- Date of Birth29 / 04 / 1882
- Died25 / 09 / 1935
- Lions Tours1910
- International CapsAustralia / Lions
- Lions Origin ClubsGloucestershire, Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs, MTN Golden Lions, Bristol Rugby, Toulouse, Charters Towers RC
Tom Richards remains a rare breed of player who represented the Lions and Australia after playing 12 times on the 1910 Tour of South Africa. He also won Olympic gold with the Wallabies at the 1908 Games in London.
His legacy was furthered with the creation of the Tom Richards Trophy in 2001, awarded to the winner of the Lions v Australia Test series. The Wallabies were the inaugural winners.
Born in Emmaville, New South Wales, after his father emigrated from Cornwall, Richards grew up in Charters Towers in North Queensland and took up rugby following the visit of a New South Wales touring side.
Richards’ family moved to South Africa in 1905 and he played for Transvaal in the Currie Cup. Had it not been for complications surrounding his qualification he would have been selected for the Springboks - instead he moved to England and joined Bristol.
He also represented Gloucestershire at county level and faced the South African touring team he was excluded from. Never one to stand still, Richards returned to Australia and became a key part of the Queensland pack. His displays earned a call-up from the Wallabies for their 1908 Tour of the United Kingdom which included the London Olympic Games.
Richards featured in both Tests while on British soil and scored the tourists’ first try against Wales. He scored again as Australia beat a Cornish side representing Britain in the final to clinch Olympic gold.
Two years later he was drafted in as a replacement for the Lions, owing to his membership with Bristol, and played against his old side Transvaal as well as in two Tests on the 1910 Tour.
A year later he played for Australia in their United States Tour before taking in spells in England, Italy, Switzerland and France in 1913 during a tour of Europe which saw him coach Toulouse.
Enlisted in the 1st Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in 1914, Richards sailed to Egypt with the 1st Field Ambulance and served as a stretcher bearer. He would later be promoted to Second Lieutenant and Lieutenant before being awarded the Military Cross in August 1917 for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.