Sean Fagan

The first Australian Test teams (1899) wore sky blue in NSW, and maroon (shown above) in Queensland. The badge was the 'coat of arms'. Though the team didn't adopt their fmaous nick-name until 1908, the Wallabies history begins with these Test matches.

Australia's first appearance on the rugby field was in four home Tests held in 1899 against a visiting Great Britain side - eighteen months before Federation.

The tour was organised by the NSWRU and a search of their records revealed that the choice of Australia's colours was of little consequence in the lead up to the arrival of the visitors - organising matches and negotiating with other controlling bodies was the priority of the day.

Indeed, the NSWRU's preference (and that of the public) was for the Tests to be played by Australasia" (combining NSW, Queensland and New Zealand players) and not "Australia".

While the NZRU eventually opted out, the QRU successfully negotiated to host a Test in Brisbane. Seemingly as an afterthought, in late May 1899 the QRU wrote to the NSWRU concerning the colour of the jersey "Australia" was going to wear. It appears that the QRU proposed that the home Union's colour be used - and NSW unsurprisingly agreed.

The NSWRU considered the matter and resolved: "It was agreed that the colors [sic] of the Colony in which the match is to be played be adopted with the substitution of the Arms of Australia as a distinctive badge instead of the Colony."

It is extremely unlikely that any discussion took place on creating an Australian test jersey. For an Australian jersey to have been made for the series would have required both the NSWRU and QRU to have reached an agreement. Time would also have been against any furthering of the matter - all rugby jerseys were imported from England and they had to be shipped to Australia.

Historians cite this 'home-town' jersey changing as a tradition. The implication is that the Australian side decided to wear the colour of the home colony/state as it would appeal to the local supporters. The 'stacking' of Australian sides with home state players reinforced the theory.

Australia's Test colours
1899: blue in Sydney / maroon in Brisbane
1903: blue in Sydney
1904: blue in Sydney / maroon in Brisbane
1905: combined maroon and blue - in New Zealand
1907: combined maroon and blue - in Sydney & Brisbane
1908: blue - Wallabies tour of Great Britain, France and Nth America

While this 'home-town' concept superficially makes sense, on closer examination it fails. It implies that there was an "Australia" authority making the decision to appeal to NSW or Queensland supporters, players and officials by changing jerseys and 'stacking' team selections. Even the list above of "Australia's Test colours" shows inconsistency with the 'home-town' approach - what happened in 1907 and why did the 1908 Wallabies wear NSW's blue?

It needs to be remembered that there was no Australian rugby union body until the 1940s. When Australian sides were put on the field in 1899, 1903 and 1904 it was done by the NSWRU or the QRU depending on who had secured the rights to host and play the Test. As a representative team of the NSWRU or QRU the "Australian" side wore the official colour of the relevant Union body.

If a Test match was held in Sydney, the Australian side was a NSWRU representative team - Queenslanders were only included at the invitation of the NSWRU. The reverse applied for matches in Brisbane.

The NSWRU Annual Report of 1900 noted in regard to the 1899 Tests: "Messrs Row (NSW) and McCowan (Qld) captained the teams in their respective colonies."

Why would a state Union who had negotiated hard to get a Test match against Great Britain or New Zealand want to put a representative team on the field - even one styled as "Australia" - in anything but its own official colour? In fact, the by-laws of the NSWRU stated at the time: "The Representative Uniforms...shall be...light-blue jersey.." A change in jersey colour by the NSWRU for its Australian side may therefore have been impossible.

Similarly, their Australian sides weren't 'stacked' with locals - it was a team representing their state Union that was bolstered by invited guests from the other state. A selection panel of three officials chose the teams, but the home Union always had two of the three members.

To wear a combined maroon and blue jersey (or a national design of some other colour) would have required the NSWRU and QRU to have jointly organised and funded the Australian team. Indeed this is exactly what occurred in 1905 and 1907 - and it provides proof that the 'home-town' jersey theory is false.

The 1905 visit of Australia to New Zealand was a joint tour organised and financed by both NSW and Queensland - this saw Australia wear combined maroon and blue. The QRU was not always involved in operating overseas tours, and many later Australian rugby union sides played in the NSWRU's blue.

The agreement with the NZRU for Australia to tour in 1905 included a requirement that the All Blacks visit NSW and Queensland for Tests in 1907. No dividend from gate receipts would be forthcoming to the NZRU until the debt owed to the NSWRU and QRU from the costs of the 1905 tour were paid off.

As a result, the 1907 Tests in Sydney and Brisbane were held under the auspices of both the NSWRU and QRU - and Australia took the field wearing a combined maroon and blue jersey at home for the first time.

In a now overlooked piece of Wallabies history, the 1908/09 Australian team toured Great Britain and France under the auspices of the NSWRU. The Wallabies included a handful of invited Queenslanders, even though the QRU had no direct involvement. Accordingly, as a NSWRU representative team, the Wallabies wore the NSW sky blue jersey with a waratah badge.

References.
Sean Fagan, The Rugby Rebellion
Ian Diehm, Red! Red! Red! The Story of Queensland Rugby
NSWRU / ARU archives

The Wallabies wore a retro 1899-style sky blue jersey in 1999.