Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics
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'''[[Rugby union]]''' was played at the '''[[1908 Summer Olympics]]''' in [[London]]. The event was summarised under the "Football" heading along with [[football (soccer)|association football]]. The host [[Great Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics|Great Britain]] was represented by [[Cornwall]], the 1908 county champion. Defending Olympic champions France withdrew, leaving [[Australasia at the 1908 Summer Olympics|Australasia]] (represented by the [[Australia]]n 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.<ref>The First Hundred Years - The story of rugby in Cornwall by Tom Salmon 1983 (published by the Cornwall RFU)</ref> 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 !<ref>[http://www.olympics.org.uk/contentpage.aspx?no=420 British Olympic Association - Rugby World Cup Stirs Olympic Memories]</ref> 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, Cornwall|St Ives]] RFC clubhouse ever since. After the match the [[Cornish people|Cornish]] players were 'entertained to dinner' by the Cornish Members of Parliament.<ref>The First Hundred Years - The story of rugby in Cornwall by Tom Salmon 1983 (published by the Cornwall RFU)</ref>
==Result==
* Great Britain '''3–32''' Australasia
==Medal table==
:{| {{MedalistTable|type=Event}}
|-
|Rugby union
|{{flagIOCteam|ANZ|1908 Summer}}
|{{flagIOCteam|GBR|1908 Summer|name=Great Britain and Ireland}}
|''none''
|}
==Team rosters==
===Australasia===
{| class=wikitable
! Position || Name
|-
| Back || [[Phillip Carmichael]]
|-
|rowspan=4| ¾-backs || [[Charles Russell (rugby player)|Charles Russell]]
|-
| [[Daniel Carroll (rugby player)|Daniel Carroll]]
|-
| [[John Hickey]]
|-
| [[Frank Smith (rugby player)|Frank Smith]]
|-
|rowspan=2| Halfbacks || [[Christopher McKivatt]]
|-
| [[Arthur McCabe]]
|-
|rowspan=8| Forwards || [[Thomas Griffen]]
|-
| [[Jumbo Barnett]]
|-
| [[Patrick McCue]]
|-
| [[Sydney Middleton]]
|-
| [[Tom Richards (rugby player)|Tom Richards]]
|-
| [[Malcolm McArthur]]
|-
| [[Charles McMurtrie]]
|-
| [[Robert Craig (rugby player)|Robert Craig]]
|}
===Great Britain (Cornwall)===
{| class=wikitable
! Position || Name
|-
| Back || [[Edward Jackett]]
|-
|rowspan=4| ¾-backs || [[Barney Solomon]]
|-
|[[Bert Solomon]]
|-
|[[L. F. Dean]]
|-
| [[J. T. Jose]]
|-
|rowspan=2| Halfbacks || [[Thomas Wedge (rugby player)|Thomas Wedge]]
|-
|[[James Davey]]
|-
|rowspan=8| Forwards ||[[Richard Jackett]]
|-
|[[E. J. Jones]]
|-
|[[Arthur Wilson (rugby player)|Arthur Wilson]]
|-
|[[Nicholas Tregurtha]]
|-
|[[A. Lawrey]]
|-
|[[C. R. Marshall]]
|-
|[[A. Wilcocks]]
|-
|[[John Trevaskis]]
|}
==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.<ref>[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]</ref> 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.<ref>[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]</ref>
==References==
<references/>
* {{cite book | last = Cook | first = Theodore Andrea | year = 1908 | title = The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report | publisher = British Olympic Association | location = London}}
* {{cite web | last = De Wael | first = Herman | year = 2001 | url = http://users.skynet.be/hermandw/olymp/rug1908.html | title = Rugby 1908 | work = Herman's Full Olympians | accessdaymonth = 7 May | accessyear = 2006}}
==External links==
*[http://www.uidaho.edu/clubs/womens_rugby/RugbyRoot/rugby/FAQ/Trivia/olympics.html Rugby in the Olympics]
{{EventsAt1908SummerOlympics}}
{{Olympic Games Rugby}}
[[Category:1908 Summer Olympics events]]
[[Category:Rugby union at the Olympic Games|1908]]
[[Category:Rugby union in Cornwall]]
[[de:Olympische Sommerspiele 1908/Rugby]]
[[es:Anexo:Rugby en los Juegos Olímpicos de Londres 1908]]
[[fr:Rugby à XV aux jeux Olympiques de 1908]]
[[it:Rugby alla IV Olimpiade]]
[[nl:Rugby op de Olympische Zomerspelen 1908]]
[[no:Rugby union under Sommer-OL 1908]]
[[pt:Rugby nos Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 1908]]