Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Rugby union was played at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. The event was summarised under the "Football" heading along with association football. The host Great Britain was represented by Cornwall, the 1908 county champion. Defending Olympic champions France withdrew, leaving Australasia (represented by the Australian team) as the only other remaining entrant.

History of 1908 match

The visiting team competed in the London Olympics in conjunction with their inaugural tour of the United Kingdom in 1908 and 1909, in which they would ultimately go 25-5-1 in their 31 matches. In 1908 Twickenham Stadium was still being built, so on 26 October 1908 at the White City Stadium, London, the Wallabies went into the Olympic final match as the clear favourites based upon their 18-5 defeat of Cornwall in their third tour match at Camborne RFC on 3 October 1908. [The First Hundred Years - The story of rugby in Cornwall by Tom Salmon 1983 (published by the Cornwall RFU)] The game was rather a damp squib and took place in a thick mid week London fog at a virtually deserted White City. The small crowd was dwarfed in such a big stadium which also contained a swimming pool that ran along one side of the rugby field. 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 ! [ [http://www.olympics.org.uk/contentpage.aspx?no=420 British Olympic Association - Rugby World Cup Stirs Olympic Memories] ] Penzance RFC and England international winger Barrie Bennetts had to withdraw with an injury in the morning and was replaced by Barney Solomon - the elder brother of the much more famous Bert. Cornwall had 5 current or future England players - captain John Jackett of Falmouth at full back, Bert Solomon at centre, England and British Lions fly-half John "Maffer" Davey at fly half who partnered St Ives and England scrum half, Tommy Wedge. The pack which scrummaged on a first up/first down principle in those days included another England man A. J. Wilson who was a student at Camborne School of Mines. Australia outscored Great Britain six tries to one to win the gold medal with a 32-3 victory. With only two teams competing, 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. [The First Hundred Years - The story of rugby in Cornwall by Tom Salmon 1983 (published by the Cornwall RFU)]

Result

* Great Britain 3–32 Australasia

Medal table

:

Centenary celebration matches

Two centenary matches are planned to take place in Cornwall to celebrate the 1908 Olympic final - a Cornwall v Southern Hemisphere players match and another high-level prestige match involving Cornwall. [ [http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/features/frontrowrugby/display.var.986037.0.olympic_finals_100th_anniversary_celebration.php Cornwall's Olympic final's 100th anniversary celebration] ] Australia have also been approached by the British Olympic Association to play Barbarian F.C. (The Barbarians) at Wembley Stadium on 6 December 2008. The proposed match would form part of the BOA's programme of events to celebrate the centenary of the first London Olympic Games. [ [http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyunion/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rugby/08/01/30/RUGBYU_Olympics.html Australia approached to mark Cornwall v Australia centenary match] ]

References

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External links

* [http://www.uidaho.edu/clubs/womens_rugby/RugbyRoot/rugby/FAQ/Trivia/olympics.html Rugby in the Olympics]