1927–28 New South Wales rugby union tour of the British Isles, France and Canada

Between July 1927 and March 1928 the New South Wales Waratahs, the top Australian representative rugby union side of the time, conducted a world tour encompassing Ceylon, Britain, France and Canada on which they played five Tests and twenty-six minor tour matches.

The Queensland Rugby Union had collapsed in 1919 and would not be reborn until 1929 leaving the New South Wales Rugby Union to administer the game in Australia at the national representative level. Just prior to the start of the Australian 1927 season an invitation from the International Rugby Board arrived in Sydney requesting a New South Wales side tour Great Britain to play Tests against the Home Nations.

In 1986 the Australian Rugby Union decreed the five full-internationals played on the tour as official Test matches.

File:Arthur Cooper "Johnnie" Wallace.jpg

Johnnie Wallace

The squad and its captain

A squad of twenty-nine players was selected comprising twenty-eight New South Welshmen and one Queenslander in the great fly-half Tom Lawton Snr, who had been forced to come to Sydney to continue his career due to the absence of rugby in Brisbane. The side was captained by Arthur Cooper "Johnnie" Wallace who from Sydney University had earnt a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford in 1922 and whilst there had represented for Scotland in nine Tests between 1923 and 1926.

The selection of Wallace as captain is referred to in the Howell reference as "a masterstoke". 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.

Tour itinerary

The squad left Sydney by train on July 22, 1927 bound for Melbourne. They played a game on the afternoon of their arrival in Melbourne against a Victorian invitation XV which was won 19-9. They set off in the Ormonde from Melbourne on July 26 for Adelaide where they had a one day stop.

By August 10th the Ormonde had arrived in Colombo where they were the guests of the Colombo Rugby Union and the tourists played that day against an All Ceylon XV in front of a crowd of 5,000 spectators. They set sail from Sri Lanka on August 11th. The Ormonde passed through the Suez Canal and the Straits of Messina and a disembarkation was made at Naples to enable a visit to Pompeii. Another stop was made at Toulon before arriving at Gibraltar on August 28th and Plymouth by month's end.

The squad had two weeks preparation on land at Teignmouth in Devon before the first tour match against Devon and Cornwall on September 17. The tourists then relocated to Wales where matches were played at Newport, Swansea and Cardiff.

At Oxford the Waratahs suffered their first defeat 0-3 against a varsity side, although they won the next encounter against Cambridge. Matches were also played at Liverpool, Newcastle and Coventry before they sailed to Dublin. The Waratahs won the first Test of the tour 5-3 against Ireland at Lansdowne Road on 12 November.

Two weeks later the tourists met Wales at Cardiff Arms where they triumphed 18-8. From Cardiff they traveled to Scotland where matches were played at Glasgow, Melrose, Aberdeen and the Test loss at Edinburgh. The tourists made day trips to the Lochs, Lomond, Long and Gyll and where shown over the King's castle at Balmoral. Back in Edinburgh castles were visited by day with dinners and theatre parties attended at night.

The party travelled to London for New Year and were shown over the Houses of Parliament by Lord Donoughmore, the Secretary of the House of Lords and Sir James Whitley, the Speaker of the House of Commons. They were presented to the Prince of Wales at St James's Palace and to the King at Sandringham House. At Sandringham they accompanied the King through the woods on a shooting expedition after lunch and were presented to Her Majesty, Queen Mary at afternoon tea.

Later the Australians were flattered by a personal invitation to take tea at the Piccadilly residence of the the Duke and Duchess of York where they met the infant Princess Elizabeth. Three other days were spent in the company of officers of the Army, Air Force and Navy culminating in a tour of the Royal Navy facilities at Portsmouth where they were of shown over the workings of the recently launched Australian submarines HMS Otway and HMS Oxley, the museum piece HMS Victory and the Royal Yacht HMY Victoria and Albert III.

Two days after the Test loss at Twickenham the squad left for France, spending a night in Paris before journeying to Bordeaux. There against a selected provincial side the Waratahs suffered the most convincing defeat of the tour with the locals taking an early lead and holding on to a 19-10 victory. Then followed a match in Toulouse against a side representing south-western France in which the vistors prevailed.

Back in Paris, the tourists were entertained and shown the city's splendour before meeting the French national side at Stade Colombes in the final Test match of the tour in front of a crowd of 40,000 with 2,000 gendarmes stationed around the enclosure to keep in check the emotions of the enthusiasts. From Paris the squad crossed the channel and departed from Liverpool in the Melita for Canada. They traveled by train from coast to coast with stops at Montreal, Toronto, Banff and Sicamous, British Columbia. Arriving in Vancouver in late February 1928 the squad spent twelve days and played three tour matches against varsity and club sides.

In March 1928 they boarded the Aorangi in Vancouver to commence the final leg home with stops in Honolulu, Suva and Auckland before arriving in Sydney by month's end, a full nine months after first setting out.

Test matches

12 Nov 1927

Australia	5 - 3	Ireland
Johnnie Wallace (3 - 1t) Tom Lawton (2 - 1g)		James Ganly (3 - 1t)

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 5,000

Towers described the match as "an evenly contested and arduous struggle ...lacking the brilliance of the other internationals".

26 Nov 1927

Australia	18 - 8	Wales
Johnnie Wallace (3 - 1t) Syd King (3 - 1t) Billy Sheehan (3 - 1t) Tom Lawton (6 - 3g)		Ernie Finch (3 - 1t) Windsor Lewis(3 - 1t) Tommy Rees (2 - 1g)

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 35,000

"The game itself was a fast and brilliant exhibition of local forwards versus Waratah backs. Time and again the vigorous Welsh vanguards swept nearly the length of the field but the ball usually found its way amongst the Australian three-quarters who by fast handling, good running and consistent backing up, managed to elude the hard-tackling backs and supporting forwards of their opponents...and due to their excellence the full-time whistle found us with a 10-point advantage".(Towers)

17 Dec 1927

Scotland	10 - 8	Australia
James Graham (3 - 1t) Wille Welsh (3 - 1t) Dan Drysdale (4 - 2g)		Jack Ford (3 - 1t) Eric Ford (3 - 1t) Tom Lawton (2 - 1g)

Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Attendance: 55,000

"The playing area at Murrayfield had been covered throughout the week with straw as a protection against the inclemency of the weather and this covering was removed only just prior to the commencement of the match. The day was bitterly cold but notwithstanding this a crowd of 55,000 was present to witness the finest exhibition of the 15-a-side code that has been given for a number of years.

The tactical keynote both in attack and defence of each of those evenly matched sides was speed. With 20 minutes left to play, both sides had scored two tries each, but the local side had converted twice, while the Waratahs had only been successful in this respect once. The spectators were mad with excitement during the last 10 minutes, as a NSW forward crossed the line twice but was recalled for infringements while the Waratah captain, after having beaten the opposition lost his footing on the partly frozen surface. A draw would have been a better ending to the game instead of the 10-8 victory for Scotland, as it dd not seem fitting that such an even and thrilling contest should be decided by a kick. It will suffice to say that the match will live long in the memory of those who witnessed as well as participated in it". (Towers)

7 Jan 1928

England	18 - 11	Australia
William Taylor (3 - 1t) Colin Laird (3 - 1t) Sam Tucker (3 - 1t) Joe Periton (3 - 1t) James Richardson (6 - 3g)		Eric Ford (6 - 2t) Cyril Towers (3 - 1t) Tom Lawton (2 - 1g)

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 62,000

"Up till half-time, the game had been fast and brilliant, with the Englishmen having a commanding lead of 10 points (15-5) at the interval. Soon after the change over, the locals increased their lead with another try and it was from then that the game reached such a height as a spectacle that it caused the press to place it in number-one position as the greatest game ever seen in England. Even champions of the past, great supporters of bygone games, conceded that the efforts of the Waratahs to make up a deficit of 13 points during the concluding 20 minuets was productive of the finest football imaginable".(Towers)

22 Jan 1928

Australia	11 - 8	France
Johnnie Wallace (3 - 1t) Eric Ford (3 - 1t) Cyril Towers (3 - 1t) Tom Lawton (2 - 1g)		Raoul Bonamy (3 - 1t) Andre Camel (3 - 1t) Andre Behoteguy (2 - 1g)

Stade Colombes, Paris Attendance: 40,000

"The game resulted in a Waratah victory and the standard of play was high, but the antics of the locals rather distracted us. The mere fact of having to conclude the match that day did not prevent some of the players from lying down for a spell when they were tired, or holding up the game to debate a point with the referee (who did not speak French) while a weep following on a hard tackle seemed to be part of their tactics".(Towers)

Tom Lawton in action against England at Twickenham Jan 1928

Matches of the tour

The "Exhibition Matches" are not classed as important as the "Tour Matches" but they are listed on the tour but the starting line-ups are not counted in the players stats.

N°	Opposing Team	F	A	Date	Venue	Status
1	Victoria	19	9	23/07/1927	Motordrome, Melbourne	Exhibition Match
2	Ceylon	23	3	10/08/1927	CH & FC Grounds, Colombo	Exhibition Match
3	Plymouth Albion	21	11		Plymouth	Exhibition Match
4	Teignmouth	38	3		Teignmouth	Exhibition Match
5	Devon and Cornwall	30	3	17/09/1927	Rectory Field, Devonport	Tour Match
6	Newport	20	3	22/09/1927	Rodney Parade, Newport	Tour Match
7	Neath and Aberavon	24	5	24/09/1927	Talbot Athletic Ground, Port Talbot	Tour Match
8	Abertillery and Cross Keys	13	3	27/09/1927	Abertillery Park, Abertillery	Tour Match
9	Swansea	11	0	03/10/1927	St Helen's, Swansea	Tour Match
10	East Midlands	16	12	06/10/1927	Franklin's Gardens, Northampton	Tour Match
11	Yorkshire and Cumberland	9	3	08/10/1927	Lidget Green, Bradford	Tour Match
12	Glasgow	10	0	12/10/1927	Old Anniesland Ground, Glasgow	Tour Match
13	South of Scotland	36	0	15/10/1927	The Greenyards, Melrose	Tour Match
14	North of Scotland	21	15	19/10/1927	St Machar Ground, Aberdeen	Tour Match
15	London	0	0	22/10/1927	Twickenham, London	Tour Match
16	Oxford University	0	3	27/10/1927	Iffley Road, Oxford	Tour Match
17	Leicestershire	20	8	29/10/1927	Welford Road, Leicester	Tour Match
18	Cambridge University	18	11	02/11/1927	Grange Road, Cambridge	Tour Match
19	Combined Services	13	11	05/11/1927	Twickenham, London	Tour Match
20	Ireland	5	3	12/11/1927	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Test Match
21	Ulster	11	3	16/11/1927	Ravenhill, Belfast	Tour Match
22	Northumberland and Durham	14	9	19/11/1927	County Ground, Gosforth	Tour Match
23	Wales	18	8	26/11/1927	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	Test Match
24	Llanelli	24	14	29/11/1927	Stradey Park, Llanelli	Tour Match
25	Cardiff	15	9	03/12/1927	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	Tour Match
26	Pontypool	3	6	08/12/1927	Pontypool Park, Pontypool	Tour Match
27	Lancashire and Cheshire	29	11	10/12/1927	Birkenhead Park, Birkenhead	Tour Match
28	Scotland	8	10	17/12/1927	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	Test Match
29	Warwickshire and North Midlands	8	5	22/12/1927	Barkers Butts Lane, Coventry	Tour Match
30	Gloucester and Somersetshires	13	4	31/12/1927	Memorial Ground, Bristol	Tour Match
31	England	11	18	07/01/1928	Twickenham, London	Test Match
32	South of France	10	19	12/01/1928	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux	Tour Match
33	Midi	11	3	15/01/1928	Stade Ernest-Wallon, Tolouse	Tour Match
34	France	8	11	22/01/1928	Stade Colombes, Paris	Test Match
35	London	0	0	28/01/1928	Twickenham, London	Tour Match
36	Vancouver Representive XV	9	6	25/02/1928	Vancouver	Exhibition Match
37	Varsity	55	3	29/02/1928	Vancouver	Exhibition Match
38	Vancouver Representive XV	17	0	03/03/1928	Vancouver	Exhibition Match

Touring party

• Manager: E. Gordon Shaw
• Captain: A.C "Johnnie" Wallace
• Vice-Captain: Charlie Fox

Squad

File:CyrilTowers.jpg

Cyril Towers

Name	Tests	Club	Career caps	Tour Apperances	Position
A.W. Ross	5	Sydney University	20	29	Full Back
A.J.A. Bowers	1		7	9	Three-Quarter
J.B. Egan	0		0	7	Three-Quarter
E.E. Ford	5	Glebe-Balmain	7	21	Three-Quarter
G.C.Gordon	0		1	8	Three-Quarter
S.C. King	4	Western Suburbs	14	19	Three-Quarter
W.H. Mann	0		0	7	Three-Quarter
W.B.J.Sheehan	2		18	12	Three-Quarter
C.H.T. Towers	3	Randwick	19	29	Three-Quarter
A.C. Wallace ©	5	Sydney University	8	22 as Capt	Three-Quarter

Half-Backs

Name	Tests	Club	Career caps	Tour Apperances
T. Lawton	5	Western Suburbs	14	27 and 3 as Capt
S.J. Malcolm	3	Newcastle YMCA	18	11
F.W. Meagher	2		8	12
J.L. Duncan	0		1	8

Forwards

Name	Tests	Club	Career caps	Tour Apperances
J.G. Blackwood	5	Eastern Suburbs	21	23
J.W.P. Breckenridge	5	Glebe-Balmain	11	26
G.P. Storey	5	Western Suburbs	8	20
A.N. Finlay	5	Sydney University	12	24 including 14 as VC
J.A. Ford	4	Glebe-Balmain	11	25
P.B. Judd	4	Randwick	11	24
H.F. Woods	4	YMCA	8	19
J.L. Tancred	3		3	16
E.N. Greatorex	2	YMCA	8	14
C.L. Fox (vice-captain)	1	Northern Suburbs	17	12 (6 as Capt and 6 as Vice Capt)
M.R. Blair	1	Western Suburbs	3	7
E.J. Thorn	0	Manly	15	13
K. Tarleton	0	Northern Suburbs	2	9
G.V. Bland	0		9	4

References

• 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 NZ