Allen Martindale Oxlade (18 June 1882 - c. 1932) was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 player a state and national representative hooker who captained the Wallabies in 1907.

Early life and club rugby

Oxlade was born in Brisbane, Queensland and schooled at Petrie Terrace State School in Brisbane. After school he moved to Sydney and commenced his rugby career with the North Sydney rugby union club. In 1902 he moved back to Queensland and from 1902 to 1907 and then again in 1912 he played for Norths Brisbane. In the intervening years his Brisbane club career was played with Past Grammars

Norths Devils

The Northern Suburbs Devils, Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They play in the Queensland Wizard Cup, and, through their predecessors, are one of the oldest clubs in...

 RU club.

Representative career

Oxlade was regularly selected in Queensland state

Queensland Reds

The Queensland Reds represent Queensland in the sport of rugby union in the Southern Hemisphere Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996 they were a representative team selected on merit from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland...

 sides from 1902 , making 28 appearances in a twelve year state representative career . He first played against an international side when the touring All Blacks

All Blacks

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

 of 1903 met Queensland in a tour match. Oxlade's Queensland teammates that day included Doug McLean, Snr.

Doug McLean, Snr.

Douglas James "Doug" McLean was a pioneer Australian representative rugby union and rugby league footballer, a dual-code international...

, Micky Dore

Micky Dore

Michael Joseph "Micky" Dore , was an Australian representative rugby union and rugby league player - a dual-code international. He was one of the founding fathers of rugby league in Queensland...

 and Frank Nicholson

Frank Nicholson (rugby)

Frank Villenueve Nicholson was an Australian Boer War veteran and rugby union player, a state and national representative who made two Test appearances in 1903-1904, captaining the side on one occasion....

.

In 1904 he appeared twice more for Queensland and that same year made Test debut against Great Britain

England national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

, at Brisbane, on 23 July 1904. He was selected the next year on Australia's first ever rugby tour of New Zealand. When the All Blacks toured Australia in 1907 Oxlade was not picked for the first Test played in Sydney

Sydney Cricket Ground

The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...

 but for the second Test in Brisbane seven Queenslanders were selected and Allen Oxlade was picked at captain ahead of other senior players including Dally Messenger

Dally Messenger

Herbert Henry "Dally" Messenger was an Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer, recognised as one of the greatest ever players in either code. Messenger, or 'The Master' as he was dubbed, represented his country in both rugby football codes, playing two rugby union tests and seven...

, Boxer Russell

Charles Russell (rugby)

Charles "Boxer" Joseph Russell was a pioneer Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer and coach. He represented his country in both sports and was one Australia's early dual-code rugby internationals...

 and Peter Burge

Peter Burge (rugby)

Peter Harold Boyne Burge was an Australian rugby footballer and coach. He represented his country in both rugby league and rugby union...

. New Zealand won the match 14 to 5. All told Oxlade claimed four international rugby caps for Australia.

Later life

After rugby he was a commercial traveller in the north of Queensland for the wholesaling firm Hoffnungs and later he joined Oxlade Brothers in Brisbane, a family painting firm. He was a Brisbane City Council alderman at the time of his death in 1932 representing the Merthyr ward. Oxlade Drive in Brisbane is named after him.

Oxlade's son Boyd made three Test appearances for Australia in 1938 and was selected for the ill-fated 1939 Wallaby tour to England captained by Vay Wilson

Vay Wilson

Vayro Wilson DSC was an Australian World War II naval combatant and a state and national representative rugby union player who captained the Wallabies in three Test matches immediately prior to World War II.-Rugby career:...

. The team docked at Southampton on the day when England declared war and after a couple of weeks spent filling sandbags to start the war effort, the squad set sail for Australia having not played a game.