| The 1908 Wallabies were the first tourists
to play at Neath, the tourists won 15-0 against the combined side. An account of
the Aussies time at Neath can be read in the biography of Tom Richards, one of
the stars of the touring side, penned by Australian author Greg Growden the
account recounts the warm welcome and hospitality shown to the
Australians........... "If this was not emotional enough the tour went into overdrive
involving endless dramas , when it crossed the border with Wales, and
headed for the grim, dim town of Neath. There was a brief stop in
Tonypandy to play Penygraig where there was 20 stoppages for supposed
injuries to the miners before they were revived with a swig from a
mysterious black bottle, and then they continued to Neath.
Situated just north of Swansea, Neath is the ultimate ugly Welsh
town, a tough hamlet of miners, steelworkers and wild men, most of
appeared in the black jersey of Neath with the white Maltese cross on
the front. The home ground, the Gnoll, is the most inhospitable of
places, with the changing rooms more akin to pithead baths than a
first-class arena.
For decades, Neath had been renowned for their underhand mischievous
play, being known throughout Wales as the hillbillies of the local club
scene. Even countless decades after the first Wallaby tour, Neath were
upsetting Australian teams. In 1992 Wallaby coach Bob Dwyer described
the town as 'the bag snatching capital of Wales', after his players were
grabbed by the testicles, spat on, had their eyes gouged and were
stomped on during a midweek game. If Dwyer had perused the match report
of the first Australia-Neath game of 1908, he would have expected
nothing less.
It was one never ending stink. After the time of the game had been
put back one hour to 4pm to allow the local miners to get to the ground
on time, they had plenty to jeer and cheer about after one of their
players was knocked unconscious in the opening minutes, after which
their full back Dick Hughes was winded.
The 8000 strong crowd immediately called on the referee Edgar Johns
from Swansea, to send Australia's Normie Row off, as he was the man
closest to hand each time a Neath player collapsed. Johns ignored their
pleas. By the second half, they were virtually baying for blood when
their skipper DH Davies could not resume because of broken ribs, but
went silent when Dix complained to the referee that he had been bitten,
showing the teeth marks on his hand. Not surprisingly when Johns
whistled full-time in darkness he required a police escort to leave the
field, while the Australian team returned to their hotel with
"a 'mounted' policeman on the conductor's step."
Rusty described the match as "a most unpleasant one, the crowd
were out to see that their football heroes were right and come what may,
the Wallabies were wrong. This crowd was an extraordinarily catankerous
one, especially after Davies their vigorous leader of a wild forward
game, was led injured from the field. Then there was hooting, booing and
shouting. There was some reckless kicking, and many stray punches going
round which reflected badly on both sides.
As you can see from the report the Australian's were
warmly welcomed to Neath as are most touring teams. The author has
neglected to mention that it was in fact a combined Aberavon and Neath
team and seven of the players were from Aberavon. Reading between the
lines it's obvious that the Australians intimidation and cheating
succeeded in rousing the wrath of the Neath players who were reluctantly
forced to defend themselves. Was it a
co-incidence that Normie Row just happened to be standing next to each
'flat out' player or that DH Davies ribs were broken. There are no
references to Australian injuries, only Dix who was bitten 'on the
hand'. Obviously a self inflicted injury where the player was trying to gain the sympathy of the referee.
Who in their right mind would bite somebody's hand, there's no
easier way to get a 'smack in the gob' than that. On the other hand if it
was Neath teeth (I've been waiting years to put that in a sentence) then
what was Dix's hand doing near the home team player's mouth, was he gouging
maybe ! In conclusion, the Wallabies no doubt having heard reports that
the 1905 All Blacks and the 1906 Springboks had met tough and determined
sides in Wales who continuously out thought and out played them, had
decided that they should intimidate Welsh teams. Proof of this is the
fact that a Neath player was laid out flat in the opening minutes, the
desired result was that the opposition would become unsettled and
un-nerved, I'm afraid on this occasion it worked as the tourists
triumphed 15-0.
Another Australian Peter Sharpham recounts the match
in his book on the tour "The First Wallabies":
" The start of the sixth tour
match against Neath and Aberavon at the Gnoll on Thursday 15 October was
put back to 4pm so that the local miners and school children could attend.
A record crowd of 8000 turned out to watch the game, with special trains
bringing spectators from Swansea and the Vale of Neath. By the time the
Australians arrived by train at 2.30pm a sizeable crowd was on hand to
welcome them. They then travelled by hansom cabs to the Castle Hotel,
their temporary headquarters, where they were formally welcomed by the
Mayor of Neath, Dr. J. W. Thomas.
The Gnoll was packed to
overflowing as the Wallabies performed their was cry and both teams were
photographed prior to the kick-off. The home side wore the 'all-black'
colours of the Neath club, relieved by a white Maltese cross on the front
of the jersey. Although the combined forces of Neath and Aberavon produced
a robust, well-balanced team, they were given little chance in the press
of vanquishing the undefeated Australians, even though they had lost only
one match that season, against Cardiff. Aware of their opponents'
strength, the visitors brought back the side which had comprehensively
defeated Glamorgan County two matches previously, with only two changes.
Pro-forward Hammand and Bede Smith in the centres, both of whom had
received minor injuries against Penycraig, were replaced by McIntyre and
Dix.
Persistent rain
which had fallen overnight continued throughout the day, but just
before referee Edgar Johns of Swansea blew his whistle for the kick-off
the sun shone through the clouds and a giant rainbow daubed the valley
with vivid hues. For the first fifteen minutes the home forwards
thoroughly tested the Wallabies. They heeled cleanly in the scrums and
mauls and worked splendidly in the loose. The in the twentieth minute
veteran forward and captain D.H Davies retired hurt. Five minutes later
Hickey, fielding a pass from McKivat, dashed fifty yards in an
electrifying burst of speed. Fifteen yards from the try line he passed
infield to second rower Middleton, who had backed up superbly. Middleton
passed to Barnett who offloaded to Griffin before Moran dived over the
line wide out to complete what was possibly the best try of the tour up to
that date. Carmichael converted and the Australians led 5-0.
A sharp run by local
left-winger Willie Thomas had the crowd yelling encouragement, but Danny
Carroll on the Australian left-wing intercepted a pass and sprinted forty
yards to place the football under the cross-bar. Carmichael again
converted to make it 10-0. Soon after half-time a Welsh forward was
knocked senseless in a perfectly legitimate tackle. The crowd roared for a
send-off, but referee Johns would have none of it. Soon Hughes, the
fullback was upended in another fair tackle and again the crowd bayed for
Australian blood, but to no avail.
The Wallabies' final try
came ten minutes before full-time when Richards, having broken through a
line-out, cross-kicked to Dix in the centres, who caught the ball high
above his head and headed for the try-line only to find his way barred by
determined cover-defence and short passed to Carroll who surged over the
line untouched. Carmichael converted yet again and the Wallabies had an
unassailable lead of 15-10. The Australians launched raid after raid on
the home teams' line, but were repelled by a pack which played well above
their weight in courage and determination, and the score remained 15-0.
Tom Richards
recalled this encounter in the Sydney Mail on the 24 June 1931: 'The Match
against Neath was a most unpleasant one. The crowd were out to see that
their football heroes were right and, come what may, the Wallabies were
wrong. This crowd was an extraordinarily cantankerous one, especially
after Davies, their vigorous leader of a wild forward gang, was led
injured from the field. Even if they had been winning I believe they would
have continued complaining and hooting.'
This match has
demonstrated that against forwards of average strength and skill, with
every man utilising his weight and pushing power, the mechanical tricks of
the Australians to gain control of the ball in tight scrummages cannot
prevail; and further that a resolute octette using their force on
intelligent lines can assert a mastery so far as clean heeling is
concerned. Consider this Wallaby patent device. They pack with three men
in front, the two outside men, of the first rank practically keeping
Griffin, their champion hooker, off the ground, so that he may swing his
legs when grappling for the ball. This means that the whole strength of
the two outside men cannot be brought into play. And beyond that loss
there are two wing forwards, one on each side, who both are seldom in
position to force in a straight line. This formation must necessarily
reduce the aggregate strength of the pack in a considerable degree, and to
make it an effective formation its component parts must be men of
phenomenal strength if they hope to secure the ball against forwards one
the opposition men have realised the way to circumvent the ingenious manoeuvring.
It is only successful when it is adopted against blind go-ahead players,
and cannot be of advantage when opponents grasp the situation that eight
forwards even of mediocre merit can push off the ball six men, unless the
half dozen are of extra-ordinary quality in strength and skill. The
novelty of the formation should not be permitted to affect the play of
opponents, as attempts to follow the same style would court disaster.
In the
Glamorgan match there was divided opinion among the Welshmen's front row
and in the feeble efforts to get a 'loose head', without skilled
leadership, an elementary principle in forward play was not generally
adopted, the sorry spectacle being seen of a rattling scrummager, who
wanted to push hard and straight, being directed to skirmish on the wings,
and adopting a role for which he was ill-adapted. But in the game at
Penycraig the Wallabies did not secure the ball when they chose, for the
sturdy yet nimble collier boys worked with a unanimous will in the hard
scrums and found it not nearly so difficult to heel out the ball as they
have done when playing against some of their own League clubs. Griffin,
who is said to have no equal as a hooker, was not among the Wallabies at
Mid-Rhondda, but Hammand, the man who plays mid front-ranker for Sydney
University was. The changes in the forwards did not account for their
comparative failure, as there was a great preponderance of weight and
physical strength in favour of the Australians, neither do I believe that
the reason why Penycraig got the ball so often was because of a looseness
in refereeing, which allowed the inside half to throw the ball before the
feet of the second rank of his own forwards. The match at Neath confirms
my impression that even a moderate set of forwards determined to push as
well as hook will defeat the clever tactics of the tourists,
Individually there
are several splendid forwards among the Wallabies, but there is not one of
exceptional merit played on Wales excepting Richards who is a resourceful
player and worthy of inclusion in the best side that ever was. Before the
amalgamated Neath and Aberavon men went on the field they seemed to have
reasoned out a plan of campaign, and carrying it out the forwards were of
one man. Until their leader, D.H. Davies was hurt and forced to retire
with only a third of the game gone by they fairly and squarely out-scrummaged
their much heavier opponents, and even when reduced to seven they
frequently secured the ball; in fact, they did more heeling in any quarter
hour of the game than Glamorgan County were able to do all through. The
method which served Neath and Aberavon so well should be followed from the
very start of the game by Llanelly Club men are light as a lot, and not
over clever, but they are courageous, and even if the backs do not score,
the heeling to them puts them on the attack, and it limits the chances of
scoring for the Wallabies. At Neath there was little combination among the
backs as the team was drawn from two clubs but with the opportunities won
by the forwards an ordinary club side with knowledge of each other's play
should have broken down the defence.
There were frequent
protestations from the crowd about rough play, and one heard cries of
brutality, and many were the shouts to the referee to turn off no.14, who
was Row, one of the wing forwards. These cries against Row were not
justified. His play at Neath was absolutely fair as far as wilful
obstruction goes. His position as break-away forward was legitimate, but
now and again he over-ran the ball, and his tackling, as one would expect
from a big, strong man, was heavy, while his habit of diving for his man
appears recklessly wild. Weight and strength combined are put on the field
for the purpose of using them for the benefit of the luck fortunate enough
to command them, and when they are used with due regard to the rules, the
lighter side has nothing to complain about. The fact is that Row has
gained a bad name from an incident at Cardiff (against Glamorgan County
where Row legitimately harassed Owen at the base of the scrum), and his
position on the field though it obviously fair, is obnoxious to people who
like to see skill triumph in odds against physique. Being a 'marked' man
Row was keenly watched with pre-conceived notions operating with many of
the spectators that he was a deliberate fouler.
Soon every case of
a home man being knocked out was construed by a big section of the crowd
into unduly rough if not brutal play by the Australians. Hence the
demonstrations against the referee. It is true that after the game had
been in progress for 20 minutes or so and W.H. Davies went off the field
with broken ribs (after the match they found to be only badly bruised) the
crowd concluded that every tackle which left a home man on the ground was
illegitimate use of strength. This sort of thing affected the players, and
as the game waned there was introduced into the play roughing that
otherwise would not have been seen. At one stage it was six of one and
half of a dozen of the others. Both sides bear marks of the fray, and if
the lighter backs of the home side suffered most from the perfectly fair
tackles by comparative giants, one of the Australians has marks on his
hand that look suspiciously like a bite, as he alleges it to be. Blows
were struck - a discredit to the strikers - but I cannot credit that Dix
was bitten and I am inclined to think his hand was trodden on by a sharp
pair of boots in a melee. The referee states he saw no incident which gave
him warrant to send anyone from the field. "
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