John Dallas (rugby player)
| Full name | John Dewar Dallas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position(s) | Forward | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Amateur team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1903 | Scotland | 1 | (3) |
John Dewar Dallas (1878 – 31 July 1942) was a Scottish international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Watsonians. Dallas played international rugby for Scotland but is more notable as a rugby referee, and controversially officiated the 1905 encounter between Wales and New Zealand, a match seen as one of the greatest games in the history of the rugby union.
During the First World War, Dallas joined the British Army and was posted to The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) as part of the 16th Battalion. In his later life he was a judge based in Aberdeen.
Dallas played just a single international game for Scotland, the encounter with England during the 1903 Home Nations Championship. Scotland had already beaten Wales and Ireland in the tournament, and a win over England would give the Scottish team the Triple Crown. Dallas was brought into the pack, along with a returning Jimmy Ross, as replacements for David Bedell-Sivright and captain Mark Coxon Morrison. Although not an exciting game, the close score made this an interesting game, with Scotland finishing 10-6 winners. Dallas not only ended the game as a Triple Crown winning player, but he also scored one of two Scottish tries, when he crossed the line in the first half after good build-up work from wing James Stirling MacDonald. Despite the victory and the score, Dallas never represented the Scotland national team again, the Scottish selectors preferring heavy scrummagers whereas Dallas' play was more of a fast wing-forward.
In 1905 the first New Zealand touring team came to Britain, and brought an exciting tactical game that the British clubs found difficult to play against. Before the team came to Wales, they had played 27 matches against teams from Scotland, England and Ireland, and beaten them all, including victories over the three national teams. Wales had just won the Home Nations Championship and were seen as possessing one of the greatest teams in the sport's history. The encounter between Wales and New Zealand was seen as a great challenge between the two hemispheres, and was being dubbed the 'Game of the Century' before the match had taken place. In the buildup to the game, the New Zealand manager George Dixon and the Welsh Rugby Union had difficulty agreeing on a referee. Four officials had been rejected before the WRU, using I.B. regulations called on a neutral union, in this case the Scottish Rugby Union, to choose a referee on their behalf. Scotland chose Dallas.
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