Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics Rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics. The event was summarised under the "Football" heading along with association football. The host Great Britain was represented by Cornwall, the 1908 county champion. Defending Olympic champions France withdrew, leaving Australasia, represented by the Australia national rugby union team as the only other remaining entrant. The visiting team competed in the London Olympics in conjunction with the inaugural Wallaby tour of the United Kingdom of 1908-09, in which they would ultimately go 25-5-1 in their 31 matches. The Australian team entered the rugby tournament and were
Summer Olympic Games distance was chosen to ensure that the race finished in front of the box occupied by the British royal family. Thus the marathon had been for the first games in 1896, but was subsequently varied by up to due to local conditions such as street and stadium layout. At the six Olympic games between 1900 and 1920, the marathon was raced over six distances. At the end of the 1908 marathon the Italian runner Dorando Pietri was first to enter the stadium, but he was clearly in distress, and collapsed of exhaustion before he could complete the event. He was