Johnnie Wallace

Johnnie Wallace

Wallace in the 1920s
Birth name	Arthur Cooper Wallace[1]
Date of birth	(1900-10-05)5 October 1900[1]
Place of birth	Macksville, New South Wales[1]
Date of death	3 November 1975(1975-11-03) (aged 75)[1]
Place of death	The Entrance, New South Wales
School	Sydney Grammar School
University	University of Sydney[2] University of Oxford
Rugby union career
Position(s) centre Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1920–21 1926–30 Sydney University Glebe-Balmain RUFC () Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 1921–28 New South Wales 30 () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1921–28[1] 1923–26[1] Australia Scotland 8[1] 9[1] (15)[1] (33)[1]

Arthur Cooper "Johnnie" Wallace (5 October 1900 – 3 November 1975) was an Australian

In 1922 Wallace won a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford where he won University "blues" in 1922, 1923, 1924, and 1925.

Scotland representative

While at Oxford, he represented

As a player, he was at home anywhere in the three-quarters. He had a good turn of speed with a great outside break and was a magnificent finisher.

Australian representative

On his return to Australia in 1926 he joined the Glebe-Balmain RUFC

Prior to the start of the Australian 1927 season an invitation from the

The selection of Wallace as captain is referred to in the Howell reference as "a masterstoke".[5] He was well known in Britain through his Oxford and Scotland association, was an experienced and naturally gifted player, a strong tactician and a great influence on the younger players. On the nine-month tour, the Australians won 24, lost 5 and drew 2 of the matches they played and returned having established an international reputation for playing fair and attacking rugby.

Howell quotes a speech given by Wallace at the tour's conclusion Every man went into the game wholeheartedly and did his utmost. Australia should be especially proud of the team considering that the Waratahs were picked from nine clubs, while England has 40,000 players to draw from.^[6]

Post-playing

After 1928 Wallace opted out of representative rugby but played at club level till 1930 and acted as a selector and coach for New South Wales and Australia for a number of years. He toured as assistant manager-coach with a number of Wallaby sides and coached a Waratah team to a surprise victory over the Springboks at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1937.

After the death of his father he returned home to Macksville to attend to family business affairs. Later he returned to Sydney and worked as a non-practising barrister with the Crown Solicitors office. He died at The Entrance, New South Wales in 1975.

Accolades

In 2010 he was honoured in the sixth set of inductees into the

• Collection (1995) Gordon Bray presents The Spirit of Rugby, Harper Collins Publishers Sydney
• Howell, Max (2005) Born to Lead – Wallaby Test Captains, Celebrity Books, Auckland
• Bodis, J. P. (1990). "Wallace, Arthur Cooper (Johnny) (1900–1975)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
• "Rhodes Scholar – Mr A. C. Wallace Chosen for 1922". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 November 1921. p. 8. Retrieved 28 April 2014.

Footnotes