The Balmain Rugby Football Club is an Australian

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

football club, based in Balmain,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. The original club established in 1873 is one of the oldest rugby clubs in Australia. Balmain was one of the founding members in 1874 of the Southern Rugby Union, later renamed the

New South Wales Rugby Union The New South Wales Rugby Union (NSWRU), formerly known as the Southern Rugby Football Union (SRFU) between 1874 and 1892, is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union within most of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It ...

, which was the first governing body for the sport in the Southern Hemisphere. Billy Murdoch, who would later go on to captain the

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in international cricket. Along with England, it is the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing and winning the first ever Test match in 1877; the team also plays One ...

, was Balmain's first captain, and he represented the club at the Southern Rugby Union's formation. Over the years, Balmain has provided several players who have represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in international rugby, including Bob Craig,

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...

, and Herbert Moran, who was captain of the 1908 Australian side and served as Balmain's president in 1911–12. Bill McKell who would later become Australia's

Governor General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

also played for Balmain in 1909–10. More recently, international players including Wallabies

Drew Mitchell Drew Alan Mitchell (born 26 March 1984) is a former Australian rugby union professional player. He played on the wing or as fullback. Up to the 2006 season he played for the Queensland Reds. He played for the Western Force for the 2007–09 Su ...

Matt Giteau Matthew James Giteau (born 29 September 1982) is an Australian rugby union professional player who plays for the San Diego Legion of Major League Rugby (MLR). Giteau plays as a Rugby union positions#Utility players, utility back. His usual posi ...

, Matt Dunning and Ryan Cross, and French representative

Sébastien Chabal Sébastien Chabal (born 8 December 1977) is a French former rugby union player. He played Number eight (rugby union), number eight and Lock (rugby union), lock for CS Bourgoin-Jallieu, Bourgoin (1998–2004), Sale Sharks (2004–2009), Racing Mé ...

have all played for the club run by Warren Livingstone, re-established in 2005. Balmain currently competes in the

New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union The New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union, or NSWSRU, is affiliated to the New South Wales Rugby Union The New South Wales Rugby Union (NSWRU), formerly known as the Southern Rugby Football Union (SRFU) between 1874 and 1892, is the Sports g ...

competition and won the first grade premiership

Kentwell Cup The Kentwell Cup is the major trophy for the New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union (NSWSRU), colloquially known as the "Subbies" competition. It is awarded to the first grade premiers of the first division competition. The Kentwell Cup was origin ...

in 2013, shared with

St Patrick's Rugby Club St Patrick's Rugby Club, also known as St Pats, is a rugby union club based in Strathfield, New South Wales. The club, formerly known as St Patrick's Old Boys, currently field six teams in the second division of the NSW Suburban competition, k ...

after a 33-all extra-time draw. The club won the Kentwell Cup two years later with a 43–29 win over Knox in the 2015 Grand Final.

Bibliography

* * * Pollard, Jack: ''Australian Rugby: The game and the players''. (1994) Pan Macmillan. ISBN 0-330-35619-4

References

External links

* {{NSWSRU Rugby union teams in Sydney Rugby clubs established in 1873 1873 establishments in Australia Balmain, New South Wales