Rugby conference: Is the amateur ideal dead?

06 November 2003

The impact of professionalism on Rugby Union is one of the issues under the spotlight this Saturday, as international and local experts look at the history and future of the code at a conference at the University of New South Wales.

The one-day conference - Rugby, History and the Remaking of the Class Game - has been organised to coincide with the World Cup. Keynote speaker is Australia's foremost rugby historian, barrister Tom Hickie, who will look at whether the amateur ideal has survived the era of professional rugby.

Other conference highlights:

The conference is organised by the Sydney Chapter of the Australian Society for Sports History which is based at UNSW's Centre for Olympic studies. Director of the Centre and eminent sports historian Associate Professor Richard Cashman, will open the conference.

What: 'Rugby, History and the Remaking of the Class Game'

When: Saturday, November 8, 2003 - 9am to 4.45pm

Where: The Kingsford Room, Squarehouse University of New South Wales.
Closest entrance is off Anzac Parade.

The full conference program is attached.

CONTACT DETAILS:
Alex Clark, UNSW Media office, tel. 9385 3263/0405 237 553
Anthony Hughes, Executive Officer, Centre for Olympic Studies, UNSW tel. 9385 9245/9385 7662/0438 616 441

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

'Rugby, History and the Remaking of the Class Game'

Date: Saturday November 8, 2003
Time: 9am to 4.45pm
Venue: The Kingsford Room, Squarehouse University of New South Wales

Session One
9 - 10.30am
President's Welcome; Associate Professor Richard Cashman, UNSW

9.05-10.00
Keynote Address: Tom Hickie, Barrister at Law: The Amateur Ideal in the Era of Professional Rugby.

Paper 1: Braham Dabscheck, UNSW, Collective Bargaining and Rugby in the Professional era

Session Two
10.45 - 12.15
Paper 2: Tony Collins, De Montfort University: The First World Cup?: The 1919 Empire Inter-Services Tournament.

Paper 3: Sean Brawley, UNSW: Our Bright American Cousins: The American Universities Tour of New South Wales and New Zealand in 1910.

Paper 4: Anthony Hughes, UNSW: Myer Rosenblum, Rugby and the Australian Way of Life

Session Three
1.15- 2.45
Paper 5: Laura Stedman, UNSW graduate, Museum of Rugby, Twickenham The Value of the Object: Evaluating Rugby's Heritage

Paper 6: Jed Smith, Museum of Rugby, Twickenham: Interpreting the World of Rugby from Within the Walls of Fortress Twickenham

Paper 7: Rob Hess, Victoria University of Technology: A Deceptive Art: Visual Representations of Rugby and Other Football Codes in the 19th Century Australian Press

Session Four
3.00-4.30
Paper 8: Gregory de Moore, UWS: Tom Wills at Rugby School

3.30-4.30 Panel: The Future of Football
Panelists: Tony Collins, Rob Hess, Tom Hickie, Greg Stock, Spiro Zavos,

4.30-4.45 Conference Summary Ian Warren, La Trobe University

Conference Closes