The first Test between Australia and New Zealand was played on 15 August 1903 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Despite Australia losing 22-3 this tour greatly increased the popularity of rugby and large crowds started attending grade matches in Sydney and Brisbane. New Zealand winger Billy Wallace scored 13 of their 22 points.
In 1907 the New South Wales Rugby League was formed and star player Dally Messenger left the Rugby union for the rival code. The next year the first Australian team to tour the British Isles left Sydney under the name of 'Rabbits'. The players thought this name derogatory and replaced it with 'Wallabies'. The 1908 tour coincided with the London Olympic Games at which rugby union was contested. The Australian team won the gold medal by defeating Cornwall, the English county champions representing Great Britain. When the team returned home more than half of them joined professional rugby league clubs.
In 1909, when the new "Northern Union" code was still in its infancy in Australia, a match between the Kangaroos and the Wallabies was played before a crowd of around 20,000, with the Rugby League side winning 29-26.
Australia's last Test before World War I was against New Zealand in July 1914. The war had a very negative effect on rugby union in Australia. The sports authorities decided it was unpatriotic to play rugby while thousands of young Australian men were being sent overseas to fight. This resulted in competitions all but closed down in New South Wales and Queensland. In Queensland regular competitions did not commence again until 1928. As a result players switched to rugby league in large numbers.
During the 1920s the only representative team available for international opponents was the New South Wales Waratahs; all thirty-nine internationals played by them in that period have since been accorded Test status. In 1921 South Africa visited Australia and New Zealand for the first time — winning all three tests in Australia. The most famous Waratahs' team was the 1927/28 Waratahs who toured the United Kingdom, France and Canada. They introduced a style of open, running rugby rarely seen before. They won 24 and drew two of their 31 official matches.
War hero Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop also played for Australia before World War II. He played on the side that was the first to win the Bledisloe Cup.
The re-emergence of the Queensland Rugby Union in 1928/9 immediately made a forceful impact on the performances of the Australian team, which that year defeated New Zealand in all 3 Tests for the first time. In 1931, the then Governor General of New Zealand, Lord Bledisloe donated a rugby trophy to foster sporting ties between Australia and New Zealand. Bearing his name, the Bledisloe Cup was established. The inaugural competition was won by New Zealand two games to one.
Australia made their first tour to South Africa in 1933 for a four Test series, which was won by South Africa three games to one. Australia won the Bledisloe Cup for the first time in 1934. The tour of the 1939 Wallabies was cancelled as war was declared a day after the team arrived in England; two weeks later they returned home.
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