Now
aged 87, Eric was a 14st, 6' 1'' prop from New South Wales, who, like all in the
Australian team, appreciated the warmth of welcome shown by Cornish people at
the start of their memorable tour 
It
was nearly 62 years ago, on the 13th September 1947, that Australia played a combined
Cornwall & Devon team at the Recreation Ground, Camborne.
The
tourists had sailed from Sydney on the 19th July aboard P&O's "Orion",
arriving in London on Sunday 24th August. By the Wednesday they had journeyed
to Penzance, where they were to stay for three weeks to finalise their preparation.
It was with great pleasure that the Borough welcomed the tour party to the Duchy,
there a very close connection between Cornwall and Australia. In
an official statement Mr. J.T. Trezise (Mayor), Barrie Bennetts and Mavis Lawry
(President, Penzance & Newlyn RFC) wrote that thousands of our tin miners
went out to try their luck, and to settle in the mining districts of Ballarat,
Bendigo, Kalgoorlie and Broken Hill, and took with them their love of rugby football.
Large numbers of Cornishmen had also been honoured to serve alongside Australia's
splendid troops in Gallipoli,Tobruk and countless other theatres of service. The
statement also mentioned that Cornwall would be unable to entertain the visitors
"as we would like to", a time when virtually all food rations were cut,
our islands still recovering from six years of war. However, the tour party was
comfortably housed in the Marine Hotel, the comment also made that that the food
and hospitality were first class! Extracts from Australian
papers record that the Pirates arranged a wide range of entertainment to host
the 'Wallabies', and lifelong friendships were forged. Swimming, golf, sailing,
bowling, squash, cricket and billiard facilities were placed at their disposal,
and the tourists were also admitted free to cinemas, dance halls and theatres.
When training at the Mennaye Field each morning there was
a live Wallaby named 'Digger' (lent by London Zoo at the Pirates request) that
was housed alongside the ground, and which on one occasion mysteriously escaped
- helping fitness levels to be upped when it was apparently chased all over Penzance! Come
match day at Camborne, there were reckoned to be in excess of 20,000 people present
(approximately 3 times as many supporters as is allowed into the same space nowadays)
when the teak-like flanker Bill McLean led his team out to face the combined counties
side skippered by Les Semmens (Redruth). Well held by the
west country forwards, the Australian pack found it hard going at times, but the
speed and sureness of their backs ensured an ultimately deserved 17-7 points victory.
A tour that started at Camborne would end over five months later with a game against
the University of Stanford, at Palo Alto, California. The
overall playing record was P 41, W 35, L 6, For 712, Against 276. Of interest,
as a 'Thank You' from the Aussies for the wonderful time they were given during
their three weeks stay in Cornwall, they presented to us Digger's stuffed equivalent,
'Walter', which still holds a place of honour in our 'Westholme' (Penzance) clubhouse.
If you haven't met him yet, then call by sometime, and introduce yourself! Over
the years a number of those 1947/48 tourists have returned to visit Penzance,
including Sir Nicholas Shehadie, OBE, who at the time was a 20 year old second-row
from Randwick. He was capped 30 times by his country and later became Lord Mayor
of Sydney.  Eric
played in 25 matches on the tour, including major games against Scotland, Ireland,
England, the Barbarians and France, but it was his time in Penzance that was the
happiest and most memorable, not least because on the 31st August, 1947, he met
"a beautiful girl from Seattle" who 19 years later became his wife.
Her name was Phyllis Addicoat, whose father Jim (a brother
of cricketer John) was born in St. Just in the 1890s. Phyllis and Jim were spending
a short holiday in Penzance, when Eric met Phyllis at the Cliff Hotel where the
proprietor's daughter, Betty Warren (now Betty Rodda), was celebrating her 18th
birthday. Eric and Betty were only together for a few days,
but they met again in 1962, were married in Australia in 1966, and spent 42 years
of wonderful happy married life together. Sadly Phyllis
passed away in March of last year. So, we can all understand why a return to Cornwall
means so much to Eric, and hope he'll appreciate the welcome given him once more.
His visit has already rekindled fond memories, reiterating
that certain things in life are very special and that the friendships made through
our game of rugby football are indeed enduring. | 
