As Sean Fagan @rugbeia uncovered it, this painting saw great success in Paris Universal Expo 1889 :
Otago Witness , Issue 1967, 1 August 1889, Page 27
"One of the most popular of the English pictures at the Paris
Exhibition is the representation of a Rugby football match by Messrs
Overend and Smythe.
It is lent by the Fine Art Society. The Parisians
stand in front of it awe-struck. They shrug their shoulders, and
discuss the raison d'etre of the game in the most excited fashion, and
go away with their opinion of the queerness and madness of the
Britisher seven times stronger than before."
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The painting by W H Overend and L P Smythe the above is referring to
is the Scotland vs. England match - March 13th, 1886.
A mural
reproduction of the original hangs in the Library of the Scottish
Rugby Union at Murrayfield. The game ended in a scoreless draw.
Mike Tindall of England is tackled by Gordon D'Arcy (L) and Tommy Bowe during the international match between Ireland and England at the Aviva Stadium on August 27, 2011 in Dublin, Ireland,
( August 26, 2011 - Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images Europe)
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Ireland will go into the Rugby World Cup without a warm-up Test win to their name after they fell to a gritty England side 20-9 on Saturday.
England, who'd lost their last three matches against Ireland, most recently a 24-8 Lansdowne defeat in March that cost the Six Nations champions a Grand Slam, outscored their hosts by two tries to nil.
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Manu Tuilagi and Delon Armitage both crossed while 2003 World Cup-winning fly-half Jonny Wilkinson, selected ahead of Toby Flood, landed all four of his kicks.
** THE Tri-Nations Cup is back in Australia's hands after a decade-long wait.
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Radike Samo of the Wallabies makes a break during the Tri-Nations Bledisloe Cup match between the Australian Wallabies and the New Zealand All Blacks at Suncorp Stadium on August 27, 2011 in Brisbane, Australia.
( August 26, 2011 - Photos by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images AsiaPac)
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Wayne Smith
The Australian
It comes after the Wallabies produced one of their most courageous performances in years to defeat the All Blacks 25-20 at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
Whether the three tries to two victory is a pointer to next month’s World Cup only time will tell but what could be said with certainty was that the Wallabies dug deep into their reserves of grit and determination to match and ultimately subdue the No1 side in world rugby.
James Horwill let out a ferocious roar as English referee Wayne Barnes signalled fulltime and barely seven weeks after holding aloft the Super Rugby trophy on this same ground, he proudly began his reign as Wallabies captain by accepting the Tri- Nations Cup.
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It would be churlish to single out individual Wallabies, so heartily did all of them contribute to the win, but certainly the player who most warmed the hearts of the 51,858 spectators was Queensland number eight Radike Samo who capped his return to the starting side after a seven-year break by scoring a solo try midway through the first half.
Victor Vito of the All Blacks is tackled by Rocky Elsom (R) and Stephen Moore
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The Australian scrum, though under pressure throughout, held reasonably firm. Indeed, it performed better than did the lineout, but ultimately it was the ferocious defence of the Wallabies that secured only the third victory over the All Blacks in the 14 Bledisloe contests of the Robbie Deans era.
Still, this was a night for Deans to treasure and certainly his decision to select the biggest pack available proved a masterstroke in the wet conditions.
Victor Vito of the All Blacks is tackled by Rocky Elsom
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Wallabies down All Blacks in Tri-Nations finale
The All Blacks Rugby World Cup preparations hit a snag in Brisbane as they went down 20-25 to the Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium.
In a major momentum-booster before next month's Rugby World Cup, the Wallabies set up their victory with a stunning first-half display, arguably their best ever under Robbie Deans, to lead 20-3 at halftime.
Radike Samo, 35, scored a bewildering breakout try and all his teammates tackled like demons to have the defending champions rattled at Suncorp Stadium.
But the All Blacks scored 17 points in as many minutes at the start of the second half to tie the match and have the Wallabies wobbling.
The normally composed and clinical Kiwis were flustered and regularly pressured into spilling the ball in the greasy conditions.
In contrast, the Wallabies' handling was superb after a full day of Brisbane drizzle.
Australia have won the Tri-Nations after a ten-year wait thanks to a 25-20 win over New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday.
This is what Test rugby is all about!
The Wallabies outscored their visitors by three tries to two in what was a delicious hors d'oeuvre before the start of the Rugby World Cup.
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A first-half blitz from the hosts saw Robbie Deans' troops send the shell-shocked All Blacks into the half-time sheds 17 points behind (20-3).
However, just like clockwork, New Zealand bounced back after the break to level the scores and set up a thrilling finish to a pulsating Tri-Nations decider.
But just as it seemed the visitors were going to seize the game by the scruff of the neck, a piece of brilliance by Australia's scrum-half Will Genia created the decisive try for Kurtley Beale.
The pace and physicallity of the game took its toll on the All Blacks' loose trio, who all required some attention before number eight Kieran Read called it a day and limped off the pitch as Adam Thomson recieved some heavy strapping to his left elbow.
New Zealand scored the only try but paid the price for a lack of dominance at breakdowns where infringements allowed South African kicking ace Morne Steyn to kick his side to an 18-5 win in the Investec Tri Nations game in Port Elizabeth.
Scrumming down during the Castle Lager Tri Nations match between South Africa and New Zealand from Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on August 20, 2011 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
( August 19, 2011 - Photos by Gallo Images/Getty Images Europe)
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In the absence of Richie McCaw, South African flanker Heinrich Brussow reigned supreme and played a key role in his side's defence of its unbroken winning streak at Port Elizabeth.
It was a determined defensive effort by the home team with wing Bryan Habana outstanding in his defence, and especially his covering tackling.
The South African set pieces, scrums and lineouts, were also dominant and created the ideal platform to allow Steyn to play his strategic game of basically driving New Zealand back as often as possible.
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Controversy occurred seven minutes into the second half after a magnificent break by fullback Israel Dagg. He fielded a South African kick in his own half and sliced through on a run to within five metres of the line. He passed to halfback Jimmy Cowan who scored but referee George Clancey asked the Television Match Official if the try had been scored.
The grounding was fair, but in delivering his verdict the TMO pointed out there had been a forward pass had been made to Cowan – a correct decision but one not generally allowed to be made by the official.
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Jimmy Cowan of the All Blacks is tackled by Fourie du Preez
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New Zealand had several chances for tries but sound South African defence stopped all but a 34th minute chance which was taken by centre Richard Kahui to cap off a set piece move from a New Zealand lineout.
Lock Ali Williams tapped the ball down from the back of a lineout. First five-eighths Colin Slade, who had a nervous 40 minutes, fed second five-eighths Sonny Bill Williams who in-passed to wing Hosea Gear. He broke through and passed to Kahui who out-paced the defence to score in the tackle. Kahui impressed not only on attack with strong running, but also with some significant tackling efforts to suggest his shoulder problems of the past were not an issue.
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Earlier, Dagg marked his return with an outstanding line break near the start of the game. He linked with halfback Cowan and it took a desperate covering tackle from Habana to halt the move five metres short of the line. Dagg also revealed no problems with his kicking when making some powerful punts.
Gear and Sonny Bill Williams combined with a fine passing rush when chasing a Slade grubber kick and they set up Kahui for another strong run but his attempt to find Gear on the outside was intercepted by centre Jaque Fourie.
Two other strong runs were made earlier by Cowan and wing Isaia Toeava, who made powerful runs throughout the game, to emphasise the ability of the New Zealanders to pressure the South African defences.
However, it was issues at the breakdowns which proved costly as Steyn was given chances in the seventh, ninth, 17th and 28th minutes with penalty goals and he made no mistake while in the 32nd minute he landed a dropped goal as South Africa got out to a 15-0 lead before New Zealand could respond.
Steyn's 58th minute penalty goal sealed the performance for his side.
James Hook of Wales kicks a penalty during the rugby union international friendly match between Wales and England at the Millennium Stadium on August 13, 2011 in Cardiff, Wales.
( August 12, 2011 - Photos by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images Europe)
**
Wales took revenge for last week's loss to England with a 19-9 victory at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
It was less a case of Wales winning than England losing as the visitors failed to capitalise on their complete dominance in terms of both territory and possession.
Was this one step forward, two steps back? Martin Johnson will be wondering just how his team managed to lose a game they totally controlled for an hour.
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Wales full-back James Hook scored the only try of the encounter but it was the home side's defence that will have Warren Gatland smiling more than anything else.
Three Toby Flood penalties underpinned a bash-and-smash England display that saw them waste numerous attacking opportunities, exposing their chronic lack of flair and imagination.
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Both sides will be concerned with the pedestrian pace with which the ball was being recycled at the breakdown.
Much of England's problems lay with a backline that failed to make the most of the swathes of possession that came their way, with the centre pairing of Mike Tindall and Shontayne Hape proving particularly ineffectual.
Wales started well but would have been happy with the 6-all scoreline at half-time having soaked up huge pressure. Indeed the Welsh defensive display was the highlight of the first 40 minutes.
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The second half started in the worst possible fashion for the hosts as Jamie Roberts saw yellow (as a result of his team's numerous indiscretions at the breakdown).
Flood put England ahead for the first time at 9-6 but those would be the only points scored in Roberts' absence.
It took Wales almost an hour to put a decent period of possession together, but they made their first real opportunity to attack count when Hook jinked into a gap and stretched out an arm to score. Even with the little possession they enjoyed, the home side looked the more dangerous team on attack in the last half-hour.
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The hosts had finally found their feet and Hook extended the lead to seven points from long range (after another poor display at the breakdown by England).
England continued to bang away with their one-dimensional approach but without success against fourteen men as Mike Phillips was also sent to the sin bin. Hook rubbed salt into the wounds with one more three-pointer late on.
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Man of the match: Wales were thrashed up front but the men in Red must be given credit for their tireless tackling, especially Sam Warburton. But you need points to win a game, so we'll go for James Hook for his contribution to the scoreboard.
Mike Phillips of Wales passes the ball out from a ruck
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Wales 19 England 9: match report
By Paul Ackford
A belter of a Test match. Fast, furious and a real kick in the pants for England. But let’s not talk about that load of rubbish because the Welsh effort was quite remarkable.
Wales will never, ever concede as much territory and possession as they did in an appalling first half for them and win a Test match. But what the heck. They did, through a combination of gritty, organised defence and an attacking display from England which moved from the inept to the laughable. You could see how much the victory meant to Wales. All of a sudden they are contenders again. They’ve got their self-respect back.
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The statistics at the end of the first 40 minutes showed that England had gobbled up 65 per cent of possession and 75 per cent of territory yet what did the scoreboard show? A match tied at six apiece as Wales made tackle after tackle and England coughed up ball after ball.
There was another dispiriting stat at the end of the match for the England camp too. In a second period during which England played against 14 men for 20 minutes, Wales having had Jamie Roberts and Mike Phillips dispatched to the sin bin, the men in white managed three points while James Hook racked up 13 on his own. Honestly, if England were still playing now you wouldn’t bet on them scoring a try.
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There was also - worryingly - some arrogance from England. At 6-6 Toby Flood turned down an eminently kickable penalty for a line-out in the corner. England’s generosity was inexcusable given the state of the match and it is calls like those that indicate that England are as flaky in terms of their decision-making as they are in execution.
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With Ireland in Dublin to come in a fortnight, there is every possibility that England will hop on the plane to New Zealand on the back of two defeats. That game against the Irish is now starting to assume the same importance as that abortive Grand Slam decider.
Donnacha Ryan of Ireland gets away from David Marty of France during the international friendly between France and Ireland at Stade Chaban-Delmas on August 13, 2011 in Bordeaux, France.
( August 12, 2011 - Photos by Christopher Lee/Getty Images Europe)
**
France got their World Cup warm up schedule off to a winning start on Saturday, beating Ireland 19-12 at Stade Chaban Delmas in Bordeaux.
France raced to a deserved 13-0 lead by the half-hour mark as they dominated every facet of play.
But the home side's indiscipline allowed the Irish to claw their way back into contention as four Ronan O'Gara penalties narrowed the gap to a single point at the start of the final quarter.
Wing Vincent Clerc scored the only try of the night for Les Bleus - his ninth in nine games against Ireland - while Dimitri Yachvili was flawless from the kicking tee, landing all five of his attempts at goal.
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O'Gara's kicking both out of hand and from the tee was one of the few highlights of the Irish performance, though they did improve as the game progressed, gaining confidence as they chipped away at the French lead.
Keith Earls of Ireland is tackled by Luc Ducalcon and Guilhem Guirado
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French run over Ireland but performance far from perfect
-AP
Vincent Clerc moved into third place on France's all-time list of tryscorers with 25, eight of which have come against Ireland in as many matches.
France looked in complete control at 13-3 at halftime, but let Ireland back into the match at Stade Chaban-Delmas. Veteran five-eighths Ronan O'Gara slotted three straight penalties and then missed a chance to put Ireland ahead.
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Near the end, with Ireland needing a converted try to level the scores, France won a crucial scrum on its own line, drawing huge cheers from the Bordeaux crowd.
Ireland has not won on French soil since centre Brian O'Driscoll scored a hat-trick of tries in 2000, and his dynamism was sorely missed.
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Ireland, who lost to France in the Six Nations, host France in Dublin next weekend.
Rocky Elsom of the Wallabies breaks away during the Tri-Nations match between the South African Springboks and the Australian Wallabies at Kings Park Stadium on August 13, 2011 in Durban, South Africa.
( August 12, 2011 - Photos by Phil Walter/Getty Images AsiaPac)
**
South Africa slumped to their third consecutive Tri-Nations defeat in 2011, going down 14-9 to Australia at Kings Park in Durban.
The Wallabies scored all their points in the second half as they came back from being 6-0 down at half-time, scoring the only try of the game through centre Pat McCabe.
For many South African fans the 'real' Tri-Nations kicked off in Durban as the defending world champions brought back the bulk of the first-choice players and lined up the most experienced Springbok team in history.
But after a solid start, the hosts' big guns failed to fire in the second half and were outdone by an Australian side that coped better with the changing conditions.
The result means that South Africa can no longer win the Tri-Nations - the 2011 crown will be decided when the All Blacks visit Brisbane at the end of the month.
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Man of the match: The Wallaby pack stepped the intensity up a notch in the second half and hooker Stephen Moore was a tireless grafter all around the park.
Jaque Fourie of the Springboks is tackeld by Pat McCabe (L) and Will Genia (R) of the Springboks
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WALLABIES coach Robbie Deans praised the resilience of his team after they overturned a 6-0 half-time deficit to defeat the most capped Springbok team of all time 14-9 in a Tri-Nations Test at Kings Park in Durban
With the World Cup less than a month away, Deans said the win was ideal.
"In terms of preparation there's no doubt it's great. We played against the most experienced Bok side tonight on their home soil and (it was) their current World Cup selection, essentially."
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"I was proud of the resilience we showed," he said. "We created opportunities and didn't finish them. It would have been easy for the group to go into decline but they stuck at it, they were good in the contact and I believe we deserved the result."
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The Springboks looked the better team in the first half and led at the break despite playing into a brisk southerly wind. Full-back Francois Steyn landed a long range penalty and fly-half Butch James a more conventional goal.
But the Wallabies made a blistering start to the second half and within eight minutes had snatched the lead through a penalty by wing James O'Connor and a first international try by centre Pat McCabe.
Chris Paterson of Scotland is tackled by Tomas O'Leary of Ireland during the Scotland v Ireland International Friendly rugby match at Murrayfield Stadium on August 6, 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
(August 5, 2011 - Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images Europe)
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A late try from Joe Ansbro sealed a 10-6 victory for Scotland over Ireland in what was a drab World Cup warm-up match at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Ireland looked to be heading to a 6-3 win until London Irish centre Ansbro scorched over the whitewash with four minutes remaining following good running from replacement Nick de Luca.
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However, that score was arguably the only moment of real entertainment for the 28,288 supporters who paid their money for tickets
Shane Williams of Wales has his run stopped by Lewis Moody of England during the Investec international friendly match between England and Wales on August 6, 2011 in Twickenham, England.
( August 5, 2011 - Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images Europe)
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England got their Rugby World Cup warm-up schedule off to a steady start on Saturday, with a 23-19 win picked up against Wales at Twickenham.
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Wales did outscore their hosts by three tries to two but a couple of drops from Jonny Wilkinson saw England win the first of this two-legged affair.
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These two will meet again in a week's time at the Millennium Stadium and Wales will want to start that game how they finished this one in London. Trailing by 20 points to 7 on 45 minutes, Wales then finally clicked into gear, with captain Sam Warburton leading by example on the openside.
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Man-of-the-match: Simon Shaw was impressive early on and seems to have booked his spot on the plane (hopefully with extra leg room), but Sam Warburton was too good to overlook despite being on the losing team. He was a rock for Wales and is still only 22.
This wonderful artwork was painted in 1920 and first exhibited at "16eme salon d'automne" in Paris, 1923.
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It was auctionned last May at Sotheby's New York : 2,546,500$... way, way above the auctioneer's estimates. And possibly the highest price ever for a rugby item ?
Piri Weepu of the All Blacks (C) leads the haka during the Tri-Nations Bledisloe Cup match between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australian Wallabies at Eden Park on August 6, 2011 in Auckland, New Zealand.
( August 5, 2011 -All Photos by Phil Walter/Getty Images AsiaPac)
** By Gregor Paul
The danger of riling the All Blacks, as the Wallabies so clearly did in Hong Kong last year, is that they exact a long and torturous revenge.
Just as Tony Underwood will forever regret winking at Jonah Lomu in 1995, so too might these Wallabies wish they had enjoyed their last test win against the All Backs with a touch more humility.
The New Zealand parlance for what happened last night was that Australia got their beans.
They well and truly got their beans and a handful of demons will have taken residence in some Wallaby heads.
Quade Cooper won't be in a rush to come back to Eden Park after the All Blacks shut him down and smacked him around a bit.
It was the calm authority of the All Blacks that so impressed. They had some anger swilling around in the system, but it was all carefully channelled into the right areas. The tackling had venom but the defensive effort was as much about organisation as it was thunderous physicality.
Ma'a Nonu of the All Blacks makes a break
** The All Blacks shut out the Wallabies in a first-half blitz to win their opening Bledisloe Cup encounter 30-14 at Eden Park on Saturday.
Any hopes Australia had of ending their 25-year Auckland drought were ripped to pieces by their dominant hosts, who charged to a 17-0 lead at the break and never looked like losing. * The All Blacks knocked the stuffing out of their trans-Tasman rivals, often reversing the Wallabies' key strike runners and kept playmaker Quade Cooper quiet all night - New Zealand's steady pressure and suffocating defence denied the Aussie pivot the chance to regularly set his backline in motion. * Australia's cause was further undermined by poor goal-kicking, with James O'Connor' missing three successive penalties. But the same couldn't be said of Dan Carter, who was immaculate with the boot as the Wallabies were put to the sword. * It was a clinical display all round by the rampant All Blacks, who are now in pole position to claim yet another Tri-Nations title.
Richie McCaw of the All Blacks fends off CJ Van Der Linde of the Springboks during the Tri-Nations match between the New Zealand All Blacks and the South African Springboks at Westpac Stadium on July 30, 2011 in Wellington, New Zealand.
( July 29, 2011 - Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images AsiaPac)
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A sublime display from first five-eighth Daniel Carter helped New Zealand to a crush a weakened South Africa 40-7 in their Tri-nations test in Wellington tonight.
Carter, starting his first international match of the season after coming off the bench last week against Fiji, had an off night with his goalkicking, landing just half of his eight attempts but otherwise pulled the strings with aplomb as the All Blacks scored six tries to one to run out comfortable victors.
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The Springboks, who left 21 players at home to recover from injuries, offered little in the way of an attacking threat and despite the urging of captain John Smit, had no answer for the hosts.
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It was a night of firsts for the All Blacks, not just with the unveiling of a refurbished playing strip, but prop Wyatt Crockett and wing Zac Guildford crossed for their first test tries.
