Abertillery v Australia Rugby Football Club – December 1908

Abertillery v Australia Rugby Football Club – December 1908.
The Visit by the Wallabies.
During the 1907-08 season, the Abertillery Rugby Football Team won the Monmouthshire League with a record of – Played 37 games and won 31, losing six. They amassed a total of 436 points for with only 104 points against. On June 24th, 1908, at a meeting at the Station Hotel, Abertillery the team were awarded 9ct gold medals in recognition of this feat.

The Abertillery Rugby Football Team were progressing at a great rate and were becoming one of the most successful teams in the country, in recognition of this achievement they were honoured by the Welsh Rugby Union with a fixture with the Australian Wallabies, the match would take place during the Australians first tour of the British Isles and North America of 1908-1909, which began in August 1908. Their match against Abertillery was game number 28 of 40 of the tour.

Abertillery District Council Response.
On Monday 14th of December 1908, at a monthly Abertillery District Council meeting held at the Council Chambers with the gentlemen present as follows – Mr W. Harris J.P. (Chairman); Mr D. Smith (Vice Chairman); Alderman W. Thomas J.P.; Mr E. James Williams; Mr W. Lewis; Mr R. Downs; Mr Theo Jones; Mr J. Carter; Mr J. E. Flowers; Mr G. Jones; Mr F. Athay; Mr A. T. Jenkins; Mr G. Little and with Mr W. Gait (Clerk); Mr J. McBean (Surveyor) Mr L. Lewis (Building Inspector) and Mr F. Padfield (Sanitary Inspector):

At this meeting the clerk read out a letter from Mr W. S. Harrison the secretary of the Abertillery Rugby Football Club, stating that the club had been considering the question of giving an official welcome to the colonials on the occasion of their visit to Abertillery on December 21st, 1908, and suggested that the council should co-operate with them in the movement. They also went on to state they would be glad if the chairman and as many of the council members as possible, were present to meet the Australians.

This was the first occasion for a colonial team to visit and they “The Abertillery Club” would like them to take away pleasant memories of the district. In reply, Alderman Thomas said, “The council had better things to do”! Mr Little and Mr Athay was in favour of the proposal and replied that “The council should give an official welcome”, “They were from one of the colonies and they thought that the least the council could do would be to make their visit as pleasant as possible”. Alderman Thomas was adamant and stated that he “Did not want to go and watch a football match”. The resolution that as many members as possible should accompany the chairman was seconded by Mr Athay and was carried.

A further letter was read from Mr Harrison stating that the visit by the team would involve a considerable expense to the local committee, the cost being estimated at £70, the visitors would receive half the gross takings. To generate more income from ticket sales it was said that Mr Harrison was anxious to be allowed to erect a temporary screen on the Blaina Road to stop any view of the match from the mountainside and if the request was granted they would give a guarantee that everything would be done without disfiguring the park. Mr Flowers moved that the request should be granted. The chairman seconded and it was carried. Mr Little said it would be useful if there was a permanent screen there.

The Build-up to the Game.
From the official reports – On Monday 21st of December 1908, the Australian Rugby Football Team took to the field at Abertillery Park. It was the greatest event in the annals of the Abertillery Rugby Football Club. A few years back it would have seemed ridiculous to have pitted the Abertillery fifteen against the elect of a nation but in the last few seasons and as stated above, the Tilleryites had been steadily and surely building up a splendid reputation, with the result that they had been honoured by the Welsh Union with a fixture with the Wallabies at the park Abertillery.

Great interest was taken throughout the Monmouthshire Valleys in the match, the Abertillery officials in anticipation of a big gate made extensive arrangements. Money, time and labour were freely expended, the result was satisfactory and a credit to all concerned. The collieries finished early, shops were closed and schools had half a day, the event was to be celebrated in a worthy manner by all the inhabitants.

On the Wallabies arrival at the Abertillery Station they were warmly welcomed by a large crowd lead by Mr W. S. Harrison. Mr Harrison took the team to the Station Hotel to give them an official welcome. At the park the crowd were entertained by the Tillery Collieries Band. It was reported that the Wallabies showed the greatest respect to the Abertillery team by picking their strongest players to compete against the Tillerians.

The Teams.
The (main featured image above) shows the Abertillery Rugby Football Team from about 1908-09. It shows many of the players who played against the Wallabies in 1908. The captain was Mr Joe Winmill (center, holding the football in the featured image above) behind Mr Joe Winmill is Mr Alfred “Jim” Webb and to his left is Mr Jake Blakemore (later to be capped for Wales)

Abertillery – Mr Charlie Hodges; Mr William Bowen; Mr “Chick” James; Mr D. J. Boots; Mr Lionel W. Thomas; Mr W. Hodges; Mr Joseph Richardson; Mr Joe Winmill (Captain); Mr Alfred “Jim” Webb; Mr Jake Blakemore; Mr Thomas Dykes; Mr Jack Webb; Mr William Powell; Mr Joseph Howells and Mr Thomas Williams: Also playing for Abertillery but was not picked to play was Mr W. Hodges; Mr Dai Francis; Mr R. Gill; Mr Abe Jones Mr Lionel Lewis.

Australia – Mr Phillip Carmichael; Mr Charles “Boxer” Russell; Mr Edward Mandible; Mr William Dix; Mr Jack Hickey; Mr Fred Wood; Mr Christopher H. McKivatt; Mr “Jumbo” P. Barnett; Mr Thomas Griffin; Mr Charles A. Hammond; Mr J. McCue. Mr Albert R. Burge; Mr Norman E. Row; Mr Sidney A. Middleton and Dr Herbert “Paddy” Moran (Captain): Management – Mr James McMahon (Manager); Mr Stanley Wickham (Assistant); Mr Herbert Moran (Captain) and Mr Fred Wood (Vice Captain):

The Referee – Mr Ben Lewis of Pontypridd.
Touch Judge – Mr Moran of Australia.
Touch Judge – Mr O. Winmill of Abertillery.

The Game.
Captain Dr Moran of the Wallabies led his men onto the field followed by Joe Winmill and the Abertillery team. The visitors gave their “War Cry” which was received with a cheer from the crowd, after which Mr Jack Webb started the ball rolling. The first half was goal-less but after a long hard second half the Wallabies were awarded a penalty and Mr Carmichael kicked the ball over from 25 yards to score 3 points. On resuming play the Abertillery forwards rushed the Wallabies, Mr Joe Winmill chipped the ball over the defence which Mr William Bowen chased and touched down scoring a magnificent try worth 3 points. Mr Jack Webb’s conversion failed and the scores remained level, though it was stated that the Abertillery team had the better of the play but couldn’t convert their hard work into points.

The Records Achieved on the Day.
After the game it was announced that the Abertillery team had set up two records, being the first team whose line the Wallabies had failed to cross and also in making it a drawn game, the first draw the Wallabies had been involved in.

The money raised from the match on the day was as follows – Gate Receipts £264. 4s. 0d. equivalent to £28,688,00 in today’s money. Programme Sales £2. equivalent to £217.00.  The Australian R.F.C. received half of the receipt money. It was stated that Abertillery R.F.C. made a profit of £31. 0s. 2d. equivalent to £3,366.00 in today’s money.

Following is a link to the Abertillery Rugby Football team of 1905-06 with names of the players – Abertillery Rugby Football Team 1905-1906 image and names of the players.

 

Points of Interest – The Australian Wallabies Rugby Union team originally had a “War Cry”, a type of “Haka” which they performed on the field prior to kick-off. The Wallabies also played in their then traditional kit, a pale blue strip emblazoned with the Waratah (Australian flower), while Abertillery played in black and amber, their team colours at the time.

Australia played 31 games in the tour of the British Isles, winning 25 losing 5 and drawing one. Of the test matches, they lost to Wales and they beat England.

Incidentally the Abertillery player Mr Alfred “Jim” Webb played for Abertillery against the Wallabies and also represented Wales when they beat the same Wallaby team 9-6 in Cardiff the previous week, on 12th of December 1908. Alfred “Jim” Webb had been capped against Scotland (twice), England, Ireland, France and Australia. In November 1908 he had represented Monmouthshire County along with three other Abertillery players against Glamorganshire.

In 1909 the Abertillery player Mr Jake Blakemore was capped for Wales when they played against England in an international match.

The Australian Army Rugby Team 1917.
On Saturday 19th of May 1917, a team of Australian soldiers visited Abertillery to play a friendly match with the Abertillery Rugby Club. The visitors comprising two officers and 20 men arrived from Newport and had lunch at the Bush Hotel. They were officially welcomed by Mr J. H. Williams (Vice Chairman of the Council); Mr J. T. Boots and Mr David Smith. Later they marched to the park headed by a bugle band. The match was played in front of 3,000 spectators where Abertillery managed to beat the Australians 37-13. Among the Australian army team was a former Abertillery man, Private David Powell who had emigrated to the colonies a few years previous. Mr Powell didn’t take part in the match but was still given a warm welcome from his former colleagues.

Australian Army Inter Service Touring Team 1919.
Two years later, on Easter Wednesday 23rd of April 1919, Abertillery Rugby Team played the Australian Army Inter Service Touring Team at the park, Abertillery.

Abertillery Team – Mr F. Greenock; Mr T. Probert; Mr F. Giles; Mr S. Cecil; Mr J. Ralph; Mr Trevor Williams; Mr W. Dando; Mr Tom Simmonds; Mr W. Morris; Mr W. Hale; Mr W. Lewis; Mr B. Hadley; Mr W. James; Mr George Smart and Mr B. Jones:

Australia – Capt B. M. Beith; Corpl Stenning; Gunner Robertson; Lieut Carroll; Gunner Bosward; Lieut Poultney; Lieut Ryan; Sergt Lee; Lieut Cody; Lance-Corpl Thompson; Corpl Dunn; Sargt Bradley; Pte Lyons; Pte Thomas and Lieut Watson:

Referee – Mr W. C. Best of Penarth.

Australian Army Inter Service Touring Team beat Abertillery by 11 points to 3 points.