Roar Pro
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Sean Fagan - writer/author http://JottingsOnRugby.com
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While tonight is Scotland's debut Test match in Newcastle, many Scots have played in the city with British Lions teams. However, none rival the…
Schoolboy William Webb Ellis ran with the football, but it took a young man from the Hunter Valley to show the rugby world how…
The Waratahs tonight commemorate ANZAC Day and the contribution of New South Wales rugby to war-time service. Why a generation of New South Wales…
The 'First Wallabies' rugby tour of Britain in 1908/09 is a familiar yarn, but that of 1912’s 'Kangaroo Waratahs'? A century ago the second…
Rugby Sevens has a surprisingly long presence in our nation – over 120 years. Yet only now are we realising what a valuable asset…
It was a topsy-turvy world in the early days of international rugby – aside from form, residency alone mattered. All Blacks turned into Wallabies,…
In 1907, a long forgotten Waratahs side ventured to Australia's west. Though their matches and player caps mysteriously don't appear in the record books,…
Super Rugby’s Cheetahs from South Africa play the Brumbies in Canberra this Saturday. It's a long-forgotten fact, though, that 75 years ago a visit…
The New South Wales Waratahs playing in Melbourne is now an annual event, but it was a long time coming. Their first game on…
@Crashy – the Royals began as “Northern Suburbs” junior club (U17s & U20s) just after WW2 and in 1949 changed to “Royals”, apparently an ambitious/aspirational club of young players seeking to distinguish themselves from the established Norths first/second grade club – as “Royals” they toppled Randwick in a famous victory late in 1949, were allowed entry & won at first attempt the Canberra Cup in 1950 (that local antipathy to Cup & Sunday footy didn’t last thru WW2…though Duntroon XV stayed out of the Cup), and were promoted to first grade for 1951 season (winning in 1954). The club adopted Royals name & royal blue colour at start of 1949 – I haven’t seen anything to explain why “Royals” was chosen, but noticed the prominence of “Royal” in many Aust government/military institutions at that time (and well into the 1970s) – significantly perhaps the ACT first grade comp in late 1940s had the “Royal Military College” teams & “Royal Australian Navy” team, and non-comp games against visting RAAF teams, so a leap to “Royals” for a new club in the Federal capital in hindsight seems unsurprising.
How Springboks re-booted Canberra rugby 75 years ago
@AC – yes, fans of either code can ‘wax lyrical’ about what happened in WA & why codes fell in/out of favour with players/clubs/spectators, but ultimately the reality was if WA wanted to play ‘football’ against the nearest Australian colonies it was socially/economically/educationally/transport linked to (i.e. SA & Vic), there was only ever going to be one winner.
Same could be said to some degree in regard to the towns on the northern side of the NSW-Victoria border which were closer in ties and distance to Melbourne than Sydney. Broken Hill in NSW could only be reached from Sydney by sea/train to Melbourne, then Adelaide, and rail to Broken Hill.
To the credit of the WARU rugby kept on in WA, but it says a lot that even in the late 1930s the WARU thought there was more to be gained by mounting a tour by sea to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), than heading to the east coast of our nation.
A century ago, Melbourne's rugby rebels ambushed NSW
I’m a tame puppy compared to the Yoda of Sports History…
Tony Collins
The Invention of Sporting Tradition: National Myths, Imperial Pasts and the Origins of Australian Rules Football
http://www.palgrave.com/PDFs/9780230241251.Pdf
A century ago, Melbourne's rugby rebels ambushed NSW
@ sheek – ok, sounds an excellent idea.
A century ago, Melbourne's rugby rebels ambushed NSW
Talking about the IRB and having a say, imagine how frustrating it must have been for the southern hemisphere rugby nations before 1948 – it wasn’t until that year that Australia, Sth Africa and New Zealand were given a single voting ‘seat’ at the IRB table.
The IRB was founded in 1886/87 by Scotland, Ireland and Wales, with England remaining aloof until 1890 (when they got 6 seats, with the 3 founding nations having 2 seats each).
In the 1948 changes the four home nations had 2 seats, Australia, Sth Africa and New Zealand one each. Still in an era when “the Empire game” was the prevailing ethos (read any rugby book from the 1950s), France didn’t get a gig til 1978.
Australia's O'Neill joins RWC15 board
Lol! You’d think that sooner or later I’d learn that AFL fans will read into any mention I make of AFL a sinister intention.
I didn’t invent the 1894 quote. The point of the last paragraph is to illustrate the common ground shared by fans of all codes – then and now – of bemoaning the whistle being blown.
Whether the instances that caused referees/umpires to blow their whistle in 1894 still exist in today’s rugby & AFL I made no comment upon, and obviously nor could words written in 1894.
A century ago, Melbourne's rugby rebels ambushed NSW
Good idea for an article sheek! To my eye, if you look at each football code, and take account of the date they began (i.e split from rugby), you can see alive in them still elements/principles of rugby & its playing laws from that era, and even some which are no longer in RU at all.
For example, the concept that the game requires a re-start (with all players back again on their feet) when the ball-carrier is brought to ground or “held” (so that he can’t advance forward or pass the ball) is the RU game of the late 1800s – that concept is in gridiron (started with RFU laws 1875) and RL (started with RFU laws 1895), but isn’t in RU any longer thanks to law changes that introduced rucks aka breakdown (1907) and mauls (1948 – by deleting the “held” law).
A century ago, Melbourne's rugby rebels ambushed NSW
Oh, the Wales 1978 tour of Australia where Steve Finnane (it was later revealed) had been the Wallaby that landed an infamous punch on Graham Price that broke his jaw & froced him out of the game – that was in the 2nd Test at the SCG. A few days earlier combined ACT team had beaten Wales 21-20. The Welsh had won the Grand Slam earlier that year. They very firmly point to their injury toll & local refereeing as major contributors to their downfall in Aust. But, as you say, it’s in the books, the ACT did beat Wales.
How Springboks re-booted Canberra rugby 75 years ago