Hardcastle commenced his club rugby in New Zealand with Petone and represented for Wellington from 1895 to 1897.[2] He joined the Melrose club in 1897 and was selected in a North Island representative side from where he was selected for the All Blacks 1897 tour of Australia he played in seven tour matches but no Tests. He journeyed to Sydney in 1899 on hearing that the visiting British and Irish Lions would be not be travelling any further than Sydney. Australian rugby in those days had no residential rules and once they took the field with a Sydney club, players qualified as Australians for possible national selection.
He played for the Glebe rugby union club in Sydney from where he was chosen to play as flanker for the Australian representative team in the fourth test of 1899 against the first British side to tour Australia, at Sydney, on 12 August. He also played for Australia in 1903 in Sydney against New Zealand in the first official rugby union international between the countries.[3]
Rugby league careeredit
He became an early convert to the fledgling league code and played for the Ipswich club in Queensland. He was selected in the 2nd Test of 1908 against New Zealand. Five former Wallabies had debuted for the Kangaroos in the inaugural Test three weeks earlier, Hardcastle's league Test debut that day with George Watson made them the 6th and 7th Australian dual code internationals. He also played in the 3rd Test a week later.
Hardcastle toured with the pioneer 1908 Kangaroos and played for Australia on six occasions though he did not play in the Tests. On his return from the tour he joined the Glebe Dirty Reds in Sydney where he played the next two seasons before retirement.
WWIedit
Hardcastle served with the Australian Imperial Force in World War I. He was a Private in the 3rd Infantry Battalion seeing active service as a machine gunner. He embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A55 Kyarra on 3 June 1916 at age 42. He survived the war and was demobilised in the weeks immediately after the armistice.
^"Kiwis who have done the 'unthinkable'". The New Zealand Herald. from the original on 18 December 2022.
^Sydney Morning Herald - Funeral Notice 13 July 1944
January 01, 1970
bill, hardcastle, this, article, about, zealand, australia, rugby, player, journalist, broadcaster, william, hardcastle, broadcaster, birth, namewilliam, robert, hardcastle, date, birth, 1874, august, 1874, place, birthwellington, zealanddate, death11, july, 1. This article is about the New Zealand and Australia rugby player For the UK journalist and broadcaster see William Hardcastle broadcaster Bill HardcastleBirth nameWilliam Robert Hardcastle 1 Date of birth 1874 08 30 30 August 1874 1 Place of birthWellington New ZealandDate of death11 July 1944 1944 07 11 aged 69 1 Place of deathRandwick 1 SchoolPetone HighRugby union careerPosition s flanker 1 Amateur team s YearsTeamApps Points 1895 97Petone 1897 98Melrose 1899 1908Glebe RUFC Provincial State sidesYearsTeamApps Points 1895 97Wellington 1897North Island 1899New South Wales International careerYearsTeamApps Points 1897New Zealand0 0 1899 1903 1 Australia2 0 Rugby league careerPlaying informationPositionSecond rowerClub Years Team Pld T G FG P 1908 Ipswich 1909 10 Glebe Dirty Reds 13 18 Total 13 0 0 0 18 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1908 Queensland 2 0 1910 14 Australia 7 3William Robert Hardcastle 30 August 1874 11 July 1944 born in Wellington New Zealand was a pioneer New Zealand and Australian rugby union player and an Australian rugby league footballer He represented both countries in union and Australia in league He was one of the first dual code rugby internationals Contents 1 Rugby union career 2 Rugby league career 3 WWI 4 Death 5 Sources 6 ReferencesRugby union career editHardcastle commenced his club rugby in New Zealand with Petone and represented for Wellington from 1895 to 1897 2 He joined the Melrose club in 1897 and was selected in a North Island representative side from where he was selected for the All Blacks 1897 tour of Australia he played in seven tour matches but no Tests He journeyed to Sydney in 1899 on hearing that the visiting British and Irish Lions would be not be travelling any further than Sydney Australian rugby in those days had no residential rules and once they took the field with a Sydney club players qualified as Australians for possible national selection He played for the Glebe rugby union club in Sydney from where he was chosen to play as flanker for the Australian representative team in the fourth test of 1899 against the first British side to tour Australia at Sydney on 12 August He also played for Australia in 1903 in Sydney against New Zealand in the first official rugby union international between the countries 3 Rugby league career editHe became an early convert to the fledgling league code and played for the Ipswich club in Queensland He was selected in the 2nd Test of 1908 against New Zealand Five former Wallabies had debuted for the Kangaroos in the inaugural Test three weeks earlier Hardcastle s league Test debut that day with George Watson made them the 6th and 7th Australian dual code internationals He also played in the 3rd Test a week later Hardcastle toured with the pioneer 1908 Kangaroos and played for Australia on six occasions though he did not play in the Tests On his return from the tour he joined the Glebe Dirty Reds in Sydney where he played the next two seasons before retirement WWI editHardcastle served with the Australian Imperial Force in World War I He was a Private in the 3rd Infantry Battalion seeing active service as a machine gunner He embarked from Sydney New South Wales on board HMAT A55 Kyarra on 3 June 1916 at age 42 He survived the war and was demobilised in the weeks immediately after the armistice Death editHardcastle died in Randwick New South Wales on 11 July 1944 He was buried at Botany Cemetery on 13 July 1944 4 nbsp Hardcastle 3rd row centre Pioneer Kangaroos 1908 09Sources editWhiticker Alan amp Hudson Glen 2006 The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players Gavin Allen Publishing Sydney Andrews Malcolm 2006 The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn Sydney Fagan Sean 2005 Colonial Rugby RL1908 Sydney http www colonialrugby com au Bill Hardcastle at the AIF ProjectReferences edit a b c d e f Scrum com player profile of Bill Hardcastle Scrum com Retrieved 12 July 2010 https clubrugby nz wp 2022 04 20 pioneers of rugby in wellington 009 william hardcastle Kiwis who have done the unthinkable The New Zealand Herald Archived from the original on 18 December 2022 Sydney Morning Herald Funeral Notice 13 July 1944 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bill Hardcastle amp oldid 1220928852, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
