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Daniel Carroll (rugby player)
Encyclopedia
Daniel Brendon Carroll DSC
(17 November 1892 – 5 August 1956) was an Australia
n national representative rugby union
player. He was a dual Olympic gold medalist winning in rugby at the 1908 Summer Olympics
for Australia and also winning gold for the United States
at the 1920 Summer Olympics
. He later coached the gold-medal winning USA Rugby
team at the 1924 Summer Olympics
. He is erroneously referred to in some records as the youngest ever Australian representative rugby player due to a birthdate error in the Olympic records database. He served in the American Army as a Lieutenant in World War I
and lived out his life in the USA working in the mining/petroleum industries.
. His family relocated to Sydney during his early childhood and he was educated at St Aloysius' College (Sydney) playing rugby in the school's first XV and then at Sydney University where he studied dentistry. His club rugby was played with St George in southern Sydney. He was a winger at that time and in that position made his Australian representatives appearances. Later in his career he played at fly-half.
's first Wallabies
for the 1908-09 Australia rugby union tour of the British Isles and France. He was the youngest member of the tour squad at 20 years. Carroll played in the first Test of the tour, the 6-9 loss to Wales at Cardiff Arms Park
which was the first rugby Test played by an Australian team on British soil.
At the time the rugby tournament for the London Olympics
game may not have appeared to be of great significance. Australia had already beaten Cornwall, the British county champions early in the tour and Scotland
, Ireland
and France had all turned down the Rugby Football Union
's invitation to participate in the Olympic bouts. Neither the tour captain Moran, nor the vice-captain Fred Wood
played, so Chris McKivat
led the Wallabies to an easy 32-3 victory and to Olympic glory, with each Wallaby in that match thereafter an Olympic gold medalist. Carroll scored two tries in the match.
At the tour's end McKivat would lead fourteen of the Wallabies into the professional ranks with the fledgling rugby league
code in Sydney, but Carroll stayed loyal to the amateur game and was rewarded in 1912 when he was again selected in the Wallabies squad for the 1912 Australia rugby union tour of Canada and the USA
. . The tour was a disappointment with the squad billeted out in college fraternity houses where the hospitality played havoc with team discipline and as result the team lost against two California University sides and three Canadian provincial sides. They rose to the occasion for the sole Test of the tour - the November 1912 clash against the United States at Berkeley, won 12-8. Carroll played at fly-half in that match and scored a try. Carroll thus made two Test career appearances for Australia.
in 1913, a Test won by NZ 51-3. He served in the American Army as a Lieutenant in World War I
and won a Distinguished Service Cross
.
He completed a degree in geology at Stanford University
in 1920 and was coaching rugby at the university when he was selected as the playing coach of the USA side selected for the 1920 Summer Olympics
. He won a gold medal at Antwerp in that team playing at fly-half. He made three rugby union Test career appearances for the United States between 1913 and 1920.
Zavos quotes an article from a local Stanford paper of 1935 which reports that Carroll played four years of rugby at Stanford and one year of American football. He won his letter in rugby in 1913, 1914 and 1915. He played his last game of rugby in 1921 when a pick-up team visited British Columbia.
Carroll married Helen Warden from Great Falls, Montana
in 1927 and had one son Daniel - who is deceased. Helen died in 1941 and Carroll died in New Orleans in 1956.
archives which gives Carroll's true birthdate as 17 November 1887 at Flemington, Victoria
.
Distinguished Service Cross (United States)
The Distinguished Service Cross is the second highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of the United States Army, for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force. Actions that merit the Distinguished Service Cross must be of such a high degree...
(17 November 1892 – 5 August 1956) 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 national representative 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. He was a dual Olympic gold medalist winning in rugby at the 1908 Summer Olympics
1908 Summer Olympics
The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...
for Australia and also winning gold for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at the 1920 Summer Olympics
1920 Summer Olympics
The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium....
. He later coached the gold-medal winning USA Rugby
USA Rugby
USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. It is divided into seven territorial Unions: Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Pacific Coast, Southern California, South, and West...
team at the 1924 Summer Olympics
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...
. He is erroneously referred to in some records as the youngest ever Australian representative rugby player due to a birthdate error in the Olympic records database. He served in the American Army as a Lieutenant in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and lived out his life in the USA working in the mining/petroleum industries.
Schooling and early rugby
Carroll was born at Flemington, VictoriaFlemington, Victoria
Flemington is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, situated between the Maribyrnong River and Moonee Ponds Creek 4 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. It was named by settler James Watson after Flemington estate in Scotland. Its Local Government Areas are the...
. His family relocated to Sydney during his early childhood and he was educated at St Aloysius' College (Sydney) playing rugby in the school's first XV and then at Sydney University where he studied dentistry. His club rugby was played with St George in southern Sydney. He was a winger at that time and in that position made his Australian representatives appearances. Later in his career he played at fly-half.
Australian rugby representative
He was selected in Australia's inaugural national rugby team to tour the northern hemisphere - Dr Paddy MoranHerbert Moran
Herbert Michael "Paddy" Moran was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative flanker who captained the Wallabies' on their first overseas tour in 1908-09.-Early years:...
's first Wallabies
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
for the 1908-09 Australia rugby union tour of the British Isles and France. He was the youngest member of the tour squad at 20 years. Carroll played in the first Test of the tour, the 6-9 loss to Wales at Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World...
which was the first rugby Test played by an Australian team on British soil.
1908 Summer Olympics
The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...
game may not have appeared to be of great significance. Australia had already beaten Cornwall, the British county champions early in the tour and Scotland
Scottish Rugby Union
The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. It is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873, as the Scottish Football Union.-History:...
, Ireland
Irish Rugby Football Union
The Irish Rugby Football Union is the body managing rugby union in Ireland. The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where Irish rugby union international matches are played...
and France had all turned down the Rugby Football Union
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union was founded in 1871 as the governing body for the sport of rugby union, and performed as the international governing body prior to the formation of the International Rugby Board in 1886...
's invitation to participate in the Olympic bouts. Neither the tour captain Moran, nor the vice-captain Fred Wood
Fred Wood
Frederick Wood was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative half-back. He was vice-captain of the Wallabies on their first overseas tour in 1908-09 and later captained the side in Test matches in 1910 and 1914...
played, so Chris McKivat
Chris McKivat
Christopher Hobart McKivat was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player – a dual-code rugby international. He represented the Wallabies in over 20 Tests and tour matches from 1907 to 1909 and the Kangaroos in 5 Tests from 1910 to 1912...
led the Wallabies to an easy 32-3 victory and to Olympic glory, with each Wallaby in that match thereafter an Olympic gold medalist. Carroll scored two tries in the match.
At the tour's end McKivat would lead fourteen of the Wallabies into the professional ranks with the fledgling rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
code in Sydney, but Carroll stayed loyal to the amateur game and was rewarded in 1912 when he was again selected in the Wallabies squad for the 1912 Australia rugby union tour of Canada and the USA
1912 Australia rugby union tour of Canada and the USA
The 1912 Australia rugby union tour of Canada and the USA was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the Australia national rugby union team against various invitational teams from Canada and the USA, and also against the US national team....
. . The tour was a disappointment with the squad billeted out in college fraternity houses where the hospitality played havoc with team discipline and as result the team lost against two California University sides and three Canadian provincial sides. They rose to the occasion for the sole Test of the tour - the November 1912 clash against the United States at Berkeley, won 12-8. Carroll played at fly-half in that match and scored a try. Carroll thus made two Test career appearances for Australia.
American rugby and war service
Carroll stayed on in America after the 1912 tour. He played for All-America against the All BlacksAll 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....
in 1913, a Test won by NZ 51-3. He served in the American Army as a Lieutenant in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and won a Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Service Cross (United States)
The Distinguished Service Cross is the second highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of the United States Army, for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force. Actions that merit the Distinguished Service Cross must be of such a high degree...
.
He completed a degree in geology at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1920 and was coaching rugby at the university when he was selected as the playing coach of the USA side selected for the 1920 Summer Olympics
1920 Summer Olympics
The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium....
. He won a gold medal at Antwerp in that team playing at fly-half. He made three rugby union Test career appearances for the United States between 1913 and 1920.
Zavos quotes an article from a local Stanford paper of 1935 which reports that Carroll played four years of rugby at Stanford and one year of American football. He won his letter in rugby in 1913, 1914 and 1915. He played his last game of rugby in 1921 when a pick-up team visited British Columbia.
Post playing
After Stanford, Carroll furthered his education at Oxford and the Royal School of Mines in England. In 1921 he took up an appointment with Standard Oil and remained with the company until his retirement.Carroll married Helen Warden from Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls is a city in and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, United States. The population was 58,505 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cascade County...
in 1927 and had one son Daniel - who is deceased. Helen died in 1941 and Carroll died in New Orleans in 1956.
Youngest rugby representative ?
Zavos refers to the birthdate dispute referencing a 1992 Irish newspaper article by David Guiney which quotes the research of Dr Bill Mallon, an American Olympic historian who cites the Olympic database that Carroll was born on 17 February 1892. Guiney asserts that Carroll at 16 years and 286 days was therefore the youngest man to be capped for Australia and the youngest ever to win an international cap. Zavos however disputes this and refers to a birth certificate held in the Australian Rugby UnionAustralian Rugby Union
The Australian Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Australia. It was founded in 1949 and is a member of the International Rugby Board the sport's governing body. It consists of eight member unions, representing each state and territory...
archives which gives Carroll's true birthdate as 17 November 1887 at Flemington, Victoria
Flemington, Victoria
Flemington is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, situated between the Maribyrnong River and Moonee Ponds Creek 4 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. It was named by settler James Watson after Flemington estate in Scotland. Its Local Government Areas are the...
.
External links
- Olympic Profile
- Rugby's Greatest Olympian
- Daniel Carroll at StatsGuru
- Carroll at the Aust AOC site
- Carroll at Sports Reference