Dallas was not a big hit for Kiwis

GEORGE Watson’s College have produced a host of notable players but one of their rugby alumni also went on to achieve notoriety as a referee. Indeed John Dallas is still spoken of today, the man who in the eyes of Kiwis denied them a draw and possibly a win in Cardiff during their otherwise triumphant tour of Britain and France in 1905.

As a player Dallas was a strong, reliable second row who captained the school First XV and was a stalwart of the Watsonians pack before he received his one call to international duty in 1903 when he was summoned as a replacement for the injured David Bedell-Sivright against England.

He did well in the back row, in fact he scored a try in Scotland’s 10-6 victory which saw them take the Triple Crown, but he was never capped again. He quickly read the tea leaves and concentrated

on refereeing and remarkably his first international was the unofficial world championship between Wales and New Zealand in Cardiff.

He wasn’t the first choice, four Welsh referees had been offered up and rejected by the Kwis before the WRU suggested the neutral Scotsman.

He caused a stir from the start, choosing to referee in his street clothes and a pair of boots that seemed to lack studs but had done well when it came to the crucial decision as to whether Bob Deans had touched the ball down in the Wales in-goal area before he had been dragged back by a Wales defender.

Dallas, by now a sedentary lawyer who had put on plenty of timber, was some distance away but immediately signalled no try, to the anger of the New Zealanders.

Later in his reffing career Dallas, by now under heavy criticism for his lack of mobility around the pitch, made the headlines again when he was appointed for Ireland’s match against South Africa in 1912. He went lame in the first half and became the first referee in an international to come off injured, with Fred Gardiner replacing him.