Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Men's rugby union at the Games of the IV Olympiad | |||||||
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Venue | White City Stadium | ||||||
Date | 26 October | ||||||
Competitors | 30 from 2 nations | ||||||
Medalists | |||||||
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Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics. The event was summarised under the
History
The visiting team competed in the London Olympics in conjunction with the inaugural
Australia had already beaten Cornwall, the English county champions early in the tour – an 18–5 defeat of Cornwall in their third tour match at Camborne RFC on 3 October 1908.[3] Both Scotland and Ireland had declined the Rugby Football Union's invitations to participate in the Olympic competition, while France withdrew, leaving just the Australian and Great Britain to play for gold and silver medals.
The interest in the Olympic rugby final was only lukewarm, with the final being held in the last week of the Games, that had taken place over six months.[4]
In 1908 Twickenham Stadium was still being built: the match was played at the White City Stadium, London, 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.[5] One day was allocated to the Olympic rugby tournament, with the game taking place in a thick mid-week London fog at a virtually deserted White City in wet conditions. Often, a kick for touch saw the ball end up in the pool, and it was said that the Australians were more adept at handling the slippery ball.[6]
Australia outscored Great Britain six tries to one to win the gold medal by 32-3.[7] Silver was awarded to Cornwall and no bronze was awarded. The Cornish silver olympic medal was 'drawn for' by the players and won by Thomas 'Chicky' Wedge and it has been on display at the St Ives RFC clubhouse ever since. After the match, the Cornish players were 'entertained to dinner' by the Cornish Members of Parliament.[3]
Zavos quotes a contemporary newspaper account by Major Trevor in The Daily Telegraph on 27 October, 1908, "It will be remembered that less than a month ago there was a match played between Australia and Cornwall at Camborne and although the Australians also won on that occasion, the beaten side then played on the whole, a very good game. Yesterday the champion England county was practically at full strength, but from start to finish they were outplayed. The methods by which this victory was gained were even more creditable to the winners than the completeness of the victory itself and it is only fair to the Australians to speak of their play in terms of unqualified praise. The ground was very slippery and very heavy and as a result of several hours of continuous rain the ball was very greasy. The excellence of the play of the Australian backs therefore surprised the spectators. They gave a display of football which would have done credit to a Welsh international side, at its best. They scored eight tries and so good was the play leading up to each of them that it would be hard to say which was the best." [8]
Result
Team details | |||
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Great Britain:
|
Medal table
Rank | Team | Matches | Points | Avg points | Tries | Avg tries |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australasia | 1 | 32 | 32 | ? | ? | |
Great Britain | 1 | 3 | 3 | ? | ? | |
(none awarded) |
Team rosters
Australasia (Australia)
Position | Name |
---|---|
Back | Phil Carmichael |
¾-backs | Charles Russell
|
Daniel Carroll | |
John Hickey | |
Frank Smith
| |
Halfbacks | Christopher McKivatt
|
Arthur McCabe | |
Forwards | Thomas Griffin |
Jumbo Barnett
| |
Patrick McCue | |
Sydney Middleton | |
Tom Richards
| |
Malcolm McArthur | |
Charles McMurtrie | |
Robert Craig
|
Great Britain (Cornwall)
Position | Name |
---|---|
Back | John Jackett |
¾-backs | Barney Solomon |
Bert Solomon | |
Frederick Dean | |
Jimmy Jose | |
Halfbacks | Thomas Wedge
|
Maffer Davey | |
Forwards | Richard Jackett |
E. J. Jones | |
Arthur Wilson
| |
Nicholas Tregurtha | |
A. Lawrey | |
Charlie Marshall | |
A. Wilcocks | |
John Trevaskis |
Centenary celebration match
As part of the centenary celebrations, the British Olympic Association arranged a match between Australia and the Barbarians which was held at Wembley Stadium on 3 December 2008. The Barbarian players, who normally wear their club socks, all wore gold and black socks to represent Cornwall, in a game which Australia won 11-8.[9]
Bibliography
- Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
- De Wael, Herman (2001). "Rugby 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved 7 May 2006.
- Zavos, Spiro (2000) Golden Wallabies Penguin Sydney
References
- ^ Australia at the Olympics on Topend Sports
- ^ Rugby in the Olympics on University of Idaho
- ^ a b The First Hundred Years - The story of rugby in Cornwall by Tom Salmon 1983 (published by the Cornwall RFU)
- ^ Zavos p111
- ^ Zavos p114
- ^ British Olympic Association - Rugby World Cup Stirs Olympic Memories
- ^ Cornwall v. Australia - 1908 London Olympic Games Rugby Union Final on Cornwall Forever website
- ^ Zavos p113
- ^ "Barbarians 11-18 Australia". bbc.co.uk. 3 December 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
External links
- Rugby at the 1908 Summer Olympics at SR/Olympics (archived)