Wallaby war hero's name to live on after Lions make trophy change
The Tom Richards Cup, which has been contested between the Wallabies and the British and Irish Lions since 2001, has been retired and will be replaced next month by a perpetual trophy created by the Lions on their 2021 tour of South Africa.
But Richards, the Gallipoli hero and Olympic gold medallist who is the only Australian-born person to play for both the Wallabies and the Lions, will still be commemorated in next month's three-Test series, with a new Tom Richards Medal to be awarded to the player of the series.
The change has the potential to be controversial given the Richards' extraordinary life, and the fact the Wallabies and Lions have already played for the Tom Richards Cup twice, in 2001 and 2013.
But the family of Richards have given their blessing, and three generations of Richards' descendants last week posed with Rugby Australia boss Phil Waugh at the SCG with Richards' war medal, Test caps and Olympic medal as a gesture of support.
'It's really nice and we're really thrilled that they're able to keep his name alive by doing it this way,' Paul Menck, who is Richards' great-grandson, said.
Tom 'Rusty' Richards was born as a son of poor gold miners in Charters Towers, in rural Queensland, and debuted for the Wallabies on a 1908 tour of the UK. That trip also saw Australia win an Olympic gold medal, with Richards scoring a try in the victory over a Cornwall side.
The Times wrote that if a world team had to be selected to play against Mars, Richards 'would be the first player chosen'.
Richards subsequently went to work in South Africa, and when the British Lions toured there in 1910 and suffered multiple injuries, the flanker was drafted in to become a Lion - being eligible via a previous stint of playing for Bristol.
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