AUSTRALIA’S bitter Red Rose rivalry can be traced back 110 years when the Wallabies’ team mascot — Bertie the SNAKE — died after eating an English mouse!
Hooker Bob Craig smuggled in their not-so-lucky charm, but the carpet snake perished on the day the visitor’s — initially dubbed ‘The Rabbits’ — played their first tour match against Devon.
After getting over their loss, they won their first game and soon changed their nickname to the Wallabies.
They played 32 games on their whirlwind, northern hemisphere series – with the first game against England taking place at Blackheath in January 1909.
The Aussies won that historic grudge match 9-3 in front of 18,000 fans.
Sport historian Joe Hall told SunSport: “Despite a few big wins, it seems to have been quite a bleak experience for the Aussies.
“To have 18,000 at Blackheath in the days before giant stadia and promotional hype showed just how keen people were to see them for the first time.
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“But they were often accused of cheating and had three players sent off during the tour.
“They played the game differently. The English saw some of their tactics as ungentlemanly but the Aussie captain defended his team as simply ‘robust tacklers’.
“They spent five months away from home in freezing cold conditions that they weren’t used to and were in an alien place where they were often treated with suspicion.
“It’s likely a lot of them weren’t massively keen on doing it all again.
“In fact, a number converted to rugby league when they returned home and England didn’t play Australia again for nearly 40 years.
“The RFU didn’t seem keen on having them back.
“They saw themselves as guardians of their strictly amateur sport and many were suspicious the Aussies were out to make money from their tour.
“Scotland and Ireland even refused to play them for that reason — but, in fact, the tour made a £1,500 loss.”
With the 1908 London Olympics coinciding with the visit they also entered that, winning gold as no other country put a team in.
They faced county champions Cornwall in the final on a pitch next to the outdoor Olympic pool, and often ended up having to fish the ball out of the water.
Hall added: “No one really regarded Olympic rugby as a serious event — it was only the second time it had featured.
“The RFU and other British unions didn’t enter and defending champions France pulled out.
“But it was a really exciting time for rugby fans here as they were seeing the Aussies for the very first time.”
Fans will see them for the latest time today — and the rivalry will be just as intense.
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News Pictures England and Australia’s 110-year bitter rugby rivalry started when Wallabies’ pet snake died after eating an English mouse
You don’t have to pack away your bikini just because you’re the wrong side of 20. These body-beautiful stars reveal their secrets to staying in shape and prove you can smoulder in a two-piece, whatever your age. Read on and be bikini inspired!
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Hayden Panettiere
Size: 8
Age: 18
Height: 5ft 1in
Weight: 8st
To achieve her kick-ass figure, Hayden – who plays cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes – follows the ‘quartering’ rule. She eats only a quarter of the food on her plate, then waits 20 minutes before deciding whether she needs to eat again.
Hayden says: “I don’t have a model’s body, but I’m not one of those crazy girls who thinks that they’re fat. I’m OK with what I have.”
Nicollette says: “I don’t like diets – I see it, I eat it! I believe in eating healthily with lots of protein, vegetables and carbs to give you energy.”
kim cattrall
Size: 10-12
Age: 52
Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 9st 4lb
SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.
Kim says: “I am no super-thin Hollywood actress. I am built for men who like women to look like women.”
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