International Rugby Events
European Union
All kind of International Rugby Events, like June Tours, Pacific cups and all others.
Scotland vs Australia
Match scheduled:
Date:21-11-2009
Time: 17:15 until 19:15
Autumn Internationals / And Of Year Tours
John Inverdale presents coverage from Murrayfield where Scotland are hosting Australia. It will be a tough ask for Scotland to overcome the Wallabies, whom they have not beaten for 27 years. Australia have scored at least 30 points in all of their last ten matches against the Scots and, despite their recent disappointment in the Tri-Nations, they will be overwhelming favourites to extend their winning run to 17 matches. Commentary from Eddie Butler and Andy Nicol.
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In 1883 the Southern Rugby Football Union (renamed the New South Wales Rugby Union in 1892)[3] toured New Zealand becoming the first team in the world to tour overseas. The New Zealand national team toured New South Wales in 1884 — defeating New South Wales in all three matches, and winning all nine matches on tour.[4
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The first tour by a British team took place in 1888. A British Isles team toured the Australian colonies and New Zealand, though no Test matches were played.[5] Although they had representatives from all four home nations, the players were drawn mainly from England and the Scottish borders.[3] The tour was not sanctioned by the Rugby Football Union as it was organised by entrepreneurs and thus contravened the union's strict regulations pertaining to professionalism.
In 1899 the first officially sanctioned British Isles team toured Australia. Four Tests were played between Australia and the British Isles (three in Sydney and one in Brisbane). Although all called "Australia", the teams were a representative of the colony in which the match was played. Accordingly the team wore the blue of New South Wales when playing in Sydney, and the maroon of Queensland when playing in Brisbane. The tourists won all their games except the first, which was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground and won 13–3 by Australia.[6]
[edit] Early 20th century
The first Test between Australia and New Zealand was played on 15 August 1903 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Despite Australia losing 22-3[7] this tour greatly increased the popularity of rugby and large crowds started attending grade matches in Sydney and Brisbane. New Zealand winger Billy Wallace scored 13 of their 22 points.
In 1907 the New South Wales Rugby League was formed and star player Dally Messenger left the Rugby union for the rival code.[8] The next year the first Australian team to tour the British Isles left Sydney under the name of 'Rabbits'.[9] The players thought this name derogatory and replaced it with 'Wallabies'.[10] The 1908 tour coincided with the London Olympic Games at which rugby union was contested. The Australian team won the gold medal by defeating Cornwall, the English county champions representing Great Britain.[11] When the team returned home more than half of them joined professional rugby league clubs.[12
Australia's last Test before World War I was against New Zealand in July 1914. The war had a very negative effect on rugby union in Australia. The sports authorities decided it was unpatriotic to play rugby while thousands of young Australian men were being sent overseas to fight. This resulted in competitions all but closed down in New South Wales and Queensland. In Queensland regular competitions did not commence again until 1928. As a result players switched to rugby league in large numbers.
During the 1920s the only representative team available for international opponents was the New South Wales Waratahs; all thirty-nine internationals played by them in that period have since been accorded Test status. In 1921 South Africa visited Australia and New Zealand for the first time — winning all three tests in Australia. The most famous Waratahs' team was the 1927/28 Waratahs who toured the United Kingdom, France and Canada. They introduced a style of open, running rugby rarely seen before. They won 24 and drew two of their 31 official matches.
War hero Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop also played for Australia before World War II. He played on the side that was the first to win the Bledisloe Cup.[13]
The re-emergence of the Queensland Rugby Union in 1928/9 immediately made a forceful impact on the performances of the Australian team, which that year defeated New Zealand in all 3 Tests for the first time. In 1931, the then Governor General of New Zealand, Lord Bledisloe donated a rugby trophy to foster sporting ties between Australia and New Zealand. Bearing his name, the Bledisloe Cup was established. The inaugural competition was won by New Zealand two games to one.
Australia made their first tour to South Africa in 1933 for a four Test series, which was won by South Africa three games to one. Australia won the Bledisloe Cup for the first time in 1934. The tour of the 1939 Wallabies was cancelled as war was declared a day after the team arrived in England; two weeks later they returned home.
