Billy Wallace for a variety of reasons stands out as an early colossus of All Black rugby. He was in the side which played the first test against Australia at Sydney in 1903 and two years later he was a leading performer, arguably the star player, of the Originals when in 1905-06 they made their trailblazing tour of Britain and France.

Wallace clearly was a gifted footballer capable of playing anywhere in the backline, which, except for halfback, he did in his 51 All Black games between 1903 and 1908. And it appears that if asked he could have performed with distinction there, too.

But it is the statistics of Wallace's career which have made him such an imposing figure. He was one of the first players to achieve a half century of games for the All Blacks and he made it a double by recording 51 for Wellington as well, a splendid feat because he missed all of the 1898 season with a broken leg and spent 1900 in Dunedin where he represented Otago.

A goalkicker and because of his exceptional pace a prolific try scorer, Wallace was the first New Zealand rugby player to amass scoring records, delighting statisticians of his time perhaps as much as did Don Clarke in latter years and in modern times, Grant Fox and Andrew Mehrtens.

Wallace was the first New Zealander to top 500 first class points, finishing with 527 from his 112 games. His 379 points for the All Blacks stood as the record for more than 50 years until eclipsed by Don Clarke.

It was, indeed, a feature of Wallace's exploits that many of his records stood for decades. He got 28 points in the opening match of the 1905 tour against Devonshore, the same game in which he wore a sunhat, and that was an individual record that lasted until 1951 when it was beaten on the tour of Australia by Ron Jarden.

Wallace scored 246 points for the Originals, including 230 in Britain and France. That's a record which still stands and given the brevity of tours now seems likely to last forever.

But even if he had scored no points Wallace would still be a legend.

He was a central figure in the celebrated try that wasn't, allegedly scored by the centre Bob Deans, in the 1905 international against Wales.

Because what appears to have a been a fair try was not awarded by the Scotland referee John Dallas the All Blacks lost 3-0 and so the Originals were denied an unbeaten record.

Wallace made the break and put Deans in the clear for what he and Deans till their daying days insisted was a try.

Deans, of course, died tragically young less than three years later. But Wallace lived to the age of nearly 94, dying only in 1972. He was constantly interviewed about the try that wasn't and his story remained the same: Bob Deans scored fair and square.

Wallace's longevity was another contributor to his standing as a legend. In 1968 The Dominion newspaper introduced a competition for Wellington club rugby's best and fairest player and named the trophy at stake in honour of Wallace. Every year until his death Wallace attended presentation ceremonies and was the life of the party.

Presented with 400 sovereigns by his Wellington admirers when he retired and which he used to start an iron foundry business, Wallace gave lifelong service to his Poneke club, the Wellington province and the New Zealand union. He served at national level as an administrator and managed both the 1932 All Blacks and 1935 New Zealand Maoris in Australia.

Wallace was given numerous nicknames. One was Carbine after the 1890 winner of the Melbourne Cup and was attributable to his rare pace which made him one of the fastest runners in the Originals. Another was the "Admirable Crichton," a reference undoubtedly to his remarkable versatility.

Indeed, it is one of the curiosities of Wallace that in New Zealand rugby folklore he is always associated with the fullback position. He has always been considered the first of the great line which stretched to George Nepia, Bob Scott, Don Clarke and in latter years Fergie McCormick, John Gallagher and Christian Cullen.

Yet Wallace was never more than a reluctant fullback. His personal preference was as a wing and of the 11 tests he played only three, his debut in 1903, against Ireland in 1905 and the Anglo Welsh in 1908, were as a fullback. Of his 51 All Black games only 19 were as a fullback.

Wallace claimed in later years that he only been moved to fullback because of a selection oversight in the 1903 side to Australia. No specialist fullback was chosen and that was the only reason he was moved there. Wallace always insisted that he should not have been compared to the likes of Nepia and Scott. "They were great fullbacks, far greater than I knew how to be."

Profile by Lindsay Knight
for the New Zealand Rugby Museum.

FULL NAME

William Joseph Wallace

BORN

Friday, 2 August 1878 in Wellington

DIED

Thursday, 2 March 1972 in Wellington

PHYSICAL

1.73m, 76kg

POSITION

Utility back

LAST SCHOOL

Mt Cook School

RUGBY CLUB
(First made All Blacks from)

Poneke

PROVINCE

Wellington

RUGBY NICKNAME

Carbine

ALL BLACK DEBUT

Saturday, 11 July 1903
v Wellington Province at Wellington
aged 24 years, 343 days

INTERNATIONAL DEBUT

Saturday, 15 August 1903
v Australia at Sydney
aged 25 years, 13 days

LAST TEST

Saturday, 27 June 1908
v British & Irish Lions at Wellington
aged 29 years, 330 days

ALL BLACK TESTS

11 (0 as Captain)

ALL BLACK GAMES

40 (0 as Captain)

TOTAL ALL BLACK MATCHES

51 (0 as Captain)

ALL BLACK TEST POINTS

50pts (4t, 12c, 2p, 0dg, 2m)

ALL BLACK GAME POINTS

329pts (32t, 102c, 7p, 2dg, 0m)

TOTAL ALL BLACK POINTS

379pts (36t, 114c, 9p, 2dg, 2m)

ALL BLACK NUMBER

107

The All Black Games that Wallace played.
(+) = substitute; (-) = replaced

Click on the date to be taken to the Match Card

1903

 11 Jul vs Wellington Province at Wellington 5-14  

 18 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 12-0  

 22 Jul vs Combined Western Districts at Bathurst 47-7  

 25 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 3-0  

 29 Jul vs Metropolitan Union at Sydney 33-3  

 1 Aug vs Queensland at Brisbane 17-0  

 5 Aug vs Western Queensland at Brisbane 29-0  

 8 Aug vs Queensland at Brisbane 28-0  

 12 Aug vs Combined Northern Districts at West Maitland 53-0  

 15 Aug vs Australia at Sydney 22-3  

 19 Aug vs N.S.W. Country at Sydney 32-0  

1904

 13 Aug vs British & Irish Lions at Wellington 9-3  

1905

 1 Jul vs Auckland at Auckland 9-3  

 8 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 19-0  

 12 Jul vs Metropolitan Union at Sydney 22-3  

 15 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 8-8  

 22 Jul vs Otago and Southland at Dunedin 10-10  

 16 Sep vs Devon at Exeter 55-4  

 21 Sep vs Cornwall at Camborne 41-0  

 23 Sep vs Bristol at Bristol 41-0  

 28 Sep vs Northampton at Northampton 32-0  

 30 Sep vs Leicester at Leicester 28-0  

 4 Oct vs Middlesex at London 34-0  

 7 Oct vs Durham at Durham 16-3  

 11 Oct vs Hartlepool Clubs at West Hartlepool 63-0  

 19 Oct vs Gloucester at Gloucester 44-0  

 21 Oct vs Somerset at Taunton 23-0  

 4 Nov vs Blackheath at London 32-0  

 7 Nov vs Oxford University at Oxford 47-0  

 9 Nov vs Cambridge University at Cambridge 14-0  

 11 Nov vs Richmond at London 17-0  

 18 Nov vs Scotland at Edinburgh 12-7  

 22 Nov vs West of Scotland at Glasgow 22-0  

 25 Nov vs Ireland at Dublin 15-0  

 2 Dec vs England at London 15-0  

 13 Dec vs Yorkshire at Headingley 40-0  

 16 Dec vs Wales at Cardiff 0-3  

 20 Dec vs Glamorgan County at Swansea 9-0  

 23 Dec vs Newport at Newport 6-3  

 26 Dec vs Cardiff at Cardiff 10-8  

 30 Dec vs Swansea at Swansea 4-3  

1906

 1 Jan vs France at Paris 38-8  

 13 Feb vs British Columbia at San Francisco 65-6  

1907

 13 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 11-3  

 17 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 0-14  

 20 Jul vs Australia at Sydney 26-6  

 24 Jul vs Queensland at Brisbane 23-3  

 27 Jul vs Queensland at Brisbane 17-11  

 3 Aug vs Australia at Brisbane 14-5  

 10 Aug vs Australia at Sydney 5-5  

1908

 27 Jun vs British & Irish Lions at Wellington 3-3  

Points scored for the All Blacks

t

c

p

dg

pts

vs Wellington Province, 11 Jul 1903

-

1

-

-

2

vs N.S.W., 18 Jul 1903

-

-

1

-

3

vs Combined Western Districts, 22 Jul 1903

-

7

2

-

20

vs N.S.W., 25 Jul 1903

-

-

1

-

3

vs Metropolitan Union, 29 Jul 1903

-

4

-

-

8

vs Queensland, 1 Aug 1903

-

1

-

-

2

vs Western Queensland, 5 Aug 1903

2

4

-

-

14

vs Queensland, 8 Aug 1903

-

3

-

-

6

vs Combined Northern Districts, 12 Aug 1903

-

4

-

-

8

vs Australia, 15 Aug 1903

-

1

1

-

13

vs N.S.W. Country, 19 Aug 1903

-

4

-

-

8

vs British & Irish Lions, 13 Aug 1904

-

-

1

-

3

vs N.S.W., 8 Jul 1905

1

-

-

-

3

vs Metropolitan Union, 12 Jul 1905

3

1

-

-

11

vs N.S.W., 15 Jul 1905

-

1

-

-

2

vs Otago and Southland, 22 Jul 1905

1

2

-

-

7

vs Devon, 16 Sep 1905

3

8

1

-

28

vs Cornwall, 21 Sep 1905

1

4

-

-

11

vs Bristol, 23 Sep 1905

-

7

-

-

14

vs Northampton, 28 Sep 1905

-

4

-

-

8

vs Leicester, 30 Sep 1905

1

5

-

-

13

vs Middlesex, 4 Oct 1905

1

5

-

-

13

vs Durham, 7 Oct 1905

2

2

-

-

10

vs Hartlepool Clubs, 11 Oct 1905

1

8

-

-

19

vs Gloucester, 19 Oct 1905

2

6

-

-

18

vs Somerset, 21 Oct 1905

1

2

-

1

11

vs Blackheath, 4 Nov 1905

3

4

1

-

20

vs Oxford University, 7 Nov 1905

2

3

-

-

12

vs Richmond, 11 Nov 1905

2

1

-

-

8

vs West of Scotland, 22 Nov 1905

-

2

-

-

4

vs Ireland, 25 Nov 1905

-

3

-

-

6

vs Yorkshire, 13 Dec 1905

-

4

-

-

8

vs Glamorgan County, 20 Dec 1905

1

-

-

-

3

vs Newport, 23 Dec 1905

-

-

1

-

3

vs Cardiff, 26 Dec 1905

-

2

-

-

4

vs Swansea, 30 Dec 1905

-

-

-

1

4

vs France, 1 Jan 1906

3

2

-

-

13

vs British Columbia, 13 Feb 1906

4

2

-

-

16

vs N.S.W., 13 Jul 1907

1

1

-

-

5

vs Australia, 20 Jul 1907

-

4

-

-

8

vs Australia, 3 Aug 1907

1

1

-

-

5

vs Australia, 10 Aug 1907

-

1

-

-

2

Totals

36

114

9

2

379

NB: includes two marks at four points

Test Record by Nation

P

W

D

L

t

c

p

dg

pts

Australia

4

3

1

-

1

7

1

-

28

British & Irish Lions

2

1

1

-

-

-

1

-

3

England

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

France

1

1

-

-

3

2

-

-

13

Ireland

1

1

-

-

-

3

-

-

6

Scotland

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Wales

1

-

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

Totals

11

8

2

1

4

12

2

0

50