St Helen’s ArchivePreserving the past for the future

PH258

Photograph

CIC

David Dow

1908-1909

Photograph: Reproduction of a B&W postcard depicting the Australia rugby union team who toured the UK, Ireland and France in 1908-09. Superimposed on the base of the image the text: "AUSTRALIAN TEAM, THE WALLABIES. 1908-09." Dimensions: w 6" x h4" (w15cm x h10.13cm).

The first Australian rugby union tour of 1908-09 to England, Wales and France was made under the auspices of the New South Wales Rugby Union, hence the tour jerseys were in the NSW union's colours with the Waratah flower emblem. They were captained by Herbert "Paddy" Moran, though some matches were skippered by Chris McKivat and Fred Wood. A n impressive 39 matches were played on the tour overall, 31 of which were played in England and Wales. They also played a match against France and matches in California, Vancouver and Victoria on the homeward leg of the journey. On the UK part of the tour 25 wins were registered by the Australians with five losses and a draw. They were beaten by Wales but defeated England. Against Welsh teams 6 of the matches were won, a 3 - 3 draw made with Abertillery and losses sustained to Llanelli, Swansea and Cardiff. The match against Swansea was played on Boxing Day 1908 in front of a then world record crowd exceeding 45,000. Swansea emerged winners by 6 - 0 with a try by Edgar Morgan and penalty by Jack Bancroft. Early in the tour the British press settled on the name "Wallabies" for the tourists, having been visited by the "All Blacks" (1905) and Springboks (1906). The New South Wales Rugby Union insisted that the Australians perform a 'war dance' which was invented for them, along with some nonsensical words to shout. It was felt that it would be good publicity for the tour. Skipper Paddy Moran was greatly embarrassed at the prospect of the invented spectacle and often hid in the middle of the players, refusing to join in. As the tour progressed, the spectacle was gradually abandoned by popular consent among the squad. Another interesting aspect of the tour was that the Wallabies were able to enter into the 1908 Olympic Games, which were being held in London at the time. Only one other team entered, which was Cornwall, representing Great Britain. A 32 - 3 win resulted for Australia, Cornwall being awarded a silver medal as the only other participant. Interest in the advent of rugby in the games was not great and both Ireland and France withdrew before the games started. So the Wallabies, having already beaten Cornwall on the tour, left the UK as Olympic Champions and gold medalists.

1908-1909, 1908-09, australia, wallabies, olympic games, tour,