1885 Home Nations Championship

1885 Home Nations Championship
Date	3 January - 21 February 1885
Countries	England; Ireland; Scotland; Wales
Tournament statistics
Champions	Not completed[1]
Matches played	4
Top point scorer(s)	Veitch (1); Taylor (1); Payne (1)
Top try scorer(s)	Jordan (2); Hawkridge (2)
← 1884 (Previous)	(Next) 1886 →

The 1885 Home Nations Championship was the third series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, but the tournament was not completed.

The 1885 Championship was notable for the disputes occurring between the Home Nation Unions which prevented a full tournament to be completed. England and Scotland refused to face each other due to the refereeing disagreement from their 1884 encounter, and Wales and Ireland also failed to meet due to union disputes.[2] The 1885 Championship also experienced a rare replay, when the Ireland versus Scotland game at Ormeau was abandoned after bad weather stopped play. The replay was played in Scotland.[2]

Table

Position	Nation	Games				Points
Position	Nation	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
1	England	2	2	0	0	4
2	Scotland	2	1	1	0	3
3	Wales	2	0	1	1	1
4	Ireland	2	0	0	2	0

Source:[3]

Results

3 January 1885

Wales	(1T) 1–1 (4T)	England

Swansea

10 January 1885

Scotland	0–0	Wales

Glasgow

7 February 1885

England	(2T) 0–0 (1T)	Ireland

Manchester

7 March 1885

Scotland	1–0	Ireland

Edinburgh

Not played

Scotland v. England
Wales v. Ireland

Scoring system

The matches for this season were decided on goals scored. A goal was awarded for a successful conversion after a try, for a dropped goal or for a goal from mark. If a game was drawn, any unconverted tries were tallied to give a winner. If there was still no clear winner, the match was declared a draw.

The matches

Wales vs. England

3 January 1885

Wales	1G, 1T – 1G, 4T[4]	England
Try: Jordan (2) Con: Gould		Try: Hawcridge Kindersley Ryalls Teggin Wade Con: Payne

St. Helen's, Swansea
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: CP Lewis (Wales)

Wales: Arthur Gould (Newport), Frank Hancock (Cardiff), Martyn Jordan (Newport), Charles Taylor (Ruabon), Charlie Newman (Newport) capt., William Gwynn (Swansea), Ernest Rowland (Lampeter), John Sidney Smith (Cardiff), Evan Richards (Swansea), Tom Clapp (Newport), Bob Gould (Newport), Horace Lyne (Newport), Thomas Baker Jones (Newport), Samuel Goldsworthy (Swansea), Lewis Thomas (Cardiff)

England: HB Tristram (Oxford University), CG Wade (Oxford University), Andrew Stoddart (Blackheath), JJ Hawcridge (Bradford), A Rotherham (Oxford University), JH Payne (Broughton), Frank Moss (Broughton), G Harrison (Hull), AT Kemble (Liverpool), RS Kindersley (Oxford University), HJ Ryalls (New Brighton), ED Court (Blackheath), RSF Henderson (Blackheath), A Teggin (Broughton), ET Gurdon (Richmond) capt.

Scotland vs. Wales

Source:[5]

10 January 1885

Scotland	0G – 0G	Wales

Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: GR Hill (England)

Scotland Pat Harrower, Bill Maclagan capt., Alexander Stephen, Gardy Maitland, Bunny Wauchope, Augustus Grant-Asher, Tom Ainslie, George Robb, John Jamieson, Robert Maitland, William Peterkin, Charlie Reid, Charles Berry, John Tod, Gordon Mitchell

Wales: Arthur Gould, Frank Hancock, Martyn Jordan, Charles Taylor, Charlie Newman capt., William Gwynn, Willie Thomas, Edward Alexander, Frank Hill, Tom Clapp, Bob Gould, D Morgan, Thomas Baker-Jones, Samuel Goldsworthy, Lewis Thomas

England vs. Ireland

7 February 1885

England	2T – 1T	Ireland
Try: Bolton Hawcridge		Try: Greene

Whalley Range, Manchester
Attendance: 6,000
Referee: HS Lyne (Wales)

England: CH Sample (Cambridge University), WN Bolton (Blackheath), Andrew Stoddart (Blackheath), JJ Hawcridge (Bradford), A Rotherham (Oxford University), JH Payne (Broughton), Frank Moss (Broughton), G Harrison (Hull), AT Kemble (Liverpool), Charles Gurdon (Richmond), HJ Ryalls (New Brighton), CH Horley (Swinton), CS Wooldridge (Blackheath), GT Thomson (Halifax), ET Gurdon (Richmond) capt.

Ireland: GH Wheeler (Queen's College, Belfast), EH Greene (Dublin Uni.), JP Ross (Lansdowne), RG Warren (Lansdowne), RE McLean (NIFC), EC Crawford (Dublin Uni.), THM Hobbs (Dublin Uni.), Thomas Lyle (Dublin Uni.), FW Moore (Wanderers), T Shanahan (Lansdowne), RM Bradshaw (Wanderers), TC Allen (NIFC), HJ Neill (NIFC), RW Hughes (NIFC), WG Rutherford (Lansdowne) capt.

Scotland vs. Ireland

Source:[6]