game of chess. The Sydney forward Cecil Murnin became ill on the voyage and left the tour in Naples to return to Australia. The first tour match in England was against Devon. Peter Burge broke a leg in that match and did not play again on the tour. Australia won the match with 14 men. Bob Craig had brought a carpet snake in his luggage as a tour mascot and the snake died that same day. The fourth tour match saw the Wallabies pitted against the best players from Cardiff and Swansea playing as Glamorgan County. The match at
Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...
drew a crowd of 20,000 who gave the visitors a standing ovation. In that match another player was lost to a broken leg – this time from the sideline. The Queensland forward Flanagan was running the flag as line–umpire and collided with the winger "Boxer" Russell. Australia's first loss was the ninth match, against
Llanelli RFC Llanelli Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club founded on 30 March 1872. The club's historic home ground was Stradey Park in Llanelli, but they moved in 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent Pemberton. The club song is " ...
– a spirited encounter which saw the Llanelli side win the match 8–3 and themselves a place in local sporting folklore.


Olympic Wallabies

During the tour, the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
were being held in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. The Australian team entered the rugby tournament and were the only other team alongside
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
, who were representing Great Britain. The interest in the Olympic rugby final was only lukewarm with the final being held in the last week of Games that had taken place over six months. Australia had already beaten Cornwall, the British county champions early in the tour.
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
and Irish Unions had turned down the
RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the 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 (WR) in 1886. It prom ...
's invitation to participate in the Olympic bouts.
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
were expected to contest the medal, but had withdrawn, leaving just Australia and Cornwall for England team to play for gold and silver medals. The match was played on an area alongside the Olympic Games swimming pool which measured 110 yards in length with a long line of netting stretched beside to catch flying balls. Large mattresses were spread along the rim of the pool to prevent injuries to falling players. One day was allocated to what was called the Olympic rugby tournament. Neither Moran, nor the tour 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, with each Wallaby in that match thereafter an Olympic gold medallist.


Tour statistics

The tour took in 31 games in the British Isles, with the Australians winning 25, losing five and drawing one. Of the Test matches, the team lost against Wales, but beat England. These matches were the first ever encounters between an Australian team and their hosts. A further two matches were played in Australia en route and there were five matches in the US and Canada.The rise and fall of American rugby
by Tony Collins, 11 June 2015
The Wallabies scored 438 points on tour to 149 against, scoring 104 tries in the process and averaging better than three tries per game with 80 scored by the backs and 24 by the forwards.


Touring party


Management

*Manager: James McMahon *Assistant: Stan Wickham *Captain: Herbert Moran *Vice-Captain: Fred Wood


Full backs

* Phil Carmichael
Brothers
* William Dix (Armidale)


Three-quarters

* Charles Russell (Newtown) *
Daniel Carroll Daniel Carroll Jr. (July 22, 1730May 7, 1796) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, a Maryland politician, and a plantation owner. He supported the American Revolution, served in the Confederation Congress, was a delegate to ...
(St. George) * Jack Hickey (Glebe) * Frank Smith (Central West) * Herbert Daly (Central West) * Edward Mandible (Sydney) * Esmond Parkinson
Harlin


Half backs

* Christopher McKivatt (Glebe) *
Arthur McCabe Arthur John Michael "Mackker" McCabe (23 June 1887 – 30 July 1924) was an Australian rugby union and pioneer professional rugby league footballer. He represented for Australian in rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Rugby union career ...
(South Sydney) * Fred Wood (Glebe) * Ward Prentice ( West Suburbs) *
Joseph Stevenson Joseph Stevenson (27 November 1806 – 8 February 1895) was an English Church of England and later Catholic priest, archivist and editor of historical texts. Early life Joseph Stevenson was born on 27 November 1806 in Berwick-on-Tweed, the eld ...
(Northern)


Forwards

* Thomas Griffen (Glebe) *
Jumbo Barnett John Thomas "Towser" Barnett (19 January 1880 – 2 October 1918) was a pioneer Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer who won an Olympic gold medal for rugby at the 1908 Summer Olympics. He was one of Australia's early dual-c ...
(Newtown) * Patrick McCue (Newtown) * Sydney Middleton (Glebe) * Tom Richards
Charters Towers
* Malcolm McArthur ( Eastern Suburbs) * Charles McMurtrie (Orange) * Bob Craig (Balmain) * Herbert Moran (Newcastle) * Ted McIntyre (Central West) *
Ken Gavin Kenneth Australia Gavin (20 January 1883 – 24 May 1956) was a rugby union player who represented Australia. Gavin, a prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or ...
(Central West) *
Albert Burge Albert Bentley "Son" Burge (4 June 1889 – 4 January 1943) was an Australian rugby union lock who played with the Souths rugby union club in Sydney and at the age of nineteen was selected for the Australian national team in two Tests against ...
(South Sydney) * Peter Burge (South Sydney) * Cecil Murnin ( Eastern Suburbs) * Norm Row ( Eastern Suburbs) * Peter Flanagan
Brothers
* Charles Hammand (
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)


Match summary

Complete list of matches played by Australia at British Isles and North America: Test matches ;Notes


Test matches


Wales

After the tours by the New Zealand and South African teams, the Welsh crowds were beginning to become fatigued at greeting another 'colonial' team, and the crowd of 30,000 at the Cardiff Arms Park was smaller than previous in tours. Those that attended were repaid with an exciting and close encounter, with two tries from both sides and Wales winning by just a single penalty goal. The contest between the forwards was described as 'tremendous',Thomas (1954), p. 55. and at the end of the match Moran was chaired from the ground by the Welsh supporters. Moran was later quoted as saying: "It was a very gruelling game; in fact, I think it was one of the hardest games I had ever played in." Moran describes the last fifteen minutes as tremendously hard. Twice or three times the Australian backs either crossed the line or knocked down a corner post without being able to score. In the dying moments one of the Australian wingers made a break with just Bert Winfield to beat. Instead of stepping or fending him the Wallaby three-quarter attempted to barge through and both players collapsed to the ground. The whistle blew and the Test was Wales'.


England

The match was to have been played at Twickenham but bad weather had delayed the construction of the stand and it was moved to Blackheath. England had ten new caps, including all four three-quarters. England started well and
Edgar Mobbs Edgar Roberts Mobbs (1882–1917) was an English rugby union footballer who played for and captained Northampton R.F.C. and England. He played as a three quarter. Mobbs is commemorated in the Ella-Mobbs Trophy, first competed for by the Aust ...
scored. Wallaby Norman Row kicked an up-and-under, followed up and scored to level the scores. Half-time came at 3-all. Australia dominated the second half. Boxer Russell scored the Wallabies' second and third tries.Planet-Rugby.com
retrieved 17 September 2009.
Although the Australian team won by three tries to one, sections of the British press reported that the tourists were fortunate to win. This was typical of the press, which had unfairly compared the Australians to the All Black and Springbok teams throughout the tour. Moran had suffered an Achilles-tendon injury in a prior match and missed the England encounter, so the captaincy was given to McKivat.


References


Footnotes


Bibliography

* * * * Collection (1995) ''Gordon Bray presents The Spirit of Rugby'', Harper Collins Publishers Sydney * Davis, JC (1934) ''Every Man for the Ship'' (NSWRU Souvenir Publication, 1934 reproduced in The Spirit of Rugby, 1995) * Howell, Max (2005) ''Born to Lead – Wallaby Test Captains'', Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ * * Zavos, Spiro (2000) ''Golden Wallabies'' Penguin Sydney


Online


Chris Thau article ''A Century of Wallaby Touring''Eng v Aust match report at Planet-Rugby.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australia 1908 rugby union tours 1909 rugby union tours 1908-09 1908-09 1908-09 1908-09 1908-09 1908-09 1908 in Australian rugby union 1909 in Australian rugby union 1908–09 in English rugby union 1908–09 in Welsh rugby union 1909 in Canadian rugby union 1908–09 in British rugby union
1908 This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time. Events January * January ...
1908 This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time. Events January * January ...