Cecil Ramalli (10 June 1919 – 1998) was 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 ...

player and soldier. Ramalli played twice for

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 ...

Early life and education

Ramalli was born on 10 June 1919 to Ali Ramalli and Adeline Doyle in

Mungindi Mungindi is a town and locality on the border of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland, Australia. The town is within Moree Plains Shire in New South Wales. Within Queensland, the locality is split between the Shire of Balonne (the western part) ...

. His father was a merchant from

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

who arrived in

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 ...

in 1898 to work as a hawker. Actual name of his father was Reham Ali son of Nasher from village Langrial District Gujrat Punjab Pakistan..who was Muslim...Ramalli's mother was an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...

woman from near

Mungindi, New South Wales Mungindi is a town and locality on the border of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland, Australia. The town is within Moree Plains Shire in New South Wales. Within Queensland, the locality is split between the Shire of Balonne (the western part ...

. In 1934 Ramalli began attending

Hurlstone Agricultural High School Hurlstone Agricultural High School (HAHS, colloquially as Hurlstone Ag) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex education, co-educational Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective and specialis ...

in Sydney.

Rugby career

At Hurlstone, his aptitude for rugby was discovered. By his third season of school rugby, he had become the captain of the school's first XV. Ramalli made his representative debut for

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 ...

at the age of 18 in 1938. In August 1938 Ramalli made his debut for

in the second Test match between Australia and New Zealand at the

Brisbane Exhibition Ground The Brisbane Showgrounds (formerly known as the Brisbane Exhibition Ground) is a multi-purpose venue located in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Australia. Established in 1875, it hosts more than 250 events each year, the largest being the Royal Queen ...

. He also played the third Test in Sydney, which would be his final match for the ''Wallabies''. Ramalli was named in a 29-player squad to tour Britain in 1939. The team arrived in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

the day before Britain declared war on Germany. With the outbreak of war, the team returned to Australia.

War service

In 1940 Ramalli enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force after initially trying to join the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

and the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramalli, Cecil 1919 births 1998 deaths Australian rugby union players Indigenous Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian sportspeople of Pakistani descent Rugby union players from New South Wales People from the North West Slopes Rugby union scrum-halves People educated at Hurlstone Agricultural High School New South Wales rugby union team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen