St Helen’s ArchivePreserving the past for the future
Item
PH182
Object ID
PH182
Type
Rights Holder
Swansea RFC Memorabilia Community Interest Company
Provenance
David Dow
Season
Description
Photograph, B&W, taken from a postcard. Australian (rugby) Football Team "the Wallabies" 1908. Dimensions: w6" x h4" (w15.1cm x h9.8cm).
Info
This is a photograph of the Australian rugby union team who toured Britain in 1908-09. It was taken at their 'base of operations' in Newton Abbot, in Devon.
Personnel: back Row (L to R): T Griffen, W Prentice, D B Carroll, A J McCabe, J Stephenson, P Carmichael. 2nd Row (L to R): S M Wickham, P flanagan, C McMurtle, P Burge, P McCue, S A Middleton, F B Smith, T Richards, N E Row, R R Craig. 3rd Row (L to R): E Parkinson, C H McKivat, E Mandible, E McIntyre, Dr. H M Moran (captain), J McMahon (Manager), F Wood (Vice-captain), J T Barnett, C A Hammond, C Russell. Front (Row (L to R): J Hickey, M McArthur, W Dix, H Daly.
Significantly, this was the same location that the first All Blacks selected as their own home base in 1905. As with the New Zealand tourists, the 1908-09 Australian tourists is posed for this photograph outside the village hall in Newton Abbot. The Australians wore the light blue jerseys and waratah flower emblem of the New South Wales rugby Union under whose jurisdiction they toured. the word "Australia" was emblazoned beneath the waratah emblem. The tour incorporated a total of 40 matches, beginning with two wins in Australia against Victoria State and Western Australia, on the outward journey. The opening match in England was against a Devon County selection (won 24-3) and the last fixture on the British leg of the tour was against Plymouth on 16th January 1909, which was won by 15-6. In all 33 matches were won in Britain with one draw and five losses. But the team also had the good fortune to be in Britain while the London Olympics were being held and they entered the rugby competition there. Unfortunately, there was only one other entrant - a Cornwall County team who played representing Great Britain. In winning this encounter on 26th October 1908 by 32-3 the tourists thus won the Olympic gold medal, "Cornwall" taking the silver. The Australian tourists, now enjoying the sobriquet of "Wallablies", had already beaten Cornwall County on 3rd October during their tour and so, emphasised their pedigree by taking the West Country team's scalp for a second time in the same month. Two international fixtures were played on the tour, the first was lost 6-9 to Wales on 12th December 1908 at Cardiff and the second saw the tourists beat England at Blackheath by 9-3. Of the Welsh fixtures played Australia beat Penygraig, Neath/Aberavon, Glamorgan League, Newport and North Glamorgan. they drew 3-3 with Abertillery and lost to Llanelli, Cardiff and Swansea. The match against Swansea on Boxing Day 1908 saw a huge crowd of over 40,000 turn out, a record for a rugby game in the UK at this time. Swansea scored a try by Edgar Morgan and penalty by Jack Bancroft to win their first game against a major touring side by 6-0. Such was the parlous state of the finances for the tour that the Australians were obliged to continue round the globe to play three matches in California (University of California, Stanford University and All California Combined) and another two in Canada (Vancouver and Victoria) to help finance the homeward journey. Following on from New Zealand (1905) and South African (1906) tour to Britain, the Wallabies were seen as a less successful side in comparison, perhaps the refusal of Scotland and Ireland to grant them an international reflecting the lower esteem they were held in by the British unions. But they did gain notable victories against the highly rated Devon County (24-3) and English County Champions Cornwall (18-5) sides as well as beating the tough Yorkshire and Lancashire county sides and both Oxford and Cambridge. Overall, they acquitted themselves well and in their next incarnation in 1927 as the New South Wales Waratahs, would be a tougher prospect again.
Personnel: back Row (L to R): T Griffen, W Prentice, D B Carroll, A J McCabe, J Stephenson, P Carmichael. 2nd Row (L to R): S M Wickham, P flanagan, C McMurtle, P Burge, P McCue, S A Middleton, F B Smith, T Richards, N E Row, R R Craig. 3rd Row (L to R): E Parkinson, C H McKivat, E Mandible, E McIntyre, Dr. H M Moran (captain), J McMahon (Manager), F Wood (Vice-captain), J T Barnett, C A Hammond, C Russell. Front (Row (L to R): J Hickey, M McArthur, W Dix, H Daly.
Significantly, this was the same location that the first All Blacks selected as their own home base in 1905. As with the New Zealand tourists, the 1908-09 Australian tourists is posed for this photograph outside the village hall in Newton Abbot. The Australians wore the light blue jerseys and waratah flower emblem of the New South Wales rugby Union under whose jurisdiction they toured. the word "Australia" was emblazoned beneath the waratah emblem. The tour incorporated a total of 40 matches, beginning with two wins in Australia against Victoria State and Western Australia, on the outward journey. The opening match in England was against a Devon County selection (won 24-3) and the last fixture on the British leg of the tour was against Plymouth on 16th January 1909, which was won by 15-6. In all 33 matches were won in Britain with one draw and five losses. But the team also had the good fortune to be in Britain while the London Olympics were being held and they entered the rugby competition there. Unfortunately, there was only one other entrant - a Cornwall County team who played representing Great Britain. In winning this encounter on 26th October 1908 by 32-3 the tourists thus won the Olympic gold medal, "Cornwall" taking the silver. The Australian tourists, now enjoying the sobriquet of "Wallablies", had already beaten Cornwall County on 3rd October during their tour and so, emphasised their pedigree by taking the West Country team's scalp for a second time in the same month. Two international fixtures were played on the tour, the first was lost 6-9 to Wales on 12th December 1908 at Cardiff and the second saw the tourists beat England at Blackheath by 9-3. Of the Welsh fixtures played Australia beat Penygraig, Neath/Aberavon, Glamorgan League, Newport and North Glamorgan. they drew 3-3 with Abertillery and lost to Llanelli, Cardiff and Swansea. The match against Swansea on Boxing Day 1908 saw a huge crowd of over 40,000 turn out, a record for a rugby game in the UK at this time. Swansea scored a try by Edgar Morgan and penalty by Jack Bancroft to win their first game against a major touring side by 6-0. Such was the parlous state of the finances for the tour that the Australians were obliged to continue round the globe to play three matches in California (University of California, Stanford University and All California Combined) and another two in Canada (Vancouver and Victoria) to help finance the homeward journey. Following on from New Zealand (1905) and South African (1906) tour to Britain, the Wallabies were seen as a less successful side in comparison, perhaps the refusal of Scotland and Ireland to grant them an international reflecting the lower esteem they were held in by the British unions. But they did gain notable victories against the highly rated Devon County (24-3) and English County Champions Cornwall (18-5) sides as well as beating the tough Yorkshire and Lancashire county sides and both Oxford and Cambridge. Overall, they acquitted themselves well and in their next incarnation in 1927 as the New South Wales Waratahs, would be a tougher prospect again.
Keywords
australia, wallabies, 1908-09, 1908-1909, tour, olympics,
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