1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of Britain
The 1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of the British Isles was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the Australia national rugby union team against invitational and national teams from England and Wales, as well as several games against sides from North America. This was the first Australian tour of the Northern Hemisphere and the side is sometimes referred to as the "First Wallabies".
The 1908 squad to tour England
Wallabies pre-match war-cry
1908 Olympic Gold Final: Australasia 32 – Cornwall RFU (Great Britain) 3
The 1908 Australian team with names
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union or more often just rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in England in the first half of the 19th century. Rugby is simply based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is played between two teams of 15 players each, using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch. The field has H-shaped goalposts at both ends.
South African Victor Matfield takes a line-out against New Zealand in 2006.
Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, with a rugby football pitch in the foreground
James Ryan, captain of the New Zealand Army team, receiving the Kings Cup from George V
Sébastien Chabal (far left) in number eight position before entering the scrum