Thought you might find this of interest and a bit different !! The first referee to send off a player in international rugby was Albert E Freethy of Neath when he sent off Cyril Brownlie, an All Black forward at Twickenham in 1925. The match was always going to be a tough contest to control The English team coming off back to back grand slams in 1923 & 4, hadn't lost match in three years (v Wales in 1922) while the all conquering All Blacks were coming to the end of an unbeaten tour, having swept all before them, their last defeat was against the Springboks in 1921. In the first 8 minutes Freethy handed out 3 warnings to the battling forwards so it was no surprise when Brownlie stamped a prostrate English player, it was time for a player to walk. The Neath man was without doubt one of the finest referees to grace international rugby, he was the man in the middle at the last Olympic Rugby Final in 1924 as well as controlling all France v England matches in Paris between the wars. Albert Freethy is best remembered for the Brownlie incident and his refereeing but as well as this he was a wonderful coach and a fine administrator, serving on both the Neath and Welsh Rugby Union commitees for a number of years. He was at least half a century ahead of the game when he used the unusual approach of chalking his teams tactics on a blackboard. As a school teacher at Alderman Davies School he guided his team, the Neath Ex-Schoolboys XV to four invincible seasons between 1922 & 1926. So successful was this team that they drew crowds of 4000 + when they played on the local Cwrt Herbert playing fields.
Here's some information on the man who was sent off, plus a bit about Mr Freethy's whistle. Brownlie, Cyril James played for New Zealand Internationals: 3 : 1924 W+, 1925 E+ F+ ; NZ tours 1924-1925 Australia, British Isles, France and Canada, 1925 Australia, 1928 South Africa. Cyril Brownlie was born on 6 August 1895, in Wanganui Played as a Lock/flanker for: Sacred Heart College Auckland, Hastings, Hawkes Bay, Waiau, Wairoa Pirates, North Island Profession: Farmer War service: 9/2256 Trooper, Otago Mounted Rifles, New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division. Remarks: While in the Army, he played Rugby for the New Zealand Machine Gun Squadron, a side that sometimes included four future All Blacks (Maurice and Cyril Brownlie, James Parker and Jock Richardson). Cyril Brownlie was the first player to be sent off in an international, v England in 1925. Cyril Brownlie played 31 games for the All Blacks, including his 3 Internationals. Brother of Maurice and Laurence Brownlie. Laurence Brownlie made 1 appearance for NZ in 1921. He died on 7 May 1954, in Wairoa. [The whistle used by the referee, Mr Albert Freethy of Wales, had previously been used by him to referee the 1924 Olympic Games final between the USA and France. It was earlier used by Mr G Evans to referee the 1905 England v New Zealand match, and is now on display at the New Zealand Rugby Museum in Palmerston North. It was later used to start all Rugby World Cup tournaments.]
