Between July 1927 and March 1928 the New South Wales Waratahs, the top Australian representative rugby union side of the time, conducted a world tour encompassing Ceylon, Britain, France and Canada on which they played five Tests and twenty-six minor tour matches.

The Queensland Rugby Union had collapsed in 1919 and would not be reborn until 1929 leaving the New South Wales Rugby Union to administer the game in Australia at the national representative level. Just prior to the start of the Australian 1927 season an invitation from the International Rugby Board arrived in Sydney requesting a New South Wales side tour Great Britain to play Tests against the Home Nations.

In 1986 the Australian Rugby Union decreed the five full-internationals played on the tour as official Test matches.

The squad and its captain

A squad of 29 players was selected comprising twenty-eight New South Welshmen and one Queenslander in the great fly-half Tom Lawton, Snr who had been forced to come to Sydney to continue his career due to the absence of rugby in Brisbane. The side was captained by Arthur Cooper "Johnnie" Wallace who from Sydney University had earnt a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford in 1922 and whilst there had represented Scotland in nine Tests between 1923 and 1926.

The selection of Wallace as captain is referred to by Howell as "a masterstoke". He was well known in Britain through his Oxford and Scotland association, was an experienced and naturally gifted player, a strong tactician and a great influence on the younger players. On the nine-month tour, the Australians won 24, lost 5 and drew 2 of the matches they played and returned having established an international reputation for playing fair and attacking rugby.

Tour itinerary The squad left Sydney by train on 22 July 1927 bound for Melbourne. They played a game on the afternoon of their arrival in Melbourne against a Victorian invitation XV which was won 19–9. They set off in Ormonde from Melbourne on 26 July for Adelaide where they had a one-day stop.

By 10 August Ormonde had arrived in Colombo where they were the guests of the Colombo Rugby Union and the tourists played that day against an All Ceylon XV in front of a crowd of 5,000 spectators. They set sail from Ceylon on 11 August. Ormonde passed through the Suez Canal and the Straits of Messina and a disembarkation was made at Naples to enable a visit to Pompeii. Another stop was made at Toulon before arriving at Gibraltar on 28 August and Plymouth by month's end.

The squad had two weeks preparation on land at Teignmouth in Devon before the first tour match against Devon and Cornwall on 17 September. The tourists then relocated to Wales where matches were played at Newport, Swansea and Cardiff.

At Oxford the Waratahs suffered their first defeat 0–3 against a varsity side, although they won the next encounter against Cambridge. Matches were also played at Liverpool, Newcastle and Coventry before they sailed to Dublin. The Waratahs won the first Test of the tour 5–3 against Ireland at Lansdowne Road on 12 November.

Two weeks later the tourists met Wales at Cardiff Arms where they triumphed 18–8. From Cardiff they travelled to Scotland where matches were played at Glasgow, Melrose, Aberdeen and the Test loss at Edinburgh. The tourists made day trips to the Lochs, Lomond, Long and Gyll and where shown over the King's castle at Balmoral. Back in Edinburgh castles were visited by day with dinners and theatre parties attended at night.

The party travelled to London for New Year and were shown over the Houses of Parliament by Lord Donoughmore, the Secretary of the House of Lords and James Whitley, the Speaker of the House of Commons. They were presented to the Prince of Wales at St James's Palace and to the King at Sandringham House. At Sandringham they accompanied the King through the woods on a shooting expedition after lunch and were presented to Her Majesty, Queen Mary at afternoon tea.

Later the Australians were flattered by a personal invitation to take tea at the Piccadilly residence of the Duke and Duchess of York where they met the infant Princess Elizabeth. Three other days were spent in the company of officers of the Army, Air Force and Navy culminating in a tour of the Royal Navy facilities at Portsmouth where they were of shown over the workings of the recently launched Australian submarines and , the museum piece and the royal yacht Victoria and Albert.

Two days after the Test loss at Twickenham the squad left for France, spending a night in Paris before journeying to Bordeaux. There against a selected provincial side the Waratahs suffered the most convincing defeat of the tour with the locals taking an early lead and holding on to a 19–10 victory. Then followed a match in Toulouse against a side representing south-western France in which the visitors prevailed.

Back in Paris, the tourists were entertained and shown the city's splendour before meeting the France national side at Stade Colombes in the final Test match of the tour in front of a crowd of 40,000 with 2,000 gendarmes stationed around the enclosure to keep in check the emotions of the enthusiasts. From Paris the squad crossed the channel and departed from Liverpool in Melita for Canada. They travelled by train from coast to coast with stops at Montreal, Toronto, Banff and Sicamous. Arriving in Vancouver in late February 1928 the squad spent twelve days and played three exhibition matches against varsity and club sides.

In March 1928 they boarded Aorangi in Vancouver to commence the final leg home with stops in Honolulu, Suva and Auckland before arriving in Sydney by month's end, a full nine months after first setting out.From a compilation of reports by Waratah tourist Cyril Towers published in the Spirit of Rugby reference as Rugby's Great Adventure

Touring party Manager: E.G. Shaw Captain: Johnnie Wallace Vice-Captain: Charles Fox

Squad Name Tests Club Career caps Tour apps Position Pts A. W. Ross 5 Sydney University 20 29 Full back A. J. A. Bowers 1 Eastern Suburbs, Randwick 7 9 Three-quarter J. B. Egan 0 Eastern Suburbs 0 7 Three-quarter E. E. Ford 5 Glebe-Balmain 7 21 Three-quarter G. C.Gordon 0 Western Suburbs, Newcastle YMCA 1 8 Three-quarter S. C. King 4 Western Suburbs 14 19 Three-quarter W. H. Mann 0 Sydney University 0 7 Three-quarter W. B. J. Sheehan 2 Sydney University 18 12 Three-quarter C. H. T. Towers 3 Randwick 19 29 Three-quarter A. C. Wallace (c) 5 Sydney University 8 22 Three-quarter J. L. Duncan 0 Randwick 1 8 Half-back S. J. Malcolm 3 Cook's Hill Surf Club, Newcastle YMCA, Manly 18 11 Half-back F. W. Meagher 2 Randwick 8 12 Half-back T. Lawton 5 Sydney University, Western Suburbs 14 273 as Captain against Swansea, Yorkshire and Cumberland and Leicestershire Half-back J. G. Blackwood 5 Eastern Suburbs 21 23 Forward G. V. Bland 0 Manly 9 4 Forward M. R. Blair 1 Western Suburbs 3 7 Forward J. W. P. Breckenridge 5 Glebe-Balmain 11 26 Forward A. N. Finlay 5 Sydney University 12 24Including 14 matches as Vice-Captain Forward J. A. FordGot sent off in the Cardiff game. 4 Glebe-Balmain 11 25 Forward C. L. Fox (v.c.) 1 Northern Suburbs 17 126 as Captain against Neath and Aberavon, East Midlands, Glasgow, South of Scotland, London and Oxford University Forward E. N. Greatorex 2 Newcastle YMCA 8 14 Forward P. B. Judd 4 Western Suburbs 11 24 Forward G. P. Storey 5 Western Suburbs 8 20 Forward A. N. Tancred 3 Glebe-Balmain 3 16 Forward J. L. Tancred 2 Glebe-Balmain 2 16 Forward K. Tarleton 0 Newcastle YMCA 2 9 Forward E. J. Thorn 0 Manly 15 13 Forward H. F. Woods 4 Newcastle YMCA 8 19 Forward

Matches of the tour The "Exhibition Matches" are not classed as important as the "Tour matches". They are listed on the tour but the starting line-ups are not counted in the players stats.

Test matches # Date Rival Venue City Country Score1 17 Sep 1927 Devon and Cornwall Rectory Field Devonport England 30–32 22 Sep 1927 Newport Rodney Parade Newport Wales 20–33 24 Sep 1927 Neath and Aberavon Talbot Athletic Ground Port Talbot Wales 24–54 28 Sep 1927Abertillery program Abertillery and Cross Keys Abertillery Park Abertillery Wales 13–35 6 Oct 1927 Swansea St. Helen's Swansea Wales 11–06 8 Oct 1927 East Midlands Franklin's Gardens Northampton England 16–127 8 Oct 1927 Yorkshire and Cumberland Lidget Green Bradford England 9–38 12 Oct 1927 Glasgow District Old Anniesland Ground Glasgow Scotland 10–09 15 Oct 1927 South of Scotland The Greenyards Melrose Scotland 36–010 19 Oct 1927 North of Scotland St Machar Ground Aberdeen Scotland 21–1511 22 Oct 1927 London Twickenham Stadium London England 0–012 27 Oct 1927 University of Oxford Iffley Road Oxford England 0–313 29 Oct 1927 Leicestershire RU Welford Road Stadium Leicester England 20–814 2 Nov 1927 Cambridge University Grange Road Cambridge England 18–1115 5 Nov 1927 Combined Services Twickenham Stadium London England 13–11 16 12 Nov 1927 Lansdowne Road Dublin Ireland 5–317 16 Nov 1927 Ulster Ravenhill Belfast Northern Ireland 11–318 19 Nov 1927Northumberland program Northumberland and Durham Gosforth Greyhound Stadium Gosforth England 14–9 19 26 Nov 1927 Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Wales 18–820 29 Nov 1927 Llanelli RFC Stradey Park Llanelli Wales 24–1421 3 Dec 1927 Cardiff RFC Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Wales 15–922 8 Dec 1927 Pontypool RFC Pontypool Park Pontypool Wales 3–623 10 Dec 1928 Lancashire and Cheshire Birkenhead Park Birkenhead England 29–1124 17 Dec 1927 Murrayfield Edinburgh Scotland 8–1025 22 Dec 1927 Warwickshire and North Midlands Barkers Butts Lane Coventry England 8–526 31 Dec 1927 Gloucester and Somersetshires Memorial Stadium Bristol England 13–427 7 Jan 1928 Twickenham Stadium London England 11–1828 12 Jan 1928 South of France Parc Lescure Bordeaux France 10–1929 15 Jan 1928 Midi Stade Ernest-Wallon Toulouse France 11–3 30 22 Jan 1928 Stade Colombes Paris France 11–830 29 Jan 1928London program London team Twickenham Stadium London England 0–0

Exhibition matches Scores and results list New South Wales's points tally first. DateOpponentLocationResultScore23 July 1927VictoriaMotordrome, MelbourneWon19–910 August 1927CeylonCH & FC Grounds, ColomboWon23–31 September 1927TeignmouthTeignmouthWon38–37 September 1927Plymouth AlbionPlymouthWon21–1125 February 1928Vancouver Representative XVVancouverWon9–629 February 1928VarsityVancouverWon55–33 March 1928Vancouver Representative XVVancouverWon17–0

Test matches

Ireland

Team details Arthur Douglas FB Alex Ross Jim Ganly W Allen Bowers Maurice Atkinson C Johnnie Wallace (c) George Stephenson (c) C Cyril Towers Henry Stephenson W Eric Ford Eugene Davy FH Tom Lawton Mark Sugden SH Wally Meagher Charles Hanrahan P Bruce Judd Jimmy Farrell H Jock Blackwood Jim McVicker P Harry Woods Charles Payne L Geoff Storey Hugh McVicker L Huck Finlay Theodore Pike F Arnold Tancred Allan Buchanan F Wylie Breckenridge William Browne N8 Jack Ford Notes: Towers described the match as "an evenly contested and arduous struggle ...lacking the brilliance of the other internationals".The Spirit of Rugby p87 The match would ultimately be recognised as the first ever Test between Ireland and an Australian side.

Wales

Team details Tommy Rees FB Alex Ross Dan Jones W Eric Fordd John Roberts C Billy Sheehan Roy Jones C Syd King Ernie Finch W Johnnie Wallace (c) Windsor Lewis FH Tom Lawton Tal Harris SH Wally Meagher David Jenkins P Bruce Judd Lonza Bowdler H Jock Blackwood Ned Jenkins P Harry Woods Harry Phillips L Geoff Storey Gus Broughton L Huck Finlay Iorweth Jones F Arnold Tancred Tom Hollingdale F Wylie Breckenridge Ivor Jones (c) N8 Jack Ford

Scotland

Team detailsScotland: Dan Drysdale, Edward Taylor, Robert Kelly, James Dykes, Bill Simmers, Harry Greenlees, Peter Douty, William Ferguson, William Roughead, James Scott, John Bannerman, David MacMyn, James Graham, Willie Welsh, John Patterson